A/N: Lucifer mentioned in episode 5x06 that he went to hell and back twice for Chloe… but she didn't ask him for details. Here's my take on how she could find out about it. I hope you enjoy it!
"Well, I did go to hell and back for you twice, but who's counting?"
Chloe suddenly remembered the words Lucifer said to her after the explosion in front of her ex-boyfriend's house. She had brushed them off as an exaggeration at the time, thinking he only said them because he was jealous of her ex. And she had to admit that she had completely forgotten about them later. Too many things were happening. Too many good things between her and Lucifer that made her forget about any weird things he said before.
But while Lucifer was exaggerating things from time to time, there was usually some truth in what he said. And now that she remembered his words, she couldn't stop thinking about what he meant.
Yes, he went to hell but she wouldn't necessarily call that "for her". He went back because he had to protect everyone from demons. Of course that included her, but it didn't mean it was only "for her". Besides, she begged him to stay, she didn't want him to go, not even "for her". And even then, how was that twice?
Chloe closed her laptop and her eyes wandered to Lucifer. He was sitting on the couch, reading a book while drinking wine. The sight was so beautiful and calm, something she needed very much after all the pain and drama happening during the last year.
After watching Lucifer for a while, Chloe decided to get up from her desk and walked over to him. Standing behind the couch, she bent down to him, wrapped her arms around his neck, and kissed him gently on the cheek.
"Are you done working?" Lucifer put away the book and turned to her. A beautiful smile was on his face, a smile that he only showed to Chloe, full of affection for her.
"No, but I need a break…"
Chloe walked around the couch and sat down next to him. He pulled her into his embrace and kissed her gently on the forehead. This was something Chloe really could get used to. Just the two of them relaxing together after a long workday.
But at the moment she couldn't fully relax. She had to ask him about what he said before.
"Lucifer? I have a question."
"I'm all ears, Detective." He looked at her with curious eyes.
"What did you mean when you said you went to hell and back for me twice?"
"Oh, this… It's actually not so important," he said, suddenly avoiding her gaze. "Shall we watch a movie? Or perhaps eat something?"
"No, I think this is important, Lucifer. Did you… maybe come back after you left me?"
"That's not what I was referring to," he muttered, obviously still trying to avoid the topic.
"Then what were you referring to?" Chloe was confused. She had absolutely no idea what he was talking about.
Lucifer was still not really looking at her. For some reason her question seemed to make him quite nervous.
Chloe was wondering if she should ask again or if she should drop the topic. It seemed to be a topic that made him feel uncomfortable and she didn't want to make him feel worse about it. If he wasn't ready to tell her now, then she would accept that.
But at the same time she felt like she couldn't forget what he said anymore, now that she remembered it again. It was an offhand remark, said in the heat of their argument, but there seemed to be so much more behind it.
"Do you remember how you faced Malcolm in the warehouse?" Lucifer suddenly asked.
"When he kidnapped Trixie and you came even though I told you not to?"
That was years ago.
"Yes, exactly," he replied.
"But what does this have to do with you going to hell?"
"Well…" Lucifer hesitated. "If you remember, after you ran away to hide, Malcolm shot me."
"Yeah… you were on the ground and there was so much blood all over you… I thought he killed you." Chloe shivered when she remembered what happened in the warehouse. "But you were unharmed when it was over. He couldn't hurt you because you were invulnerable, right?"
"Remember how you shot me and I bled?" Lucifer asked. "That happened before the situation in the warehouse. I was already vulnerable around you."
Of course she remembered it. She would never forget how terrible she felt after shooting him. And then she realized something.
"You chose to be vulnerable around me… that early? We barely knew each other back then."
"I guess I realized pretty early that you're special." Lucifer gave Chloe a smile that warmed her heart.
She remembered how he made countless advances towards her in the beginning but she always thought it was just him playing around. She never would have thought that it was anything else for him this early. Though he might not have fully realized it either.
"Okay, so he shot you… and then?"
"Malcolm shot me and I… was dying. I only had little time left before my soul would have gone to hell."
"But you can just come back from hell, right?"
"That's not so easy. I need my physical body and something to travel out of hell, either my wings or something else, like the pentecostal coin I had when I came to earth. Well, when the Malcolm thing happened I didn't have either of these so it was impossible for me to come back, even with my body still being there."
"Then what did you do?" she whispered.
"I asked Dad for help."
"You did that? And he just helped you?"
"I had to make a deal with him. I offered him to do what he asks for in exchange for your life. I was sent to hell by him, but only temporarily. What he really wanted me to deal with was some problem on earth so he brought me back."
"You went this far? I thought you hate doing what he wants you to do."
"It was the only way to save you, Chloe."
She swallowed. All these years went by and she never realized what he did for her back then. He was ready to give up his freedom for her, one of the most important things for him. And she was totally oblivious to it.
"You did this… for me… even though we didn't know each other well and even though I always pushed you away…" Chloe stopped speaking because she was too overwhelmed by it.
"It's okay." He smiled. "I never regretted it."
She looked at him and was almost scared to ask the next question. "You said there was a second time."
"Oh yeah. That was when you were injected with poison by this insane professor and were on the verge of dying."
"I remember that you and the others saved me, but no one ever told me any details."
"Well, we needed the antidote and the formula was only known by the professor. But he was dead so I had to go to hell and make him give me the formula."
"So you flew there and found him?"
"I still didn't have my wings back and the coin was gone after the whole Malcolm thing."
"Then… how?"
"I drew up a plan to save you with Amenadiel, Maze, and Linda. And then I had to die."
"You… what?" Chloe thought she misheard.
"Well, obviously not to the effect of me being dead forever. Just for a few minutes so I could go to hell and find the professor. And then Linda brought me back to life."
Chloe stared at Lucifer, not being able to reply immediately. This was crazy. He was crazy.
Thinking about it, this was so him. He did do a lot of crazy things, he did go to extremes sometimes. But still...
"You went this far for me… again," Chloe whispered.
"I couldn't let you die like this. I had to do something."
He did it for her. He went to hell for her twice. Ready to deal with all the consequences. Chloe was still only at the beginning of understanding the impact of his actions. He went that far only for her.
"Why did you never tell me about these things?" she asked.
"Well, I did tell you that I died after the first time."
"Yeah…"
"And you didn't believe me."
"To be fair, all this talk about you being the devil and being immortal sounded just unbelievable."
"I know, it seems really hard for humans to understand. So no point in saying more." Lucifer shrugged.
Chloe bit her lip. It was a normal reaction back then but she wished she had not completely brushed off everything he said.
"There was also another reason why I never told you about it in detail," Lucifer said.
"Oh?"
Lucifer's face became serious. "How would you have reacted if you had believed me?"
"Well… Of course I would have been thankful for what you did… for going so far to save my life."
"Thankful, yes. And you would have probably felt indebted as well?"
Chloe thought about the question. This was probably true. Dying for someone and giving up their freedom to save them was a big deal. A really big deal. Something that was very hard to pay back.
"Probably, yeah," she said.
"See, that's the thing. I didn't tell you about it in detail because I didn't want to make you feel like you owed me for these things and had to do something you didn't want to do. But I guess now that we're together it's okay that I told you."
Chloe was speechless for a moment. Knowing about it would have likely changed some things between them. She might have tried to make it up to him. Not necessarily because she wanted to, but because she would have felt the guilt of him doing these things just for her.
And he knew this might have happened and that's why he decided not to reveal it to her. He didn't want her to feel bad about it. He didn't want things to change between them.
Even when they drifted apart because of Pierce, he never brought it up. He never used it to his advantage to make her feel like she had to pay him back.
He did it selflessly. Because her wellbeing was more important to him than anything else.
And this truly showed how wonderful he was. And how much she meant to him.
Chloe was overwhelmed by feelings after this realization. No one had ever gone this far for her. And she knew that no one else would.
"Okay." Chloe took a deep breath. "It will probably take a while for me to process all of this because it's really crazy. Like really, really crazy. But thank you, Lucifer. Thank you for saving me. Thank you for always having my back. Thank you for being there for me."
Lucifer gave her another kiss on the forehead. "Anytime, Detective. I'm your Guardian Devil, remember?"
Chloe smiled and leaned closer to Lucifer. She was so thankful for having this amazing man in her life. And she felt safe in his strong arms, knowing he would do everything to protect her. Her Guardian Devil.