Chapter 5

In peace I will lie down

In peace I will lie down and sleep,
for you alone, Lord,
make me dwell in safety.

(Psalm 4:8, NIV)

.

"Detective?", asked Lucifer anxiously. His leg twitched, but he kept himself from moving towards Chloe, not wanting to scare her. The detective had turned white as a sheet, all blood drained from her face.

"Detective, are you alright?" Chloe looked at him with glassy eyes, an unfocused, fixed stare that seemed to go right through him without recognizing anything. Without warning, she started to slowly lean forward. Then she collapsed.

"Detective!"

Lucifer rushed forward to catch her. He was too late to stop her fall entirely, but at least managed to keep her from hitting her head on the marble floor.

"Bugger", he swore, and carefully let her down. On second thought he slipped his arms under her arms and legs and picked her up to carry her to the more comfortable sofa. Lucifer laid her down gently and sat down next to her. His face had faded back into its normal humanlike state.

"Well, that could have gone a lot worse…", he mumbled and tucked a loose strand of her behind her ear. "Then again, it could have gone a lot better, too." Lucifer sighed. "At least you haven't run screaming, Detective. I suppose I should count that as a success."

He had expected a lot but not that the detective, of all people, would do such a cliché thing as faint. In all fairness: It had been a stressful day and he surmised that her passing out had as much to do with the spawn nearly getting shot as with his identity reveal.

He took Chloe's hand in his own and caressed it with a thumb.

"I'm sorry", he said. "I never meant for this to happen." Somehow it was easier to talk to her when she was out cold. With another sigh, he let go of Chloe's hand. "I think I should get you home, Detective, and… and I can only hope that come tomorrow, you will still want to talk to me. Linda came around, eventually, and I… hope that perhaps you will be able to do the same, but if you don't, I'll… understand. Chloe."

Chloe didn't stir, when he lifted her up again and cradled her in his arms. She didn't move when he carried her to the lift and downstairs to the club, despite the loud music. Patrick looked at him quizzically and held his thumb and pinky up to his ear in an imitation of a phone, but Lucifer shook his head. They didn't need a cab.

Confused or even suspicious looks followed him as he carried Chloe through the crowd, but Lucifer paid them no mind and Lux' patrons quickly backed off when they saw his face.

He found her car in the private parking lot easily. She had her own spot.

Chloe stayed silent all the way to her home, but somewhere along the way it had turned into the calm silence of sleep. She must have been completely exhausted. Her deep, even breaths were strangely soothing to Lucifer.

.

.

Despite the late hour, lights were still on in the apartment and Lucifer hesitated before he went in. As much as he liked to mock Dan for his perceived shortcomings in the intelligence department, the man was not as stupid as he looked. Like Chloe, he would have put two and two together.

He opened the door slowly – not that he had much of a choice in this regard anyway, carrying Chloe – and brought her inside. The television was running, with the volume turned down almost to mute, but everything else was silent. He risked a look to where the TV stood and saw Dan slumped in a corner of the sofa. A lump of red blanket was cuddled up next to him.

Silently, Lucifer walked upstairs to Chloe's bedroom. He gently placed her on the bed and took off her shoes, then pulled a blanket over her. She frowned and grunted, and he froze, but Chloe merely rolled over to hug a pillow with a sigh, before her face became slack again.

"Lucifer?"

If the devil could have had a heart attack, Lucifer would have had one.

.

.

"Spawn", he said, after he'd recovered. "Shouldn't you be asleep?" He shooed her out of the bedroom and softly closed the door behind them.

"Is Mommy okay?", asked Trixie fearfully. She was clutching a stuffed toy.

"Yes", said Lucifer. "She just fell asleep, nothing for you to worry about." Only for him. "Now go back to bed." Trixie didn't move.

"I can't sleep", she said, and Lucifer was startled to see tears welling up in her eyes.

"Weren't you just asleep on the sofa?", he asked, but Trixie shook her head.

"No. I can't sleep. I'm scared, Lucifer. When I close my eyes …" She broke off, but she didn't need to finish the sentence for him to know what she was talking about.

"He can't hurt you anymore, child. Nor anyone else", said Lucifer softly. Someone was going to burn for this.

"I know, but… Can you stay here?" Trixie sniffed.

"I… no. No, I'm sorry, child, I can't. Your mother wouldn't want me to stay" He looked anxiously at the bedroom door.

"Please? If you're here, I won't be afraid. You can leave in the morning. I won't tell anyone!", she pleaded with him and Lucifer agonized. It was a bad idea, but in the end Trixies' frightened eyes won out.

"Oh, alright", he said grudgingly. "But I'll have to leave before anyone else wakes up."

Trixie nodded and pulled him with her to her bedroom. She huddled under her covers and Lucifer took off his shoes and sat down next to her, leaning against the headboard.

"Lucifer?"

"Hm?"

"Thank you for coming. And… thank you for saving Daisy too. I didn't tell anyone what you did for her", she sniffed. "I asked the others not to say anything either." Lucifer sighed and put an arm around her.

"You're very welcome, child. And thanks", he mumbled and closed his eyes.