"Chloe." Lucifer's voice was warm and soft when he called her name.

Chloe turned around. Lucifer was standing behind her, looking at her with a tender smile. A few seconds passed by without anything happening, then Lucifer started approaching her slowly. Chloe started trembling with excitement when he came closer.

"Chloe, careful!" said a different voice coming from her right side.

She turned to the side but couldn't see who spoke to her. When she turned back, Lucifer was gone.

"Lucifer, where are you?" Chloe looked around her. Something seemed to be wrong with her vision, everything was slightly blurred and she couldn't make out where she was. She took a few steps forward, walking slowly and holding her hands in front of her body so she wouldn't run into anything.

"Chloe. I miss you." Lucifer's voice seemed to be far away now.

"Lucifer? Lucifer, where are you going?" The world around Chloe turned darker and darker as she moved forward. Soon it was almost pitch black and she had to stop walking, trying to keep down the panic rising in her.

"You should have stopped when it was not too late yet," the unknown voice said, this time coming from her left side.

"Where am I? Who are you?" asked Chloe. Silence. Not a single sound was to be heard. She could feel the panic in every part of her body now, making it hard to breathe.

"Chloe."

When she heard Lucifer's voice behind her again, she hesitated to turn around. Little by little she turned, still fighting against the panic.

Lucifer was sitting in a golden chair, with at least six girls hovering around him, touching him everywhere. "Come here, Chloe," Lucifer said, licking his lips while enjoying the hands of the girls on his body.

"No," Chloe said, stepping back from him slowly. "I… I'm not one of your playgirls."

"But I know you want me," Lucifer continued in an alluring voice.

"No… not like this." Chloe's eyes became wet.

"But this is who I am."

"No..."

"Too bad, Chloe. You had your chance."

The chair with Lucifer and his girls slowly faded away until everything around Chloe was black again.

"Lucifer… No! Don't go! Come back… Please!"

Chloe fell down on her knees, unable to get back up while screaming into the depths of the darkness.

"Don't leave me again! Lucifer! Don't go!"

"Noooooooooooooo!"

It took Chloe several seconds to realize that she was screaming in reality. It was so intense that she woke up from her sleep and almost fell off the couch.

She looked around and it took her a while to understand where she was. The room was dim and cold. On the table in front of her was an empty wine bottle, the glass was lying next to it. Chloe grimaced when she remembered what happened before she fell asleep.

"Mom, are you okay?" asked a small voice. Trixie was standing next to the couch.

"I'm okay, sweetie," Chloe replied, trying to make her voice sound reassuring. "Come here."

Trixie crawled up beside her mother who then covered both of them with the blanket and held her daughter tight in her arms.

"Did you have a bad dream, Mom?" asked Trixie.

"I did," Chloe said. "But I'm okay now."

"What was it about?"

Chloe hesitated for a moment. She didn't want to worry her daughter.

"I dreamed… that Lucifer was back. But everything was different and then he was gone again."

"Do you miss Lucifer?"

Trixie's honesty made Chloe smile.

"I do, sweetie. I really do."

"I also miss Lucifer. I want him to come back. Will he come back, Mom?"

Chloe wasn't sure what to tell her daughter. Lucifer was already back, but it didn't seem like things would be like before.

"I think so," she replied, fighting her tears. She pressed Trixie closer to her and both were sitting on the couch like this until the alarm clock in Trixie's room went off.

After bringing Trixie to school, Chloe went to work. She walked around in the precinct and checked different rooms, but Lucifer was not there yet.

Maybe he's still busy with his stupid date, thought Chloe. It wouldn't be the first time that he arrived late at work because he spent the entire night with another woman. Or several women. Ugh. Chloe closed her eyes and tried to get rid of the images that came up in her mind.

When she arrived at her desk, Chloe remembered the documents that she didn't finish yesterday and sighed. She got herself some coffee and sat down at her desk, determined to finish them this time.

She had worked on them for a while when she caught herself constantly looking up and seeing if Lucifer was coming. But Lucifer didn't come all morning. Chloe was disappointed and relieved at the same time. She wasn't sure anymore how to react to Lucifer after his weird comeback yesterday.

A bit after noon she finally finished the last document she had. The morning had been oddly quiet and Chloe was thankful for it. She cleaned her desk and went out to grab some lunch.

The precinct felt livelier when Chloe came back after eating. More of her colleagues were walking around, suspects of other cases were brought in. Her own case didn't seem to really move forward and she decided to visit Ella in the lab to ask for an update.

When Chloe approached the forensics lab she suddenly heard Lucifer's voice and stopped. She looked around nervously, starting to feel insecure. His voice came from the lab, with the door half-closed so she couldn't see what was going on there. After a few seconds of recollecting herself, she raised her head and continued walking toward the lab, then peeked through the door.

Lucifer was standing inside the lab with the new intern, Ms. Palmer. And it was very obvious from their voices and movements that they were flirting with each other. Chloe rolled her eyes.

"So, Ms. Palmer," Lucifer said in his usual charming tone and leaned closer to her. "Now that we're finally alone… Tell me, what is your deepest desire?"

Chloe could not help being fascinated by the scene. She had seen Lucifer draw out people's desires countless times, but it still felt weird seeing people react to him in such a way, especially after she learned that he was really the Devil. She unintentionally stopped breathing and waited for the answer.

"I… I want to have my own forensics lab!" replied Ms. Palmer with a shy smile on her lips. The mundane answer broke the spell on Chloe and she stepped into the lab.

"Then I suggest you start working hard instead of flirting with co-workers," Chloe said.

Ms. Palmer turned to Chloe in shock and her face was glowing red. Chloe wasn't sure if it was because of Lucifer's flirting or because of being caught doing it but she decided not to go deeper into the topic. In the end, it was all Lucifer's fault for acting like this.

"Any news on our current case?"

"Unfortunately not, no…" Ms. Palmer replied. "We're still running some tests to analyze the evidence. I will call you when we have the results."

"Thank you," Chloe said and moved her head to face Lucifer. "And you and I should talk."

"I'm terribly sorry, Detective, but I have something else to do now," Lucifer said and left the room. Chloe was left behind, once again in disbelief about what just happened. It wasn't only that Lucifer was acting carefree and was flirting with other women. He clearly avoided every serious conversation with her.

Chloe could feel Ms. Palmer's eyes on her. Ms. Palmer didn't know them and the relationship they had, but it made Chloe still feel uncomfortable that she had to witness this scene.

"Let me know when you have any results," Chloe said and left the forensics lab.

Back at her desk she opened the file of the current case and tried to do some internet searches about the victim herself. She was getting frustrated about the lack of results when Dan showed up at her desk.

"Hey Chloe," he said. "We found the husband of Mrs. Harper. He's in the interrogation room with his lawyer."

"Alright, I'm coming." Chloe stood up, relieved she could do something else.

"You look really bad, Chloe. Did something happen?"

"Oh, I just didn't sleep well last night. It was too hot," Chloe replied with a smile. The last thing Chloe wanted at the moment was her ex-husband finding out about her feelings. She had been doing a good job at hiding it during the last six months and she definitely didn't want him to find out now.

"I think," Dan said after taking a good look at her, "it's better if you stay in the observation room and let me handle this."

Maybe he figures what my problem is, thought Chloe.

Under normal circumstances, Chloe would have protested and gone with him anyway, but today she was too tired. Being glad that she only had to watch she went into the observation room and examined the suspect through the mirrored window. He was an incredibly handsome man, tall, dark hair, well dressed. Chloe got annoyed when she realized that he reminded her of Lucifer.

"Mr. Harper," Dan said to the man sitting on the other side of the table. "As you were already told, your wife was killed. Where were you two days ago between 8 and 11 pm?"

"I was on a business trip in Pasadena," the other man replied. His face and voice barely showed any reactions.

"And what exactly were you doing in the evening?"

"I was in my hotel room. I had to prepare a presentation for the next day."

"Do you have any witnesses that can confirm that you didn't leave the hotel?"

"What are you trying to insinuate?" Mr. Harper narrowed his eyes but his voice stayed calm.

"Look." Dan put some photos in front of him on the table. "We have evidence that your wife had an affair and that you must have known it."

"I don't know about any affair."

"The neighbors said that you two had a huge fight a few days ago."

"This was about something else. Mary didn't want me to go on the business trip. She had a problem with me going away."

"Clingy women can be so hard to handle," a voice next to Chloe said.

Chloe was so focused on the interrogation that she didn't notice that someone had entered the room. The sudden voice startled her so much that she almost let out a scream.

"Lucifer!" Chloe's heart jumped and she gasped. "Are you trying to scare me to death?"

"I'm sorry, Detective. I thought you heard me coming."

Chloe didn't reply and for a few minutes they were both standing there in silence, observing the interrogation.

"Look at this poor, innocent guy," Lucifer said after a while. "Daniel is really giving him a hard time, trying to pin the murder onto him."

"How do you know he's innocent?" replied Chloe. "You're not in the room with him and you haven't even heard the entire conversation."

"Well, Detective, sometimes you can evaluate people and situations better when you have some distance. You will see things clearer then."

"Is this what you did when you went away for months?"

"Please, Detective. Let's focus on the case."

"This guy claims he did not know that his wife had an affair when there was so much evidence. And just look how calm he is about the whole thing. His wife just died! He's hiding something."

"Or maybe he just didn't care enough to notice. And wanted to break up with her."

"But he had just married her a few weeks ago! All their friends said they were very happy."

"What other people see and what is real can be very different. Sometimes people just realize that there's no point for them to be together, even after just a short while."

"Are you… talking about the case or about yourself?" Chloe started to get angry at Lucifer's weird comments.

"I think we should really focus on the case," Lucifer replied, evading her question again.

"What's wrong with you? Why are you avoiding me and my questions?" Now she was really angry.

At this moment, Dan was done with the interrogation and left the room with the suspect.

"It's over, Detective. So let's go back to work."

Lucifer turned around and tried to pass by Chloe but she grabbed him by his arm and made him stop.

"Listen, Lucifer," she snapped at him. "This has to stop. You can't just come back here and completely ignore me. I was worried and I—"

"Detective." Lucifer's voice became serious. The look in his eyes was intense and Chloe could see a faint red glow in them. The devil eyes. She let go of his arm and took a step back.

"Do you want us to work together?" asked Lucifer. Chloe gulped. She was trying to read his tone and facial expression, but he felt like a stranger to her.

"I… guess so?" replied Chloe after some seconds, even though she wasn't sure about her reply at all. Lucifer looked extremely serious, almost dangerous, and she didn't know how to react to it.

"Then don't ask me any questions. And stay away from me."

"But—"

The door opened and Ms. Palmer entered the room.

"Ah, hello Ms. Palmer," Lucifer said, his voice back to being charming.

"Did I interrupt something?" asked Ms. Palmer.

"Oh, the Detective and I were just talking about the interrogation," Lucifer continued with a smile. "Is there anything you need?"

"We've found some new evidence," Ms. Palmer said, returning the smile. "Ella wants to discuss it with you."

"We're on our way. Right, Detective?"

"S-sure," Chloe said and followed Lucifer and Ms. Palmer to the forensics lab, deeply confused about what just happened between her and Lucifer.

"I'm home!" Chloe tried to suppress the exhaustion in her voice. After what happened in the morning she didn't want to worry her daughter even more.

"Mom!" Trixie came running and hugged her mom with a smile. "Anna showed me pictures of her rabbits today. They're so cute!"

"Sounds great, Trix," Chloe replied and stroked Trixie's hair. This new friend seemed to make Trixie really happy.

"Good evening, Ms. Decker," Ms. Williams said. She had already packed all her things and was about to leave. "Everything was fine today. I'm sorry but I have to leave now. I have a date," she added with a smile.

"Oh, alright. Thank you again for taking care of Trixie," Chloe replied. Hearing the word "date" made her cringe. She shrugged off the feeling and said goodbye to her babysitter.

Trixie was already back in her room, doing her homework, and Chloe was thankful that she would have some minutes for herself. She sat down on the couch and closed her eyes.

Lucifer. She kept her distance to him for the rest of the day after what happened in the observation room. He also didn't try to come closer to her even once.

She remembered his voice and his eyes at the end of their conversation and a shiver ran down her spine. She had seen Lucifer being angry and serious before. She had seen his devil eyes and even more of his devil form. But this time something was different.

He seemed like a completely different person when he spoke to her. And even though he apparently still wanted to work with her for some reason, he had made it very clear that he didn't want to have anything to do with her beyond work. That she should stay away from him.

Chloe felt a pain in her chest when she realized the impact of Lucifer's words. He didn't want her anymore. After all this time they had spent together, through all the ups and downs, he was pushing her away now. Without any discussion.

Why was the work thing even still important to him? Habit? Feeling responsible? This didn't seem to be the case. He had been away long enough to fall out of habit and his sense of responsibility had often been rather inconsistent.

She remembered how Lucifer spoke about the victim's husband, how he defended him. Was this a personal case for Lucifer? Did he only come to make sure the right person was punished?

There was no way Chloe could answer any of these questions. But whatever it was, it was about Lucifer or another person. It was not about Chloe.

The most hurtful part was that Lucifer didn't even tell her. That she shouldn't even ask him any questions. And he was serious about it. He didn't even want to hear her thoughts. She didn't matter anymore. Chloe's pain started turning into anger.

The doorbell interrupted Chloe's thoughts and she jumped up from her couch. She didn't expect anyone today. Could it be… Lucifer?

"I'm getting the door!" she called in Trixie's direction. It was better if her daughter wasn't there to interrupt them. Chloe almost ran to the door and opened it, her eyes full of hope.

There was actually an angel standing in front of her but not the one she had hoped to see.

"Good evening, Chloe," Amenadiel said.

"Amenadiel…"

"I came to see how you are."

Amenadiel was so nice. Someone who actually cared about others. Not like his brother.

"There's nothing to talk about," Chloe said. "It's over."

"What? How?"

"I don't know. Your annoying brother keeps running away from every conversation. He…" Chloe stopped for a moment when she remembered the situation, "he actually threatened me to stay away from him."

"What?" Now Amenadiel seemed shocked.

"Well, yeah, it's funny, isn't it?" Chloe started laughing hysterically.

"Chloe, I'm so sorry…"

"Whatever. I don't care anymore. If he decided to end it like this, then whatever."

"Can I come in, Chloe? We can talk about this."

Chloe looked at Amenadiel and didn't know if she should laugh more or cry.

"I don't wanna talk about this anymore. I'm done with it. So. So. Done."

"Are you sure?"

"I have enough other problems in my life. I don't need a problem I can't do anything about. I can't take this anymore."

"But maybe—"

"I said I've had enough. But thanks for asking. I really appreciate it. Bye, Amenadiel."

Chloe closed the door before Amenadiel could reply to her. She leaned against the door with her back and closed her eyes.

She was tired of this. Tired of dreaming of a better time with Lucifer that would never come. Tired of crying herself to sleep. Tired of waking up from nightmares. Tired of putting up with his weird behavior.

She was done with it.