Yay, Season 4 is only a few days away! Time to continue my version of the story… Will be interesting to see where the writers take us - hope Eve does not keep Chloe and Lucifer apart for too long. I want them to be in item already! We've been waiting for three seasons for it to happen. So in my version, Chloe does not pull away… Let me know what you think!
Chloe blinked a few times, wondering why her eyes were stinging. As she looked down at the now pristine floor she knew what had happened. Amenadiel had heard her prayer and had swooped in to save the day. The incriminating angel feathers covered in Lucifer's non-human blood were gone. Chloe drew a sigh of relief and closed her stinging eyes for a few seconds. She felt lightheaded - and no wonder: she had been raised an atheist and now she knew that it all existed: angels, demons, heaven and hell, immortals and miracles. All she wanted was to get out of here, sit down with Lucifer and talk things over. But for that to happen, the two of them needed to make sure that they did not give conflicting versions of the events of the day. She needed to find Lucifer and talk to him ever so briefly -without raising suspicions- about how to do that.
Lucifer had positioned himself right in front of Dan where he had been when Amenadiel had shown up. He knew that they could not let Chloe and him leave until they had established what exactly had happened in this building and he was just hoping to get the first round of interviews over without a glitch before he could take Chloe back to his penthouse and they could talk. The growing sense of hope he had felt a short while ago started to disappear again. Just because Chloe had not run screaming before did not mean that she would be able to handle the truth in the long run. What if she didn't want him in her life anymore? How would he cope?
And suddenly she was walking towards him, her eyes steady on his and everything seems possible again. Lucifer would hate for anyone to have that kind of hold over him but he didn't mind in the slightest with Chloe.
"Dan", Chloe said, gently touching her ex-husband's arm. "I've just realized the time: can you check in on Trixie and make sure Mrs Hood can keep her until one of us is finished here? I don't think I'm quite ready to talk to her yet…' Lucifer could tell that that last sentence was a white lie but Dan didn't seem to notice and agreed straight away. As soon as Dan was out of earshot, Chloe grabbed both of Lucifer's hands. An electric shock cursed through his body: how was she not repulsed by what she had seen? But a look into her eyes confirmed that there was no repulsion there, just concern… and affection?
"Are you OK? Are you all healed up"? Chloe whispered, surprised at the urgency in her own voice. The magnitude of the day's revelation made her head spin but her heart knew she was safe with him. The devil.
"Yes, thank you. As good as new," Lucifer tried to quip but it was only a half-hearted attempt. And suddenly a flow of words poured out of him - he managed to whisper but he just needed to say something, ask her, find out how she really felt:
"How are you feeling? I mean, I just killed your fiancé, ex-fiancé but still… and I'm so sorry, Chloe, I didn't realize my devil face had come back. I mean, I wanted to show it to you so many times over the last few months but it had gone and then, as I killed Pierce, it must have come back. I don't know why I didn't feel the change, I always have before… If I'd know I would have changed back, not put you in this position, to deal with the investigation at the same time as this. I know that the knowledge of who I really am can be a burden, I thought I lost Linda over it when I first showed her my true face, and I know you're overwhelmed but please, please…"
He stopped. He didn't know how to continue. He wanted to beg her to not run away, to give him a chance, to try and accept who he was. At the same time, all he cared about was for her to be safe and happy and if she didn't feel safe or happy around him perhaps he should let her go. He also stopped because he realized that they were still holding hands, that Chloe hadn't broken eye contact and that she didn't look like she felt unsafe or frightened.
"I'm right here, Lucifer" Chloe whispered. "And I'm not going anywhere, ok? I …"
Lucifer let out a sigh that stopped Chloe in her tracks. Quite a loud sigh, apparently, as one of the police officers turned from where he was standing to check where that sound had come from. Lucifer could see him out of the corner of his eye but he wasn't ready to look away from Chloe yet.
Chloe stroked the back of Lucifer's right hand with her index finger before letting go of his hands. Was he really so unsure of the strength of their relationship that he doubted she could handle the truth? What did she need to do for him to be able to truly trust her? Well, no wonder he had trust issues! Considering that everything he ever told her about God being his father was the actual truth!
"Let's talk about all that later. For now, let's try and get out of here as quickly as we can. How are we going to explain that we're both still alive when we were ambushed by half a dozen thugs with machine guns?"
Lucifer smirked at her for a split second. "Amenadiel and I have taken care of that little detail," he said as he started walking back into the round hall that had been covered in his blood-soaked feathers a few minutes ago -or what felt like a few minutes ago.
"As I was about to tell Dan", Lucifer said as Dan joined them again, "we were extremely lucky to have been standing next to this crate when Pierce's men opened fire. While I wasn't fast enough to avoid the Detective getting shot…" -Lucifer's voice grew unsteady as he said this - "I was able to drag her behind here before the hail of bullets started."
Chloe's jaw dropped as Lucifer pulled a white sheet, riddled with bullet holes, off a steel crate that clearly showed signs of heavy fire.
"They probably thought it was a wooden crate like some of the others in this room and stopped shooting when they thought we must both be dead. Pierce's phone was ringing as they stopped shooting and he started swearing and sent all his men except two away somewhere to deal with what he called 'a sorry mess'. I knew I had to act quick so I managed to drag Chloe in here, into that small storeroom…" Lucifer was pointing to a door that had completely been shot to bits. "There wasn't enough room for the two of us to hide so I left Chloe and was on my way out of here to call you, Dan, for backup when Pierce's men cornered me. Thankfully, I had managed to grab one of these," he pointed to a few machine guns stacked up behind the steel crate. "But I ran out of bullets by the time Pierce showed up. He could have killed me right there but he wanted a fair fight, as he called it. And I don't really know how I won that fight but I did…"
Chloe flinched as Lucifer said those last few words. He was avoiding her gaze on purpose, she knew that. He had never lied before - she knew that now - but he had just spun an elaborate tale, completely fabricated, just for her. For them. And he felt ashamed about having to lie. She would have gladly done the lying for him but she had been unconscious for most of what happened - and most of what purportedly happened so it was up to Lucifer to make this story believable. Chloe also knew that someone from Internal Affairs was on their way as nobody in her unit would be able to investigate this case. She just hoped they would let her and Lucifer out of here before midnight.
The woman from Internal Affairs, Miller, was as unpleasant as expected. Chloe was of little use, at least straight away, as she had been knocked out. So she sent her home.
Chloe caught Lucifer's panicked eyes as she left but decided against smiling at him. Miller was watching them with eagle eyes and would notice the smallest detail. So instead Chloe walked away from the murder scene, the scene of an incredible revelation, with shaking knees and only when she was sure that Miller could no longer see her, did she take out her phone and text Lucifer.
'Going to pick up Trixie and take her home. Come by when you're done - no matter how late.'
Chloe had taken a quick shower, letting Trixie stay up later than usual just in case Lucifer came by: she needed somebody to answer the door. He might freak out otherwise. Chloe smiled at the thought of the Devil being so insecure about little things. At least with her.
But Trixie had long gone to bed and Lucifer had not come. Chloe resisted the temptation to have alcohol: she wanted to have a clear head, as much of a clear head as possible, when Lucifer came to her. Her head was still spinning from the realisations that came rushing in one after another: Lucifer had died for her, at least twice, he had gone to Hell to retrieve the antidote for the poison that was killing her, he had protected Trixie and her, he had stood by her in so many ways. She wanted to thank him for all those times. She wanted to ask him why he had run away to Vegas to marry someone else. Why he had not shown her his face when he still had it. Why he stuck around when she made him vulnerable, killable.
And then, finally -at 11.35pm- there was a soft knock on the door. Chloe shot up from the sofa and was at the door in a few seconds.
He looked tired. And vulnerable. And incredibly lovable.
'Hi…' is all he managed to say before Chloe flung her arms around his neck. She breathed in his unique scent. It took Lucifer a couple of seconds before he hugged her back. First his embrace was tentative, as if he was giving her the option to quickly step back from him, but soon his grip became tighter.
After a minute or two of silent hugging, Chloe pushed herself back ever so slightly so she could grab Lucifer's face in her hands. It was quite dark but she could see so much raw emotion in his eyes it made her shiver.
"Come in", she whispered, grabbing his hand and pulling him across the threshold.
And although she had a thousand questions for Lucifer she knew that everything was going to be alright.