No matter what the Devil said, Chloe couldn't avoid her difficult conversation forever. It wasn't fair to put Trixie in the middle of their problems, and even if she hated to admit it Lucifer was right. Chloe was punishing Dan for everything that happened with the Palmetto case. Some part of her felt like he shouldn't get away with it, but just because the law hadn't caught or punished Dan didn't mean it was her job. As the Devil would say, that was his department. Chloe smiled at her own joke.

Still, even with her new resolve, she wasn't looking forward to the conversation. Putting it off just a little longer, Chloe decided to get lattes before heading over to Dan's desk.

"Still working, I see," she said as she walked up to him holding the drinks.

"Just a couple things I want to get finished before I head home," Dan replied. This was a pattern with Dan lately. He'd been working way harder than he needed to. At first she hadn't thought much of it, but now she had a theory. Dan was punishing himself as well. Just another reason he didn't need her piling on the punishment.

"I've been thinking lately," Chloe began. "And I've realized I've been harsh on you since… well you know."

"I deserve it," Dan replied. "It's okay."

"No it's not. I shouldn't have taken out my anger on you," Chloe explained. "I know you'd take back what you did if you could."

"Yeah I would," Dan said.

"You've been punishing yourself with all this extra work," Chloe continued. "You don't need my help, so consider this the end of your sentence."

"Thanks," Dan chuckled. Then he sobered and added, "There's been something I wanted to talk to you about too."

"The trip," Chloe sighed. This was the other part of the difficult conversation she'd been avoiding. This time of year every year the three of them would go on a trip together, but this year with Dan and Chloe separated it just felt so forced.

"I don't think we should go," Dan said. She could tell from his tone and expression that this was a hard conversation for Dan as well. "I'm always gonna be Trixie's dad and I'm always gonna be part of your lives but we are no good for Trixie if we're no good for each other."

"I know," Chloe said slowly. She was glad he'd been the one to say it. Somehow that made it easier.

"I think it's time we get a divorce," Dan finished.

Somewhere deep down Chloe had known this is how their difficult conversation would end, and maybe that's why she'd been trying to avoid it so badly. No matter how necessary or correct the decision, divorce meant the end of a huge part of her life. It meant trying to find a new place to live, and it meant being alone. Chloe knew she could do it, but divorce was still a big thing to wrap her head around.

"I understand," Chloe replied calmly. "And I think you're right. It's just a lot."

"Yeah it is," Dan smiled at her.

With a casual farewell and a thanks for the latte, Chloe left her soon to be ex-husband to his work and headed home to her mother's house. Where was she going to find an apartment? And they'd have to get a lawyer to draw up the paperwork. The tasks before her felt very daunting all of a sudden, but Chloe decided that was a problem for tomorrow.

Arriving home, Chloe walked in her front door, or rather, her mother's front door. She was greeted by the sitter, who she thanked and dismissed. Then Chloe went into her daughter's room to watch Trixie sleep. No matter how her marriage ended, Chloe would always be glad it had happened, because of Trixie. Even if their future held nothing but friendship, Dan was the reason Chloe had Trixie in her life and she would always be thankful for that.

The next morning Chloe got Trixie ready for school and headed to work. No homicides today, but she did get a fifth phone invite to some word scrabble phone game Lucifer was playing. Chloe declined again. She already spent her days solving crimes with the Devil; she drew the line at playing pointless phone games with him. It was almost like he'd just discovered his cell phone had an app store.

When the game invites failed to get her attention the Devil sent her a direct text message asking her to join in his word game with Maze. Chloe couldn't resist rolling her eyes even if no one was here to see it.

'I don't have time for phone games,' Chloe texted him back.

'Come on they're fun and they don't take long, Detective,' Lucifer's reply read.

'Dan and I are getting divorced,' Chloe texted back, hoping this would shut him up and besides it wasn't like it was a secret. 'So I have apartment hunting to do.'

The Devil didn't reply to that and Chloe assumed he'd just gotten bored with the conversation. She suspected Lucifer wasn't yet bored of his mother though he hadn't said a thing about it since he'd asked her opinion. She couldn't help but wonder if the Devil had taken her advice.

A few days went by without a single text or call from the Devil. In fact the next time Chloe saw him was to call him in for a murder case. She wasn't even a little surprised when Lucifer started playing a phone game while in her car driving to the murder scene. He didn't even put it down when they got out.

"It's a crime scene," Chloe lectured him. "Will you focus?"

"Grumpy pants," Lucifer replied.

"I've just got a lot on my mind," Chloe replied. To her surprise, Lucifer put away his phone.

"Yes, sorry. You do, don't you," he said, looking at her instead of his phone.

Chloe smiled at him, surprised by his sudden display of empathy.

"So how'd things go with your mother?" Chloe asked, changing the topic.

"I took your advice, Detective," Lucifer said cheerfully. "I listened to her side and then I sentenced her."

Chloe lowered her voice before asking, "Is she back in hell then?"

"Her own personal version maybe," Lucifer replied. "But it is located here on earth."

Chloe had no idea what kind of hell Lucifer had found for his mother on earth, but before she had long to theorize or panic he clarified.

"No need to look so anxious, Detective," Lucifer smiled at her. "Mother said she wanted to stay close to her sons, so I gave her a sentence that allowed her to do that while still making her pay for her sins."

"And that sentence was?" Chloe couldn't help her curiosity.

"To live as a human," Lucifer replied. "Or more accurately to go into the life of Charlotte Richards."

"That's it?" Chloe said, feeling rather deflated.

"Trust me," Lucifer chuckled. "Mom is not enjoying it."

Chloe shook her head. Celestials were weird. "If you say so," Chloe sighed. "Let's get to work then."

"Ah yes, a distraction!" Lucifer said. "At my last session with doctor Linda I just learned how brilliant a tool it is to avoid worrying. Maybe it will help you with all the stuff on your mind. When was the last time you had fun, Detective?"

Chloe so didn't have time for this. She tried to turn away and ignore him, but the Devil was nothing if not persistent.

"Seriously," Lucifer continued. "Name three friends you could call right now for a drink? And you can't say me, your child, or the man you're divorcing."

"I would never take my child drinking, Lucifer," Chloe groaned at him. "Can you please focus?"

Just then Dan arrived to save her from the Devil's annoying quibs by giving her the details on the victim. It was a young woman without identification on her that had been found on the side of a road in a bright red dress. Lucifer was able to ID the stamp on the victim's hand as something you might find at a nightclub. Apart from that there was an abandoned vehicle registered to uber without a driver.

In what she could only describe as spite, Chloe took Lucifer's phone out of his hand and used it to look up the driver number on Lucifer's uber app. If he was gonna use his phone at a crime scene, so was she. Though Lucifer's just telling her his passwords the moment she had the phone in her hand did rather ruin the effect for her.

After locating and bringing the driver in for questioning, Chloe interviewed him. The driver claimed that by the time he'd found the victim, she'd already been dead. Ella's information confirmed this. The victim, Daria, had been poisoned ninety minutes before her death which meant the uber driver couldn't have done it. Ella still had nothing on the stamp, but she had tracked down who Daria had called before she'd died, which meant another trip in her car with the Devil playing scrabble on his phone.

"I don't know how your session with Dr. Martin went but I highly doubt she advised you to distract yourself from your worries forever," Chloe told him as they were parking. "And especially not with phone games."

"Oh this is nothing," Lucifer replied, cheerfully. "I also managed to kill a good couple hours looking for apartments for you."

"Is your mother getting to you so badly that you have to keep yourself constantly distracted?" Chloe asked. Now that the car was stopped she could turn to look at him properly.

"I don't see mom much now actually," Lucifer replied. "She's off being Charlotte." Even though he sounded happy about this there was something else hidden underneath. Chloe just couldn't figure out what it was.

"So what's got you so nervous you feel you need this level of distraction to combat it?" Chloe asked.

"I still don't know what breaking that deal with dad will mean," Lucifer said in a small voice.

"Seems to me that you don't even have a solid answer for what the deal was in the first place," Chloe replied. "I mean God never said 'Lucfier's life in exchange for the goddess's freedom' in so many words right? It was all just your interpretation of the events." She smiled at him and added, "There might be nothing to worry about."

"You don't understand, Detective," Lucifer said softly.

"Then explain it to me," Chloe replied.

"Don't we have a murderer to interview?" Lucifer asked. His tone had switched instantly from soft and sad to energetic and cheery.

Chloe couldn't help but sigh. He still wasn't ready to talk to her about it. Honest to a fault or not, she couldn't make him. Instead she agreed and they got out of the car to interview the victim's possible boyfriend.

Chole very quickly learned that the guy wasn't worth much. Not only was he married and had a fling with the victim but his alibi was yet another woman he'd been sleeping with. Chloe got the name and number of the alibi, secretly hoping he was the killer just so she could put his cheating ass behind bars. He did give her one clue however. Daria had been on a girls night out the day she'd died. He also gave them the name of the victim's roommate.

While she had other officers checking the slutty guy's alibi, Chloe and Lucifer went to interview Daria's roommate Naomi. What they found when they got there was the girl's neighbour saying she hadn't heard from them all week. The neighbour did at least have a key and let them into the apartment.

The moment Chloe took a breath she could smell that something had died here. Moving farther into the apartment they found Naomi, laying cold and dead on the floor. She had the same nightclub stamp on her hand and Chloe was willing to bet died from the same poison. This was now a double homicide.

Of course, they couldn't confirm any of this until Ella did a forensic report. Plus she was still waiting on that other alibi which meant they were at a stand still.

"Not a stand still Detective," Lucifer said. "An opportunity."

"For what?" Chloe scoffed.

"For fun," he replied. "You never answered my question before. Who would you call to have a drink?"

"No one," Chloe sighed. "Because unlike you I have to be responsible."

"One night off won't kill you," Lucifer grinned. "But as I know that won't convince you, think of it like this the best way to retrace the steps of the victim on her girls night is by going on a girls night."

It wasn't a half bad idea. Really he'd had worse ones. Still since Chloe didn't know anyone who would be willing to go with her it was all rather a moot point.

"I'll think about it," Chloe replied. "In the meantime I'm dropping you off at home."

"Oh you should ask Ella," Lucifer said cheerily. "She might be up for a good time."

Chloe did not reply. Instead she just turned around ready to walk to her car.

"Really there is no need, Detective," Lucifer said. "The Devil can find his own way home. You have a night out to focus on." And with that Lucifer turned and walked away.

Chloe went back to her desk. She wasn't in the mood to have fun though that probably meant she really needed some. Even so she stayed at her desk and worked until Ella's forensic report arrived.

Reading it, Chloe learned there'd been damage to Daria's stomach consistent with liquid nitrogen in fancy drinks. This fit Lucifer's theory that the marks on their arms were from a club. After a little investigating Chloe discovered there was an abandoned building near where the victim must have been at the party. Possibly a rave or one of those pop up parties that quickly disappeared. Her first thought was to ask Lucifer to make some calls. The Devil did seem to have his finger on the party pulse of the city. She tried texting him but he didn't reply so Chloe got in her car and headed for Lux.

When Chloe walked in she saw all manner of people, but not the one she'd been looking for. There were people everywhere, drinking, dancing and generally looking like they were having a grand time, but no Lucifer.

Maybe she didn't need Lucifer to figure this out. Wouldn't Maze know just as much about the party scene as him? Chloe walked up to the bar looking for Maze, then she remembered Lucifer telling her that Maze didn't bartend for him anymore.

She had just resolved to go up to the penthouse and risk walking in on god knows what when she turned around and saw the very demon she'd been looking for.

"Maze," Chloe said, relieved.

"Who wants to know?" Maze replied, gruffly. Then she saw who it was and relaxed. "Oh it's just you."

"Not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing," Chloe said confused. "But anyway I was wondering if you could help me with something?"

"Lucifer isn't here," Maze said. "He's upstairs with a pair of ladies. Didn't catch their names."

"I kinda figured," Chloe replied, really glad now that she hadn't tried going upstairs. "I actually thought maybe you could help me."

"And why should I do that?" Maze replied.

"Because it's a police investigation?" Chloe tried though without any real hope.

"Try again," the demon said, looking dubious.

Chloe gave up and decided to just ask what she'd been dying to know for ages. "Why do you dislike me so much?"

"Before Lucifer met you life made sense," Maze explained. "Every day was a party and we took part in every desire LA offered. Then there was you."

"So you think it's my fault that the party is over?" Chloe asked, making sure she had it right.

"That, and it still bothers me that Lucifer revealed everything to you," Maze continued. "Just makes no sense."

"On that we can agree," Chloe smiled. "And as far as I can tell Lucifer still parties."

"It's not like before," Maze sighed. "We used to have week-long orgys." She smiled then, with a look of longing on her face and Chloe decided never to think about this ever again. "And now it's all work work work with him."

Chloe tried to resist the urge to disagree with Maze's statement. She would never have described Lucifer as a workaholic. Even if he was effective, the Devil was definitely the least responsible coworker she'd ever had.

"Anyway," Chloe began as she opened the file folder in her hand and showed it to Maze. "I know there was a rave or something similar at this location and I was hoping you might know more about it or could maybe put some feelers out to learn more." As Chloe was talking she lost steam, feeling like it was hopeless to be asking Maze for help.

After a moment and with a sigh Maze spoke. "I know that hood. There's a tiki bar across the street. I know the bartender."

"Great," Chloe said, with new energy. Lucifer's idea was making more sense by the minute. Should she call Ella? But it really made more sense to take Maze given that she knew the bartender.

"Is that all you needed?" Maze asked.

"Actually I was wondering if you'd like to get a drink with me," Chloe said. "At that tiki bar."

Maze narrowed her eyes. "Why that bar?"

"This way we can enjoy ourselves and maybe learn more about the case," Chloe said in a small voice. Sometimes Maze's glares were scary.

"Okay fine then," Maze said after what had felt like the longest silence of Chloe's life.

"Really?" Chloe asked.

Maze just shrugged. "I've been told I need to be more open or whatever so yeah."

"Do you mind if I invite someone else too?" Chloe asked. "You can as well of course."

"Alright," Maze replied. "But I'm driving." Chloe didn't argue. It was weird but Maze was a bit more intimidating than Lucifer even if she'd never actually seen Maze in action. There was just something threatening about her presence. Then again she had worked as a torturer for thousands of years so that did make sense.

Chloe texted Ella on the drive over. It didn't take Ella long to show up. Chloe had barely had time to talk to the bartender about the abandoned building next door before she was greeted with one of Ella's hugs.

"This is the friend you brought?" Maze asked skeptically. "She's so bubbly."

"Hi I'm Ella," Ella said to Maze before quickly moving forward and hugging Maze too. Chloe couldn't help but chuckle at the look on Maze's face. It might have been centuries if ever that anyone had dared hug her like that. Even if she'd believed Lucifer when he'd told her Maze wasn't a monster, it was seeing her in this moment that really showed Chloe what he'd meant. Maze was clearly uncomfortable with Ella's hug but it would never have occurred to her to retaliate. Chloe had met humans with less self control.

"I just have to put a call in for a warrant on that building and then I think I'm done," Chloe said smiling.

"Done as in leaving or just done working?" Maze grumbled. "Because I remember you inviting me to get drinks, not watch you work."

"Done working," Chloe confirmed.

"So you won't mind if I order you a drink that you actually drink, right?" Maze said pointedly.

"Right," Chloe smiled. She knew she needed the fun but it was so hard to relax.

By the time Chloe returned from her phone call, Maze had a huge pina colada type drink waiting for her. There was also another woman sitting next to Maze that Chloe recognized as Dr. Martin.

"I didn't know you two knew each other," Chloe said.

"We're friends," Maze said, in her usual gruff way though Chloe sensed that like Lucifer she might have more emotion underneath than it seemed. "And friends invite each other to girls' night, right?"

"That's right," Linda chuckled.

Smiling, Chloe took a sip. It was cold and definitely had the power to get her very drunk, but it still tasted delicious.

She couldn't help but remember something Lucifer had said about Maze. If she had to guess, Chloe would have said that Dr. Martin was the new friend of Maze's that she wasn't telling Lucifer about.

"Girls night is about female bonding," Dr. Martin said to the group. "Really getting to know each other. Sharing problems, secrets, origin stories."

Even Chloe understood why Maze looked at Linda like she was off her rocker. That seemed like a lot. Chloe had just managed to gear herself up for drinking with these people. She wasn't about to pour her heart out to them.

"Okay fine," Linda continued. "I'll start. I worked my way through med school as a phone sex operator. 1-800-ProfessorFeelGood."

"I would totally call that," Ella said. Chloe could tell by her tone that Ella was already tipsy. It wasn't until Ella introduced herself to Linda that Chloe realized they hadn't met before.

"Okay I'll go next," Ella said. "I used to steal cars. Who's next?"

"I was forced in the bowels of hell to toruture guilty souls for all eternity," Maze said dramatically.

"Interesting share," Linda said, clearly dismissing Maze's words. Chloe on the other hand couldn't help but wonder how someone with such a past could seem so relatively normal.

"So now you go Chloe," Linda said.

The fact that she believed Maze's words was probably her biggest secret and one she couldn't share with anyone except Maze and Lucifer which meant it wouldn't work as an answer.

"What's on your mind?" Linda asked again. "Apart from work."

Linda had her there. Chloe had been hiding in her work lately. Single parenthood, lots of cats and maybe never finding a decent apartment had been on her mind since her difficult conversation with Dan. But could she say all that to these people? Would they really be her friends?

"My divorce," Chloe finally said. Maybe it was the alcohol talking, but Chloe was ready to share. "I know it's the right call, but the reality of it is hard. Raising Trixie alone, moving out of moms. It's just a lot all at once."

"Try moving from hell to earth," Maze smiled. "Trust me it's a bigger change."

"Doesn't it feel good to open up and share?" Linda said. Then she addressed the bartender. "Tequila stat."

Everything started to feel more fuzzy and less painful as Chloe drank. They were all being so nice to her, even the demon. Though Maze did say something about her being more fun drunk. Still, it felt like she had a tribe, friends who would drop everything to help her if she needed them. Chloe hadn't realized how much she'd been lacking in the female friend department until this very moment. She had really needed this.

Even as drunk as she was and across the room, Chloe recognized the symbol. She walked over and grabbed the man's arm, not really focusing on anything else. She brought him over to show his arm stamp to the others. She tried to ask him questions but some random other girl showed up and started picking a fight.

"She's just asking a few questions," Ella defended Chloe.

"He's taken," the woman spat at them. "So back off, skank!"

And then to Chloe's surprise Maze was standing between her and the angry woman. "No one calls my skank a skank," Maze snapped. "I'm hurting her." It took Chloe and Linda to hold Maze back, but that didn't last long when Linda called the woman a bitch.

That was when the fighting broke out. Chloe tried to stop it with her badge, but she got tackled to the ground. It was then that she got to see Maze in action. With just two sticks that demon could probably have taken out the entire room. Chloe had a feeling she was holding back quite significantly so as not to kill anyone. Once again Chloe felt impressed with Maze's self control, but she knew she was a bit too drunk to judge so this was a thought to re-examine in the morning.

When Chloe called out to remind Maze she still had questions for the guy with the nightclub mark, the demon propped him up in a chair and Ella splashed water on his face. They were like a well oiled machine! A girl power team! Then again maybe that was the alcohol talking.

Once she got the chance to talk to the guy with the symbol on his arm, Chloe learned that what she thought was a rave had actually been an illegal sex club of the secretive invite only kind. Before the hand stamp guy passed out she was able to get one more piece of information out of him. The next sex party was happening tomorrow.

Chloe already had a plan. It was a guys only club but she couldn't send Lucifer in alone since he'd never be able to focus long enough to do any actual work. That meant sending in Dan with Lucifer as back up.

What did you think of my version of events here? I pulled from the end of season 1 conversation between Chloe and Maze that I had to cut before. I think it fit pretty well here. There a bit less bickering since Chloe initiated the outing instead of Maze trying to win a bet. I hope it didn't feel forced. ^_^ As always I'd love to hear what you think.

Also not sure if anyone notice this but for some reason it really bugs me. Until this episode about distractions Lucifer didn't have a cell phone. When I re-watched the episode I noticed that Lucifer's having a cell phone was new which sucked since I had already written all previous chapters of this story under the assumption he had a cell phone and I wasn't about to re-write the whole thing. My solution was to changed it slightly so that Lucifer recently discovered phone games instead of a phones in general. How he managed to get called into work in the first season without a phone is beyond me.

Sneak Peek Chapter 29

"Maybe we should focus on what we can explain," Amenadiel began but he was interrupted by Lucifer's phone ringing. "Really Brother. Why do you even bother with those things?"

"They come in handy," Lucifer defended his phone. "You should get one. It would make contacting you far easier." He put the phone to his ear and said hello. The sound of the voice on the other line made Lucifer's blood run cold. Her voice was so weak, so small. Lucifer couldn't help picturing her dying in a ditch somewhere.

"Just wanted to let you know so you don't freak out later," Chloe's weak voice came through his phone speakers.

"What happened?" Lucifer said, his muscles tensing as if they were about to run.

"It was just a car accident," Chloe said. "I'm fine. Just don't expect a call into work for a couple days alright."

"Where are you?" Lucifer asked urgently.

"At the hospital," Chloe replied. "As I said I'm fine. I'll talk to you later." And she hung up the phone.