Chapter 1

When I am afraid

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When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.

(Psalm 56:3, NIV)

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Now…

"Detective!"

Chloe turned her head upon hearing the familiar British accent, just in time to see her tall partner duck under the yellow tape and hurry towards her.

"What have we got?", Lucifer asked eagerly as he surveyed the crime scene; a small park on the southern outskirts of L.A. and the body of a young Hispanic-looking man.

"Anthony González, 26. Three shots to the chest. Didn't stand a chance", said Ella, who was crouched next to the corpse.

"His wallet was found over there", explained Chloe and pointed to a spot a few yards into the alley. "Driver's license was still there but no money or credit cards, so we think mugging."

Lucifer groaned.

"Well, that's boring!"

"Excuse me for not providing you with a more interesting murder, Lucifer. I am so sorry", said Chloe acidly but as usual the sarcasm was entirely lost on her partner.

"Apology accepted, Detective!", said Lucifer merrily and absentmindedly scratched the back of his head. He kept feeling an odd tingling sensation near the base. Lucifer frowned. Distracted by Chloe and their new non-case it had taken him longer than normal to identify the cause: someone was praying to him intensely.

Lucifer considered simply ignoring it (Amenadiel could bloody well call him on his phone) but it wouldn't let up, on the contrary: it got more persistent by the second, an irritating mental itch he was simply unable to tune out.

"A moment, Detective. There's a call I have to take", he said. Chloe looked at him curiously, seeing as she hadn't heard his phone so much as vibrate and he hadn't even taken it out.

Lucifer wandered off to the side, careful not to step into dried up blood. Hands in his pockets he tilted his head back and closed his eyes. Breathing evenly, he focused his attention inwards.

What do you want, Amenadiel

…cifer can you hear me it's trixie please i need you to come please please lucifer i'm scared he has a gun please come lucifer

Lucifer gasped. His eyes flung open and it took him several blinks before he was mentally back at the crime scene, the force of the prayer having hit him like the proverbial ton of bricks. His gaze searched for Chloe and found her looking at him askance.

"Detective!", he exclaimed loudly and strode back to her and Ella.

"Something wrong, Lucifer?", asked Chloe and furrowed her brows when she saw his face. She should by all means be used to her partners antics by now, but he looked as if he'd seen a ghost.

"Detective", said Lucifer again. "We have to leave. Now."

please come i don't want to die please help us lucifer if you can hear me please come

"What? Why?", asked Chloe, her frown deepening when she noticed how tense Lucifer had become. "We only just got here."

"Yes, but your spawn is in danger!", said Lucifer, internally cursing all the Heavens, Earth and Hell that Chloe still didn't believe he was the devil. It would have made everything a lot easier. "I don't know what exactly is going on, but it involves a gun and we need to hurry!"

"Lucifer, what are you talking about? Is this supposed to be some kind of joke? Because it's not funny!", she said sternly, although her voice was wavering slightly.

"Detective, please. Your offspring is in grave and probably mortal danger right now and we need to LEAVE!", he shouted, frantically trying to tug Chloe to his car.

you said i could pray to you lucifer please help please

"Wow, wow, Lucifer. Calm down", said Ella, who had witnessed the exchange. "What's happening?"

"Lucifer, what makes you think Trixie is in any kind of danger? She's at school!", Chloe tried to reason with him.

"I don't know, Detective! But I… Look, I know it sounds crazy to you but she's praying to me and she sounds very scared, we need to go to the school immediately!", he shouted, the incessant yelling attracting the attention of Dan.

"What's going on?", the other detective asked sharply, putting away his notebook and coming over from where he had been interviewing a resident from across the street.

"Lucifer thinks Trixie is somehow in danger. He knows, because apparently she was praying to him", said Chloe, rolling her eyes. As soon as Lucifer had mentioned 'praying' she had relaxed, although now she was worrying about different things. If he was hearing voices…

"She still is!", insisted Lucifer. "But she might not be doing it for much longer, if we don't get a bloody move on!"

"What? That's ridiculous! She's at school", scoffed Dan and looked at them incredulously.

please come lucifer i'm scared please please i can hear him coming

"I knowyou don't believe me, Detective, but please! Just… trust me!", he beseeched her, but Chloe merely shook her head sadly and held up a hand. Dan looked from one to another.

i don't want to get shot lucifer

"Lucifer, no. No. Look, this… this has gone way too far. There is absolutely nothing wrong with Trixie!", she said and determinately crossed her arms. "Lucifer. You're not hearing prayers, especially not Trixies'. You're delusional and you need to get help."

"You're hearing voices, man?", asked Dan with a concerned expression.

"Hey, it's not like there's anything wrong with that", said Ella carefully. "I mean… it happens to a lot of people, right?" She and Lucifer exchanged a short glance, but he almost immediately turned his attention back to Chloe.

"Detective, I swear to you that Beatrice is in grave danger as of this moment and it is imperative that we get to her. Now." Lucifer ran his hands through his hair erratically, for once not caring that he was messing up his styling.

lucifer help us lucifer

Chloe kept shaking her head, searching his eyes for any sign of a joke but finding only wild despair.

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Lucifer was torn. His mind was racing. He had to make a decision. This was it. Either he showed his wings right then and there in front of everybody and convinced the detective and everyone else that he was indeed the devil or… damn, what if they panicked? Lucifer remembered Linda's reaction all too well and while wings would certainly be less traumatic than his Devil Face there was no guarantee someone wouldn't just start shooting at him. With Chloe here, this could easily end up fatal for him. Not to mention the time the humans were going to waste on explanations after his grand reveal. No, there was only one way to go.

Lucifers' eyes flashed to where his car was parked in a no-parking zone. All the other cars were a short walk away, on the other side of the park. He took the Corvette keys out of his pocket and tossed them to a startled Dan, who barely caught them. He fervently hoped that at least one of them knew how to drive with a gear stick.

"What…"

"You might need those", was the only reason Lucifer offered, before he ducked under the tape and sped off, leaving his perplexed friends behind.

you said you'd always come save me lucifer

Lucifer sprinted behind a cluster of trees, away from prying eyes, and launched himself into the air. It was better like this anyway, he consoled himself. Without Chloe, he'd be bulletproof. And faster. It had sounded like the detective's offspring was in dire need of both.

"Lucifer, wait!", shouted Chloe, breaking out of her paralysis, and running after him but even though she'd skirted the large oak tree only seconds after he had, Lucifer was already gone and out of sight, leaving her gaping at an empty park.

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"Gone. Poof", said Chloe, as she walked back to the others, throwing her hands up. "I don't know how, but he's gone."

It had unsettled her much more than she wanted to admit. Even with the bushes and trees blocking her view she definitely should have been able to see him once she'd passed those, unless he'd suddenly taken off into the air. A nagging feeling of doubt was taking hold of her and she remembered the time the LAPD had attempted to arrest him for murder. Just like now, Lucifer had vanished in front of their very eyes.

"What was that all about?", asked Ella when Chloe returned. "Why would he say Trixie's in danger? I mean, I know he says crazy stuff all the time, but that's not like him, is it?"

"I don't know", said Chloe and shook her head. Dan shrugged. Neither of them could quite hide that Lucifer's even stranger than usual behaviour had rattled them.

"I'm sure she's alright", said Dan reassuringly to Chloe. "She's at school."

"What if she's not?", said Chloe, hardly believing the words were coming out of her mouth. Dan's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

"Don't tell me you believe him, Chloe. That he heard Trixie pray? For real? Come on!"

"No, I know, but, Dan…" What if, what if, what if. The seed of motherly worry had been planted and it was rapidly sprouting roots. Her mind flashed back to Malcom Gordon. "Look, I know it's bullshit, I know he's delusional, it's just-", she flailed helplessly.

"His craziness is getting to you?", asked Dan quietly. She nodded and her face flushed with embarrassment. Dan, standing there with his arms akimbo, sighed.

"Hey. I get it", he said understandingly. "After what happened with Malcolm..." He shook his head.

"There have always been these… weirdthings happening around Lucifer. Stuff I can't explain", Chloe went on, thinking back on all the times he had done something seemingly impossible.

"And Lucifer wouldn't joke about Trixie getting hurt", Ella said gingerly. She, too, was looking anxious now. "There's no harm in checking, right?", she ventured.

"I'm just gonna call the school", said Chloe. "It's probably nothing, it's probably just another one of his crazy episodes, but I'll feel better after I've had an irritated secretary tell me that nothing is wrong."

"Mum instincts, huh?", commented Ella with a wry grin.

Chloe snorted and pulled out her mobile phone. With Dan and Ella watching her, she dialed the school's number and waited. And waited. And waited.

"No one's picking up", she said slowly and frowned.

"Try again in minute. The secretary's probably just on a bathroom break", said Dan, but he didn't sound at all confident. His shoulders had tensed.

Ella, wrinkling her brows, pulled off her gloves and started to speedily type on her own phone. Chloe dialed the number again and again no one picked up.

"No one's picking up", she said. Her voice had taken on an edge. Suddenly she regretted the school's strict policy on mobile phones not being allowed during class. At this time, she couldn't call Trixie directly. Though if she wasgenuinely in danger…

"Chloe", began Dan but was cut off by Ella.

"Guys." Her face had turned as white as a sheet. "Which school is Trixie going to?", she asked, her voice trembling.

"Crawford Elementary & Middle School. Why?", asked Dan nervously.

"Because I'm looking at the news and there is an active shooter at Crawfordright now."

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Since the day they had grown back Lucifer had refused to use his wings, had cut them off instead, thrown them away like trash, he'd cursed them and loathed them and hidden them away, but now he was beating them faster than he ever had before.

When he approached the school, the building was surrounded by police cars, ambulances and cameras. As far as he could see every single window shutter seemed to be down and a SWAT team was already gathered at a distance away from the equally closed front entrance. Their guns were trained on a window on the second floor, though they didn't move closer.

The sound of a shot cut through the air.

Lucifer paid none of it any mind and headed for the rooftop. Being out of practice, he unfortunately severely misjudged his speed upon landing and almost crashed through it, rolling over twice before he managed to stumble back on his feet again. After standing up he immediately folded his severely ruffled wings and looked around wildly for a few seconds before he spotted a promising skylight. It wasn't open, but this had never stopped Lucifer before. He went in, ignoring the shouts from below.

Inside the school it was eerily quiet. The corridors were lit, but as it had appeared from the outside, all the shutters were down, even the ones on the small windows in the classroom doors. The doors themselves were all shut as well.

The building was on lockdown.

With a killer inside.

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"Do you even know how to drive shift stick?", asked Ella breathlessly, sprinting to the Corvette alongside Dan and Chloe.

"I used to", said Chloe, nearly ripping open the glove compartment and grabbing the portable police light Lucifer had insisted on storing there. She carelessly slammed it on the hood. Dan threw himself into the passenger seat and held out the keys.

"Move over, chickie", said Ella in a tone that did not leave room for discussions and grabbed the keys out of Dan's hand. Chloe hesitated for a split second, then climbed over the console and squashed herself onto her ex-husband's lap. He didn't argue.

"You might wanna hold on", warned Ella and fastened her seat belt. Chloe quickly held onto the side of the Corvette and exchanged an apprehensive glance with Dan. He gulped and wrapped his arms around her not a moment too soon.

The tires screeched brutally when Ella reversed the car and they took off towards Crawford at breakneck speed; accelerating under a flashing light and wailing siren.