Chapter One - Chloe: The Day After He Left

"Are you okay, Mommy?"

Her daughter's soft voice snapped Chloe out of her thoughts, and she hastily turned her back so that Trixie wouldn't see her red and puffy eyes. She focused on making her daughter's peanut butter and jelly sandwich for her to bring to school, but this wasn't enough of a distraction. She could feel the tears welling up, and tried her best to gulp them down.

"Yeah, I'm fine, Monkey," she responded, trying to keep the quivering out of her voice. "Mommy's just a little tired."

"Okay," said Trixie, but she didn't sound entirely convinced. "But you know, Mommy, if something ever is wrong you should talk to someone about it."

Chloe nodded, still not ready to face her daughter. "That's really good advice, Monkey."

"And if you think I'm too young to know why you're sad, you can always talk to another friend, like Maze."

Chloe felt a small smile creeping up onto her face. Trixie had always been so smart, so intuitive, and so mature for her age, like Chloe had been as a child. Chloe often wondered if Trixie would follow in her footsteps and become a cop: I mean, both of her parents and her grandfather had been.

"But just so you know, Mommy, I am old enough for anything you want to tell me," Trixie continued. "You don't have to hide stuff from me."

Chloe smiled again, and this time she turned around and looked at her daughter. "I know, Monkey," she said softly before handing her her lunchbox. "Now go get ready for school."

As soon as she watched her daughter prance out of the kitchen, Chloe felt all of her emotions coming back to her at full force. Staggering for a moment, with tears springing up in her eyes, Chloe gripped the kitchen counter, struggling to draw breath.

It was all too painful. She didn't fully accept that Lucifer was gone, or that he was never coming back. Any moment now, he would be barging in through her front door without knocking, a ridiculous smile on his face, and probably completely focused on whatever issues he was dealing with, that he would then project onto the case.

The case. Chloe always worked whenever she was upset, or needed to get her mind off things, but she didn't know if that was an option anymore. Work to her not only meant getting justice, and getting closure for the families of those murdered, but also working alongside Lucifer.

I can't go to work today, she thought frantically. I just can't. It's too painful.

It was hard enough getting herself out of bed in the morning, after spending all night crying. If it wasn't for Trixie, she would probably still be sitting in a pile of pillows and tissues, with a bowl of ice cream clutched in her arms. But she had to stay strong for her daughter.

But Chloe always knew what was best for her child.

She pulled her phone out of her pocket and dialed the familiar number. "Hey Dan?"

"Yeah?" he asked casually. He even sounded happy. It was amazing that someone could be so oblivious to everything that had happened in the last 24 hours, to the fact that Lucifer was gone, that he wasn't coming back, that he had left her.

"Are you crying?" he asked softly.

"No," Chloe said firmly, straightening her back. "No, sorry, I just have allergies. And… a cold. I don't think I can come into work today."

"Okay, no problem," Dan said. "I can talk to the liutenant if you want me to, or you can call him if you want-"

"Can you take Trixie early?"

Chloe forced herself to ask the question, and she could almost see his eyes widening in surprise. She was always able to take care of her daughter.

"Yeah, of course," he said. "Um… for how long?"

"Oh, just for a tiny bit," Chloe told him, trying to sound casual. "There's just some stuff I need to work out."

"Are you okay, Chloe? I know when you're upset. And not going to work? Asking me to take Trixie? This isn't like you. Did something happen?"

"No, no, no, nothing happened," Chloe said. It was a good thing that she had years of acting experience under her belt. "I'm just sick, that's all. Well, thank you!"

She hung up on Dan, feeling worse than before, if possible. For a moment there she had considered opening up to her ex-husband about everything: telling him that Lucifer was actually the devil, that she had somehow fallen in love with him, and that he had left her. Forever.

But Trixie was right. She did need to talk to someone about it.

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

"Chloe! What a pleasant surprise," Linda said, standing back so that Chloe could enter their adorable little home. "Come on in!"

Chloe sat down on the couch, where Amenadiel was sitting with sleeping Charlie in his arms.

"Hi, Amenadiel," she said, every fiber of her willing herself not to cry. Here was Lucifer's brother, a literal angel, sitting right next to her while Lucifer was down in Hell. Couldn't anything be done?

"Hey, Chloe," he said, but then looked up at her face. "Is everything okay?"

Chloe laughed, slightly maniacally. Linda looked concerned as she settled herself down next to Amenadiel and her baby. "Everything's fine."

Linda looked deeply concerned. "What happened with Lucifer?"

Chloe stared at her for a moment. Had Lucifer not said goodbye to his own brother, nephew, or therapist? What about Maze? Was she really the only one to have seen him before he left?

An awful thought occurred to her. If she hadn't went up to his penthouse to talk to him, if she hadn't asked him what was going to happen next… would he still have said goodbye? Or would he just leave?

"Did he not come talk to you?" she asked, her voice breaking.

"No…" said Amenadiel. "Chloe, what happened? Is he okay?"

Chloe took a deep breath, urging herself to be strong. "Lucifer… he went back to Hell."

"No!" cried Linda, as Amenadiel sat there, shocked.

"He said that the demons would never stop coming, and that they needed a king to control them," she explained. "He sacrificed himself to save us."

"I can't believe it," said Amenadiel. "I just can't believe it."

"Can't believe what?" Maze's strong voice carried throughout the room as she walked in, her curved demon knives in her hands, narrowing her eyes at Chloe.

"Maze - Lucifer went back to Hell," Linda said softly.

"WHAT?!" Maze exploded. "He would never do that!"

"He did," Chloe said, the tears building up more. "He…"

"Without saying goodbye?" Maze demanded. "He could have at least offered to take me with him!"

"You want to go back?" Linda asked questioningly. "I thought you were over that!"

"No," Maze said, as if explaining the obvious. "I'm just mad that he didn't think to even talk to us before leaving. Typical Lucifer."

Chloe's heartbeat quickened. It was every much like Lucifer to disappear without saying goodbye, or explaining where he was going. Just like after she had almost died of poisoning, after they had shared their first kiss… he ran away without telling her, not caring that she was worried, to get married to some blonde bimbo in skimpy clothes.

But hadn't she done the same thing? After she had seen Lucifer's devil face, she had run off to Europe for a month. He was probably both worried about her, and worried that she would never come back, and never accept him for who he was. Chloe would never stop feeling guilty for all that she did to him.

"How can you say that, Maze?" Amenadiel demanded. "After he went back to the one place he hated more than anything, just to save us?"

"We can take on demons any day," Maze said, dropping onto the couch next to Chloe. "I bet he didn't say goodbye to you either, Decker."

"He did," Chloe said forcefully, but the thought of what would had happened if she hadn't gone up to the penthouse forced itself into her mind again. "He explained everything."

"Everything. Yeah, right," Maze scoffed. "When has he ever explained everything to anyone? I can remember a bunch of lies he told you."

"Lucifer. Doesn't. Lie," Chloe said through gritted teeth. How could Maze, Lucifer's oldest friend, insult him like this after what he did? How was she not upset right now, crying her eyes out after hearing that he left?

"Oh he doesn't lie," Maze said slowly and deliberately. "He just never tells anyone the whole truth."

"Maze," Linda said, her voice surprisingly calm and steady. "Let's not insult Lucifer right now. We should remember him from all the good that came with the bad."

"None of you get it," Maze said, standing up again. "Lucifer didn't sacrifice himself to save us. He's not staying in Hell forever. He would never go back down to Hell for anyone, not even his precious detective. He's planning on coming back, he just never thought to tell us about it."

With that, she stomped out of the room.

"Denial's the first stage of grief," Linda said quietly. "It's perfectly natural for Maze to-"

"What if she's right?" Chloe interuppted. "What if Lucifer is planning on coming back?"

"Lucifer doesn't lie," Amenadiel said simply. "If he told you he's not, then he's not. I'm sorry, Chloe, but-"

"But he does make a lot of loopholes," Linda said. "What exactly did he say?"

Chloe had been replaying their conversation in her head ever since he had left, and had no problem with remembering. "Well… I asked how long he was going to stay down there, and he just sort of… gave me a small smile." As she said the words, sudden realization hit her: he didn't give her a direct answer! Maybe that meant he was coming back!

"Aaah," Linda said. "That does sound like something Lucifer would do. So maybe-"

"What is he planning, then?" Amenadiel interuppted. "I don't really see any loophole out of this."

"Lucifer is really good at finding loopholes," Linda told him. "I remember when-"

"Why didn't he tell me?" Chloe asked numbly, not really listening to their conversation. "Why didn't he tell me that he wasn't planning on staying there forever?"

Linda looked at her for a moment. "Everything that Lucifer has done he thinks is in your best interest."

Chloe's voice shook. "So letting me believe that he was leaving forever was supposed to help me? Leaving for two weeks, without a word, and returning married was supposed to be in my best interest?"

Linda and Amenadiel exchanged glances, and right away Chloe could tell that they knew something she didn't. "What?" she demanded, her voice harsh.

Linda took a deep breath. "Look, Chloe, what I think is best right now is if you get Lucifer out of your mind. Focus on something else for a little bit, until you're ready to come to terms with everything."

Chloe looked directly at Amenadiel. "Is there any way we can help Lucifer get out of Hell?"

Amenadiel looked back into her eyes, his dark brown eyes full of sorrow. "I'm sorry, Chloe."

Chloe turned away, her eyes burning with tears.

When would this pain go away?