Chapter 4

You will know the truth

Then you will know the truth,
and the truth will set you free

(John 8:32, NIV)

.

Lux was empty and quiet when he returned, which was hardly surprising, seeing as it was early afternoon on a Monday, but Lucifer was glad nonetheless. He did not want any company right now.

The elevator seemed to take ages to descend and even longer to go back up again. Lucifer rubbed his eyes tiredly, then cursed when he smelled copper and realized his hands were still full of blood. Oh well. He was going to take a shower anyway.

Back in his apartment he first of all poured himself a Scotch and then another and then another after that. Only then did he undress, leaving a trail of bloodied clothes on his way to the bathroom.

Lucifer stepped into the huge rainforest shower, turned it on and leaned against the wall, letting the perfectly tempered water rinse away all the blood and sweat on his body. He wondered if Chloe was going to believe him now. There was no way even she could logically explain away how he had known about the situation at the school before it had been on the news or how he had made it there so fast despite leaving his convertible with them. Or how he had not only survived getting shot at multiple times at close distance, but instead overpowered the shooter and squashed the weapon to bits. That the children were bound to tell everyone about his angel wings seemed well-nigh trivial in comparison.

Those infernal wings.

„Was that what you wanted?!", he snapped and tilted his head back to glower at the cream coloured ceiling. "Was that the reason you gave them back; so I could fly in to rescue the detective's offspring?! So I could save Daisy's life?! Save one little girl's life, while others died anyway because Hell knows, it would have been too easy not to let it happen in the first place!", he raged on. "But you don't care, do you? No, you wanted to make a point, you bloody arsehole! What was it, show me that I need them after all? Or did you me to show the detective my true self?! Force her to see me for what I really am, so she'd leave me?! What was it? What was the point?!Answer me!",Lucifer screamed but there was no answer, of course not, there never was.

„Just take them back, you bloody stupid bastard! I don't want them!", he gritted out. „Give them to Amenadiel, he wants them and he deserves them. But you don't care about that, Dad, do you, you never cared!"

He let his head fall back against the wet tiles.

„Why am I even tryingto talk to you, you fucking arsehole. Might as well be talking to the bloody wall", he muttered.

What did it matter anymore? Chloe would know and there was absolutely nothing he could do about it. Even without Beatrice spilling the beans about Daisy, there was more than enough evidence as it was, not to mention allthe other children. It had only now occurred to him that perhaps he should have asked the lotof them to keep their mouths shut about the healing, not just Beatrice. Lucifer had been so focused on the spawn not telling her mother about it, that he had entirely disregarded the rest of them. But of course they would be interviewed and if they all said one thing except for Beatrice? Chloe was a good cop for a reason. He banged his head against the wall.

Lucifer fervently hoped the brats hadn't seen any details. He thought his wings must have been in the way, but he wasn't sure. Now that he had time to properly think about it – even if only Beatrice had seen what he'd actually done, surely Daisy would remember having been shot, not to mention all the blood. And even if they explained the wings away as a costume– he shuddered at the thought – the whole thing was bound to appear on national news. He really hadn't thought this through, had he? Save the spawn at all costs, consequences be damned.

"Bollocks."

Lucifer left the shower to get himself some Tequila. Scotch was all nice and good, but this called for the DeLéon.

Amenadiel would have his head.

It was late at night when Chloe arrived at Lux and, like so many times before, pushed the elevator button to Lucifer's penthouse. And not for the first time she thought about how after everything that had happened to him, Lucifer really ought to put some security measures in place.

Chloe eyes were still red-rimmed and swollen and she was exhausted, but it was nothing a good night's sleep wouldn't cure. The only thing that mattered was that her daughter was alive and safe. Securely tucked into her bed, holding Ms. Alien and with Dan watching over her. Chloe felt like the worst mother in the world for not being with them, but she neededanswersand there was only one person who could give them to her.

She found Lucifer sitting at the piano, clad in suit trousers and one of his usual dress shirts. His eyes were closed as he was playing; a slow, sad tune Chloe did not recognize.

Upon hearing the elevator ping, Lucifer's hands stilled and he turned his head. His face was that of a man waiting for the gallows: resigned and hoping it would be quick and painless.

"Ah. Detective", he said quietly. "I didn't expect you so soon. I thought you'd be with your daughter." He didn't rise to greet her.

"I was. She's asleep now. Dan is with her", said Chloe, slowly walking towards him. He nodded understandingly, still wearing the same sad, hopeless expression.

"Lucifer, I… I don't know what to say. I can't thank you enough", began Chloe nervously, interlocking her fingers and letting go again.

"It was nothing, Detective", he told her.

"No", she said. "No, Lucifer, it was everything."

And then she looked at him, looked at the impossible man sitting in front of her and asked the question she had been afraid to ask all evening.

"How?"

It was all she said and it was all she needed to say.

Lucifer carefully closed the lid on his piano. She suddenly noticed how tall he was; even sitting down he was a mere head shorter than her.

"You know how", he said, a broken man waiting for the guillotine to drop. "I've told you many times… Chloe."

Chloe shook her head. It could not be true, must not be true. But she had seen him leave and knew where he had been only minutes later. She'd seen the countless bullet holes in Lucifer's shirt when he had set down Trixie, had seen the unmarked skin underneath. Chloe seen the truth, yet she refused to believe it still.

"No. No, you can't be. You're not… You saved Trixie", she said desperately.

"Detective", said Lucifer. "Please. Don't make this harder than it has to be." He dropped his gaze.

"Show me", she whispered.

Lucifers' eyes were full of pain when he looked at her.

"Very well", he said and closed them for a moment, surrendering to what was inescapable anyway.

Slowly, he stood up and walked towards his bedroom to put some distance between him and Chloe. This way her way to the elevator would be unobstructed.

"I must warn you, Detective, that what I am about to show you is… disturbing. The last person I showed… well, she didn't talk to me for two weeks and I was afraid she never would again." He looked into his glass.

"Are you sure you want this, Detective?", he asked, one last attempt to stave off the inevitable.

"Lucifer, I just… I have to know", said Chloe, never taking her eyes off him.

Lucifer nodded and drew a shaky breath.

"Detective. I would never hurt you. Please… please remember that", he said and before Chloe could ask why he felt the need to reiterate this, Lucifer was gone.

In his place there was a nightmare.

Cloe drew a sharp breath and clasped her hands before her mouth. Where Lucifer's face had been a mere moment ago, a horrible, bloody grimace had taken its place. Raw, charred skin stretched over a bald skull criss-crossed by scars and instead of warm brown eyes there was only fiery red. Hellfire burned deep in their sockets. Lucifer had turned into a grotesque creature, risen from the depths of Purgatory; a godless punisher, striking fear into the hearts of men.

"It's all true", she breathed. "It's all true."

Seeing was believing. In a way, Chloe had already known it when she had come here, known that there was simply no other explanation for what had happened than what Lucifer had been telling her all along: he was the Devil and this was real.

God was real. Heaven and Hell and everything in between and Lucifer Morningstar – her partner, her best friend, her most annoying friend, her almost-lover – was really and truly the Devil himself.

Lucifer, Lucifer hadn't moved. He just stood there, waiting. Looking at her like it was the last time he'd see her.

Chloe's mind was going blank. She saw the red, scarred lips move, but she couldn't hear him say anything. There was a buzzing sound in her ears. Was it the rushing of her blood? Her field of vision kept narrowing, blackness creeping in from the edges and suddenly she realized she was swaying. She was going to…

Thump.