Chloe waited until Linda had taken Charlie into a separate room to take his afternoon nap before she asked Amenadiel what she had been thinking as she mostly ignored Linda's attempts to steer the conversation away from Lucifer: asking about her job, Trixie… but Chloe just couldn't think of anything else.

"Is there really no hope?" she asked bleakly, and Amenadiel didn't bother asking what she was talking about.

He took her hand in his, and she reluctantly lifted her chin to look into his eyes, and something about his face was calm and reassuring. She took a deep breath, preparing for the worst.

"Even if Lucifer is planning something, there's nothing we can do to help him. The best thing you can do is try to live your life like normal, and pretend that Lucifer never came here in the first place."

"But I can't forget about him," Chloe muttered, ashamed to find her voice clogged by emotion and tears forming in her eyes yet again. She tried to compose herself. "I can't not worry about him, I can't not help him, after everything I've done-"

"Chloe," Amenadiel interuppted. "None of this is your fault. You need to understand this."

Chloe nodded as if she agreed, but deep down she knew that all of this was her fault. If she hadn't been so stupid and ignorant to run off to Rome and talk to Father Kinley, then the demons would never have found their way here. If she had accepted Lucifer for who he truly was, then he would still be here. How could he love her, when she hurt him so badly?

"I need to know more about the… rules… of Heaven and Hell." Chloe's voice was full of urgency, and she glanced once more at the door where Linda had left. She knew that the therapist would never approve of her plan, and would attempt to talk her out of it. But Chloe was done hurting Lucifer and staying away from him. She was done not doing everything she could for the man she truly loved. She had to make sacrifices for him like he made for her.

Amenadiel looked thoughtful for a few moments, and then spoke slowly and deliberately. "Only angels… or part angels, anyway, can travel freely between Earth and Heaven and Hell. There's no chance of you going there and coming back, if that's what you're thinking of."

Chloe bit her lip. This was a pretty major inconvenience. "But you can go there, right? To Hell?"

Amenadiel avoided eye contact as he answered. "Yes, yes I can. But I don't think it would be wise to-"

"What about Maze?" Chloe asked. "Can she just pop down and visit?"

Amenadiel shook his head. "No, she would need a ride from an angel. She's not human, so she can cross between worlds without issue, but she doesn't have a soul either. If she dies, she just… stops exising, no Heaven or Hell."

Chloe blinked a couple of times. Did Maze really have no soul? She had, of course, been surprised and terrified when she found out that Maze was literally a demon, but she didn't really know what that meant. All of what she read, and what Father Kinley taught her, was about the devil, not really demons. A shiver went down her spine as she recalled all the horrible things that Father Kinley had forced into her mind, the lies that he had hissed in her ear as he told her that everything would be okay, that they together could take down Lucifer…

She had to make things right. She couldn't live knowing that she betrayed Lucifer, and he sacrificed himself to save her and the rest of humanity. Yes, she was just a human, a nobody, but she had to do everything that was in her power to help Lucifer.

"Amenadiel," she said forcefully, and he looked up, startled. "You have to go down and talk to him. You're the only one who can. He needs someone down there, even if you're just gone for a second, so that he knows he's not alone. Please, please, please, go talk to him, and ask him what he's planning. He has so many people up here who care about him, who would do anything for him-"

"Relax, Chloe," Amenadiel said smoothly. "I can go talk to him if you want me to. Ask him what his plan is. Tell him how much you care."

"Thank you," Chloe breathed out. "Thank you so much, you have no idea how much this means to me."

"Would you like me to pass on any messages?" Amenadiel asked, standing up slowly.

"You're going right now?" Chloe asked, startled.

"Why not?" he asked. "Just for a moment. Time moves a lot slower in Hell, so it'll be like I never even left."

Chloe stood up and nodded, still breathless from anticipation and shock. "Yeah… can you tell him that we all miss him, and we're thankful for everything that he's done." Chloe bit her lip for a second, thinking of something she could say to Lucifer, what she would say if she could talk to him herself… "Tell him that I'm sorry for everything, and that I will wait for him however long it takes. Tell him that we are all willing to do whatever it takes to help him come back to Earth, and we will never give up on him."

Chloe didn't realize her eyes were closed until she opened them, and unexpectedly saw tears sparkling in Amenadiel's eyes. "Promise me you'll tell him."

He nodded once. "I promise. I can go right now, if you want."

Chloe watched as he walked out the front door, still bursting with questions. How exactly did angels travel between Earth and Hell, anyway? Should she have said more to Amenadiel to tell Lucifer? Would Lucifer appreciate what she said, or would it make him mad? Sad? Could Amenadiel bring a note to Lucifer so that she could tell him everything she wanted to say?

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

Amenadiel walked outside and closed the front door. He made sure that Chloe couldn't see anything through the window before walking around the side of the house and sitting on a bench.

He couldn't go back to Hell and talk to Lucifer. He just couldn't. Maybe if circumstances were different, he wouldn't hesitate to help his brother out. If things were different, Amenadiel would drop everything to bring Lucifer back to Earth, where he truly belonged. Where he was happy.

But the thing was, Amenadiel made a promise. When Charlie was born, he vowed to do everything in his power to keep Charlie safe and happy. Nothing, nobody, came in front of his son. He had struggled with this promise when he decided to take Charlie up to Heaven, where he would be safe, but he ended up choosing against it. But this was different.

If Lucifer returned, that would mean Charlie would be in danger.

And Amenadiel was not going to let that happen.

He sat in silence for a couple seconds longer, before walking slowly up to the front door. He took a deep breath and tried to plaster a mixture of sadness, relief, exhaustion, and some more sadness on his face.

"Chloe," he breathed heavily. "Lucifer's not coming back."