Author's Notes:
I haven't been able to find a beta so all mistakes, misinterpretations and misunderstandings of canon are all mine.
If I made any huge mistakes, please let me know and I'll do my best to correct them.
Chapter 1: "Time to go Home"
Chloe's eyelashes tapped out a rapid staccato against her rosy cheeks as her lips pursed in confused frustration. Where Lucifer had stood a mere second ago bathed in a charged atmosphere of flustered reticence, now he was gone.
Trembling fingers swiped angrily at her watery eyes and she swallowed thickly against the long-nailed talons of irrational fear that clutched at her heart.
Before she had a chance to spiral into despair over being abandoned by the man she loved, again, when confronted with an emotional conundrum completely out of his depth of understanding or experience, muffled commotion echoed through the closed evidence room door.
With a huff of overwhelmed annoyance, she yanked open the door with a little more force than was necessary. Her mouth fell open and she stared in awed fascination as a celestial fistfight between Lucifer, Michael, Amenadiel and – Maze? unfolded with perfectly executed precision in front of her.
Her heart hammered in her throat as she tracked how Lucifer moved effortlessly between Maze and Michael while fluently trading off sparring partners with Amenadiel. Long legs danced away and expertly blocked the rapid blows that could never have been stopped by the most well-trained human martial arts expert and she realized with a jolt of overwhelming affection just how much he must have been holding back over the years.
Before she had a chance to appreciate the incredible hand-to-hand combat skills her beloved partner exhibited, movement out of the corner of her eye drew attention.
A wide-eyed Dan and a gaping Trixie hugged the wall along the outskirts of the fight, single minded in reaching their only logical safe space; the precinct's main Conference Room.
Chloe suppressed a huff of frustration. He was supposed to be home with Trixie, enjoying some daddy daughter bonding time after he'd missed the last few days thanks to his freak out over seeing Lucifer's devil face.
She crept as close to the wall as possible, gawking at the colleagues frozen mid-motion, and was nearly tackled to the ground by a panicking Ella.
"What the hell's happening, Decker? Everyone's gone stone cold and Lucifer's turned into some badass Bruce Lee." Eyes round as saucers, the diminutive woman waved a hand toward the celestial fistfight.
"I don't know. But let's get out of the way." Chloe pushed the forensic scientist quickly toward the conference room.
Linda came forward cautiously to meet them, baby carriage at her fingertips, eyes just as disbelieving as the rest. Dan and Trixie surged in behind them, casting worried looks over their shoulders.
"Why's Maze trying to kill Lucifer?" Trixie asked, eyes focused on her favorite non-blood relations.
"Yeah, what the hell?" Dan echoed, arms protectively wrapped around his daughter. "She just helped us find you."
"I don't know," Chloe answered honestly. Lost and confused as the fight raged on in front of them.
"He's gotta intro me to his trainer. That's some mad shit right there," Ella breathed, eyes following every precisely landed blow.
"What are you doing here, anyway?" Chloe hissed at Dan as she reached for Trixie. It was an exercise in extreme false comfort thinking she could in any way protect her daughter from the celestial battle raging in front of them but she didn't care. It grounded her. "You're supposed to be home with Trixie."
Dan relinquished Trixie into her arms and yanked out his gun, eyes tracking the fight and searching for a weak spot.
"Put that down, Dan," Chloe hissed with a roll of her eyes. "Didn't work the last time you tried. What makes you think it will now?"
Successfully shamed, he lowered the weapon and exhaled shakily. "She really is a demon."
"Huh?" Ella asked, attention split between the conversation and the fight.
"Course she is, Dad," Trixie beamed and their heads all swiveled at the same time to gawk at the girl. "Lucifer brought her with him when he left Hell."
Chloe exchanged a shocked look with Dan, who minutely shook his head to assure her that he hadn't revealed anything.
Chloe hoped her voice didn't shake as she asked, "How do you know that, Monkey?"
Trixie tore her gaze from the angelic Thunderdome battlefield and settled big, perceptive eyes on her mother. "He told me who he was the day we met."
Chloe's mouth fell open and she very pointedly didn't look at Dan, whose head snapped around to glare in her direction.
Ella ruffled Trixie's hair and smiled that warm, pacifying smile of someone who didn't believe a child's wild fantasies but indulged them anyway. "He's so method it's a miracle he hasn't won an Oscar."
"Have you ever seen him act - in anything?" Dan snapped, his patience clearly stretched beyond its limits this week. "It's real, man. All of it!" And she would probably be on her last nerve, too, if she hadn't gotten laid so thoroughly two days ago.
Had it really only been two days? Chloe groaned inwardly, wishing they could go back to that exhaustingly perfect night. It had done wonders for her stress levels. But nothing was ever easy for them. Always one step forward and two steps back.
"How are we awake?" Linda breathed softly, interrupting Chloe's memorable trip down pleasure lane. The shocked psychologist waved a hand at the rest of the unmoving officers scattered around the precinct, keeping her voice low so as not to draw attention from the celestial brawl. "We shouldn't be awake."
Ella crept closer, jaw slack. "I thought Maze was TeamLucifer? And wait, why are there two Lucifers?" Ella gawked and Chloe's eyes tracked the effortless way he blocked a series of lightning quick punches.
"Twin brother," Chloe sighed, fingertips pressing to her temples as the beginnings of a headache formed.
"No way!" Ella exclaimed, bouncing in place as excitement rippled through her. "Why'd he never say anything?!"
"They don't exactly get along," Chloe's eyes slipped shut for a brief moment. And boy was that an understatement.
"Did you know he had a twin?" Ella's eyes bugged out of her head and Chloe ignored her questioning look. "How did we not know he had a twin?"
"Why is Maze fighting Lucifer? She shouldn't be fighting him." The trembling emotion in Trixie's confused tone tugged at Chloe's heart and she wished she could shield her child from the hurt that would inevitably follow the outcome of this fight. Her pained eyes followed Lucifer's expert deflection until with a sudden downward swing, he flattened the demon to the floor with a blow that would have easily shattered the sternum of any normal person.
"Whoa," Ella breathed, eyes wide and unblinking.
Chloe watched with her heart in her throat as Michael and Amenadiel fell into their line of sight and Lucifer stepped in to catch a fist aimed at the Favored Son.
"Shouldn't we try and stop them?" Ella asked, eyes darting wildly from one angel to another.
"None of us would survive getting in the middle of that," Dan breathed, eyes glued to the continuing fight.
Silence fell as they watched the celestial smackdown unfold in front of them. When Lucifer whirled away from Michael and expertly caught Maze's demon blades out of thin air, Chloe gulped with the realization that Ella and Trixie were about to get a crash course in the very real existence of Angels and Demons. Despite what Trixie thought she knew, the reality of seeing it was an entirely different experience.
They watched spellbound as Lucifer flung the blades in opposite directions and stalked toward Maze, fiery gaze filled with murderous intent. Up until now, he'd simply defended her blows but as he pulled himself up to his full, intimidating height, the unexpected witnesses got an impressive eyeful; the King of Hell, minus his devil face, on full, unmitigated display.
A thrill tingled down Chloe's nerve endings as he growled, "Enough!"
Maze skid to a sudden stop at the tone that demanded no argument. Chest heaving with exertion, lips pinched in a hard line, Chloe could see the demon struggle against the millennia-ingrained command.
"You Will. Stand. Down." His eyes burned red, every bit the benevolent King she had at one time sworn to serve.
Chloe had heard that tone only once before; in the Mayan as he ordered the demons to leave their possessed bodies and return to Hell. They had instantly obeyed, clearly fearful of their King's retribution. Released their hold on the humans they'd murdered and returned to their everlasting, fiery homeland.
And so she was shocked when Maze shook herself free of the ingrained obedience to the command before she continued her advance, fists raised. Her tone a wet hiss of unmitigated fury. "I no longer serve you!"
Lucifer expertly blocked every punch and kick she threw at him and Chloe felt a satisfied pride at witnessing the awesome power that her partner, the actual King of Hell, possessed.
"Please stop, Maze. Please." Trixie's small, heartbreaking plea caused Chloe to kneel beside her begging daughter, heart clenching.
They all gasped when Lucifer executed a series of decisive blocks that ended with a solid downward swing that dropped Maze instantly.
Amenadiel slid across the floor and into the wall at the same moment and in the span of a heartbeat, gleaming white wings WHOOSHED across Lucifer's back as he whirled on his rapidly advancing twin.
"Are those wings? Holy shit. Holy shit," Ella gasped beside her, eyes blown wide with shock. "No way! Holy shit. You mean it's all true? I- I thought he was just an act-" Her voice rose with each exclamation until Dan slapped a silencing hand across her mouth.
Chloe's jaw fell open as Lucifer smoothly stepped back and flung his wings forward with what must have been a well-practiced battle move for how it was so expertly executed.
The gust flung Michael backward into the far wall but Lucifer was blocked from advancing on his downed twin as two blond angels swooped suddenly to his side and smoothly clasped glimmering, silvery cuffs around his wrists. Their wings snapped out of existence and they stepped out of range of Lucifer's as they sagged with the sudden overwhelming pressure on his arms and shoulders.
Chloe gasped as the weight of the celestial bindings acted like weighted anchors and drove Lucifer to his knees. Icy fear raced down her spine as she watched him defiantly glower at the new arrivals.
"He's – really the devil," Ella gulped. Gawked as pieces swooped around the already crowded celestial chessboard. "They're angels. Holy shit."
Fear and anxiety warred threatened to overwhelm Chloe as a gleeful Michael advanced on his bound twin. There was more than simple dislike for a sibling in his every overconfident step. This was - He was going to kill his brother right in front of them.
Her world tilted as she heard Amenadiel's firm, booming voice but while the tone gave her comfort, the panic in his eyes jolted Chloe to her core. They were outnumbered. And he knew it. "Gabriel. Raquel. No!"
A set of brown wings deposited a dark haired angel in front of Amenadiel and the spear she lowered in front of him immediately stopped his advance. Her feathers snapped away as he tried to reason with her.
"Remiel. Don't do this." Amenadiel's plea was cut short by an advancing Michael, the vicious satisfaction on his face one of a contented cat with a bound canary in its clawed paw.
"Time to go home, Samael," Michael hissed, eyes glinting with glee as he stalked toward his bound twin.
The air around Lucifer radiated with heated animosity as he glared fiery rage at his triumphant brother.
Chloe watched horrified as the new arrivals flanked Michael, silent and stoic in their support. Every hurt, spiteful word he'd ever said about his family came back to her in a rush. They weren't here to help him. They hated him. All of them. Except Amenadiel. But would his support be enough?
Beside her, she could feel Trixie struggle in her father's hold.
They all sat stunned into motionless silence by the celestial force of wills being waged a few feet away.
Lucifer didn't move and it didn't look like he could. His long, lean back was bent awkwardly as the obviously weighted cuffs dragged him down. Blood soaked into his shirtsleeves and dripped down his wrists from where they'd dug into his skin and she wondered if she'd suddenly made him vulnerable or if these heaven-sent chains had the power to hurt even an angel.
His shoulders dipped, taking the bright, majestic wings with them, and the muscle beneath his clothing flexed with a discomfort his proud, indignant face didn't convey.
"Arbiters of Justice," Ella whispered, eyes unblinking as she surveyed the scene. She clutched the cross around her neck and breathed, "Gabriel and Raquel."
Hope swirled like a gale force as Chloe watched Amenadiel press forward, his tone firm and unwavering.
"You don't want to do this."
"Of course they do," Lucifer's glib retort echoed loudly and just once, Chloe wished he wouldn't behave like his normal, irreverent self. "Self-important pricks, the lot of you." Lucifer's neck rolled to toward Amenadiel, "With a few exceptions, of course."
"You will be silent," Raquel ordered and Chloe felt a prickle of fear and panic for the man she loved.
Lucifer's eyes rolled toward his brother. "Oh, I really won't."
"You will return to Hell under your own power, or we will escort you." Raquel's tone was firm but his stance belayed his nervousness. And if Chloe could see it, she knew Lucifer would take full advantage of the weakness.
"They're gonna take him back to hell," Ella gawked, eyes wide and unblinking. "Is this seriously happening right now?"
Trixie pried her father's hand off her mouth and whispered furiously. "No, Mom. Don't let them!"
"Amenadiel will stop them," Linda assured in a stage whisper Chloe was sure they all could hear.
And she wanted with her whole heart to believe Linda but Amenadiel and Lucifer were outnumbered and Lucifer was chained to the floor, unable to move.
Chloe groaned inwardly as Lucifer hissed at Raquel. "You can try, coward."
She forced herself to stay still as he continued his verbal lashing and this, she realized with overwhelming pride, was a true glimpse of the powerful angel who had been cast out of his home for inciting rebellion. Abandoned by the only family he had ever known and condemned to rule over Hell for eternity.
His eyes flashed red and his stubbled chin jutted defiantly skyward. "Where were you when I was cast from the Silver City, hmm? Meting out Justice from the safety of Mum's pristine robes? Because Dad knows He wasn't around when the deed was done."
"Luci-" Amenadiel admonished and Chloe could tell that the older angel was struggling to find a way out of this situation.
Michael glared at Lucifer. "You are going home, Samael."
"The name's Lucifer," came the brittle response, teeth bared, eyes burning slits of glowing red hellfire. "The name I chose. You should try it sometime, Michael. Free Will. It's all the rage nowadays."
"Samael means poison," Ella whispered, awestruck with a realization she'd clearly never before considered. "The Big Guy named his kid-" She trailed off with a gulp.
"And Lucifer means Lightbringer," Linda's eyes lingered proudly on her defiant patient. "Because that's what he does or – did."
"And let there be light," Ella confirmed with a breathy whisper. "He created the stars."
Before Chloe had a moment to process, a chill swept through her bones.
Michael stalked toward his bound twin, toothily brandishing one of Maze's demon-forged knives. "And this time, I'm going to ensure you stay there."
A gasp burst from Chloe's lips and she could hear similar inhalations as Michael whirled behind his brother and slashed hard at his beautiful, snowy wings.
Amenadiel rushed forward only to be restrained by Gabriel and Raquel, with Remiel's spear lowered in front of him. He struggled against their hold, eyes wide with horrified disbelief, screams of revulsion on his lips.
As the first slash drew a bloody gash along Lucifer's angelic white feathers, they fully extended and arched wildly toward their attacker in a futile effort to escape the methodical and deliberate slashes designed to cause the most damage.
Lucifer screamed as the blade sliced through tendons and bone, leaving one wing drooping downward, its bloodied feathers sweeping across the dirty precinct floor.
As Michael whirled toward the other wing, all hell broke loose and Chloe struggled to follow the rush of motion through a flood of tears.
"Michael, stop!" came from a stunned Gabriel as he struggled to keep Amenadiel in place.
"This is not as we agreed!" Raquel added simultaneously but his voice was drowned out by Amenadiel's horrified howl.
Remiel even stepped aside, shock and disbelief etched across her stoic face.
Chloe stood suddenly, determined to put herself in Michael's path but Trixie was faster. She wrested herself out of Dan's grasp and darted toward her favorite devil with an anguished cry. "Lucifer!"
Panic gripped Chloe's heart so hard it stole her breath and she darted forward with a panicked, "Trixie! No!"
Until now, none of the celestials had noticed the humans, so consumed as they were with their own internal disagreement. But every one of their heads snapped toward the screaming Trixie and when Lucifer's eyes met Chloe's, they mirrored her helpless horror.
Chloe knew she wouldn't reach her daughter in time and she screamed as Michael whirled toward her little monkey, his face twisted with out-of-control maniacal murder.
Her pulse pounded in her skull, driving her blood pressure into the stratosphere. She grew light headed as Michael raised his arm and loosed the hell blade covered in Lucifer's blood toward Trixie.
A chorus of horrified and stunned screams followed and her voice was ripped raw as she watched in seeming slow motion as Lucifer's long fingers gripped the chains affixed to the cuffs clasped tightly around his wrists.
With a howl infused with unimaginable pain and using every ounce of strength in his possession, he heaved his impossibly weighted body upright. His broken and bloody wings burst outward as the less injured wing intercepted the thrown hellblade. Blood burst from the impact and the severed muscle caused the wing to immediately slump to the floor.
Lucifer's agonizing scream was drowned out by the howls of disbelief that echoed around him. And the burden of the injured wings combined with the weight of the celestial cuffs drove Lucifer back to his knees. Unable to remain upright, he fell over, cheek impacting hard with the concrete, as his arms awkwardly pinned to the floor behind him.
Torn, bloody wings draped lifelessly atop his body just as Chloe reached a stunned Trixie and enveloped her little monkey into her arms.
Fat, miserable tears slid down her cheeks as she hauled Trixie tightly against her. A split second later, Dan's chest hit her back and his arms wrapped claustrophobically around her to reach his daughter.
A pained whimper slipped from her gasping lips as she met Lucifer's unblinking eyes. He offered her a tight, relieved smile before relaxing bonelessly onto the floor, fight drained from his tightly restrained and bloody body.
Before she had a chance to feel torn over keeping her daughter safe and helping the man she loved, Trixie pulled out of her embrace. Chloe's vision narrowed as her daughter burrowed into her father's arms and pushed her forward with a tearful plea.
"Mom, help him!"
She'd nodded stiffly and slid across the floor on her knees, coming to a stop at Lucifer's head, one hand cupping his cheek and the other tugging at the immoveable cuff wrapped around his closest wrist.
"Let him go!" Chloe screamed, favoring each of the offending angels with a furious glare. "He doesn't deserve this!"
She ignored his barely audible, "I do," and continued to scream at them. Powerful angels left motionless and speechless under the chastisement of a simple angry human.
Her screams turned to pleas until her voice squeaked out a raw, "Please let him go!" She released the cuff and slid her hand into his sweat-damped hair to tilt his unblinking gaze up to hers.
Remiel was the first celestial to break out of the paralyzed stupor and stepped forward, her face a mixture of dismay and shock.
She swung her spear with determined care and as the metal struck the celestial cuffs pinning Lucifer to the floor, they instantly burst apart in a shower of glittering sparks.
Chloe scooted closer, careful to avoid the injured wings and pillowed Lucifer's head in her lap.
Angry voices rose around her but her focus narrowed in on the angel lying broken and bloody in her arms. She could see him struggle to hide the agony of his injuries but she could feel it in the tremble of his limbs and in the torn and bloody skin of his wrists where he'd impossibly dragged the immovable celestial chains to save her daughter's life.
"What can I do?" She asked, her voice raw and wobbly. "What do I do?" Tears dripped down her cheeks; fat, hot and full of grief-filled rage.
The rare whisper of her name on his lips was barely audible and her mouth snapped shut at the sticky, wet sound.
He attempted a smile but it was a soft, pained thing that vanished as he struggled to draw in a breath. The gurgle she heard from his lungs sent a shock of horrified dread down her spine and she swallowed around the sudden lump in her throat as a trickle of blood appeared at the corner of his lips.
"No," she whispered, suddenly realizing the severity of his injuries. She scanned his bloody wings before locating the hellblade embedded deep into his back. "No, Lucifer. No."
Lucifer offered Chloe a small, resigned grimace and his eyes drooped with the effort to stay conscious.
"You can't leave me. Not again." She tugged him further into her arms as he coughed, a wet sickly sound that pushed more blood to his lips.
TBD
Author's Notes:
Liked it? Hated it? Did I miss anything that should be there? Anything completely throw you out of the moment?
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