Chloe regretted her words almost immediately, but Lucifer was already on his way out the door. He could walk fast when he wanted to. To call after him now would cause a bigger scene — and still leave her trying to mediate between Constantine and Lucifer. No, it was better to have him gone. For now.

She checked with Dan to get Constantine's statements confirmed by the other witnesses. He had already called Constantine's hotel, and could confirm the man had checked in last night.

Ella was also at Dan's desk, having received a preliminary autopsy report. Their victim sported a very recent appendectomy scar that had been hidden under her clothing at the scene. The mark hadn't been involved in the cause of death, however. The scar was showing early signs of healing, the stitches hadn't been torn, and there had been no signs of infection in her blood.

Her blood work only showed the antibiotics and painkillers usually administered after an appendectomy. They'd have to check with the hospital to see if the woman had shown signs that the anesthetic had affected her more than was typical.

And Chloe would have to check the room for ghosts, too. Because that was the kind of world she was now living in. Maybe she should take Ella to ghost-wrangle.

Chloe wasn't sure how much Ella would appreciate Chloe bringing up what she'd been told in confidence. Especially not because Ella had apparently only just gotten rid of her own ghost. But there was another person with supernatural experience in the vicinity. One whose job was exorcisms, if his own claims were to be believed. Using Constantine to assist the investigation would be going against procedure. But the world was going against procedure these days. If their murderer was a ghost, Chloe would need an expert in the supernatural. If that expert had been the actual murderer, his behavior at the crime scene should be telling. She would have to keep her eyes open. Nothing new there.

She picked up the case file and returned to the interrogation room. Constantine was still waiting. As soon as she entered the room, Constantine's eyes went to the door. When Lucifer didn't come in, Constantine frowned at her.

"Mr. Constantine," Chloe started, but he interrupted her.

"Whatever favor you owe, we can find some way to get you out of it."

Chloe's eyebrows rose. "Excuse me?"

Constantine nodded at the door. "Lucifer. Whatever he has over you to let him onto this case, there's usually some kind of loophole. If we can find it."

Huh. His offer was unexpected. And it added to her opinion of Constantine. He didn't know her, but he did know who Lucifer was. And he was trying to save her. "Thank you, but that's not necessary." She had never needed saving from Lucifer, Devil or no.

Constantine sat back. "I'm pretty sure bringing him in just to harass me wasn't enough to repay any kind of favor."

Chloe couldn't help the slight twitch of her lips. "Especially not because you harassed him right back?" She schooled her expression back into seriousness and shook her head. "He's off the case. No deals done, no favors owed."

Constantine's eyebrows were heading toward his hairline. "Since when? He's not usually one let a favor go."

"That," Chloe said, opening up her case file, "is none of your business." She put the file down on the table. "Tell me about last year."'

"Right." Constantine kept looking at her for several seconds. Then his expression turned into a smirk. "I'm not sure how that is any of your business, Detective." His eyes went to the door. "And didn't Tall, Dark and Judgmental out there give you the details?"

"I was on that case. I've seen statements from everyone but you. I'd like to hear your side of it." She looked him in the eye, over a pair of imaginary glasses. "And I'm sure the FBI didn't get the whole story either."

Constantine gave a grudging nod. He gestured toward the door. "Like he said, if someone says the right words, a demon can come from Hell." He matched the stern look she'd given him before. "I wasn't the one who summoned her — but I did make a mistake when I tried to drive the demon out of a little girl." He looked away. "So she escaped. And came after me — or more like anyone who harbored me." He fell silent for a few seconds. "I might as well have killed them. Might have been kinder."

Chloe had seen what had happened to that demon's victims, so she could understand where the "kinder" comment came from. But Constantine hadn't killed those people, and that counted for something. "Who were they — the people the demon killed?"

Constantine took a breath. "People who sheltered me for a night or two. Most of them were practitioners." At Chloe's frown, he explained further. "Mages or witches. People who could defend themselves." A grimace. "Not well enough."

There was remorse there, Chloe thought. And guilt. Constantine had to be a very good actor if he was faking. She'd had some experience in seeing faked emotions recently. These weren't fake.

OK then. Constantine may be involved. He didn't tweak her instincts as "guilty" — at least not in the sense of "did the crime." And she should really be asking — she wanted to ask — about how the demon had been taken down. But the crux of her questioning had been to determine Constantine's character. She was satisfied he meant well, and they did have another case to tackle. So….

"Thank you for telling me that," Chloe said, and took a deep breath. "Now, let's get back to the case at hand." She opened the folder in her hands and turned it toward Constantine. She put her finger on it. "Let's assume the girl was possessed. How would that happen?"

Constantine gaped at her, confused. Only when Chloe tapped the file again, more insistently, did he start to talk. "Ghosts only rarely possess people. It'd take a very strong one. Created from a sudden death and involving strong emotions, I mean." He frowned. "So that's bloody unusual to find in a hospital then, isn't it?"

"Lots of people die in hospitals. There's a lot of emotion there." Come to think of it, she'd come close to dying in a hospital herself. She checked the file, upside down as it was. Her own near-death experience had been in this very same hospital, even. And she'd been plenty frustrated, albeit only until she'd passed out from the seizures. She hadn't felt too much after that.

Constantine nodded. "Yeah, but it's on the part of the living. Anyone dying slowly of an illness wouldn't have the energy as a ghost. They'd've been using that energy just to stay alive a little longer." He grimaced. "I really want to see that hospital room."

"Hmm." Chloe nodded. "Well, you may be in luck." She looked Constantine in the eye. "I need someone with experience on the supernatural, and I just sent my consultant home. Want to come instead?"

-x-

"And then she said she couldn't use me. So much for progress, then."

Linda nodded, for now not committing to a specific response yet. Lucifer had shown up early for their regular appointment and had been more loquacious than usual.

Not that Linda particularly objected. Once upon a time, she'd been jealous of Chloe Decker. No longer. Instead, Linda was low-key cheering the woman on. Especially for the positive effects Chloe had on Linda's patient, here. Not that Chloe didn't also lead to some emotional turmoil on his part — but that was good. She exposed those emotions, giving Linda something to work with.

Well, that and Lucifer's relationship with Chloe was a damn good story to follow along with. If Lucifer was willing to talk about it, bring it on. And today's developments had been… numerous.

"Doctor?"

"Ah." Linda straightened in her chair. She'd lost herself in her thoughts while she'd tried to fit Lucifer's statements into the framework she already had. "She invited you onto a case again. That's progress, isn't it?"

Lucifer sank back against the couch cushions. "Of a sort, I suppose." Now it was his turn to stare off into the middle distance.

"What I'm interested in," Linda started as she consulted her notes, "is why you accepted Chloe taking you off the case." She looked at Lucifer, one eyebrow raised. "You're normally more insistent."

Lucifer lips pulled down. "If the detective doesn't want me there, I'm not staying."

Linda checked her notes again. "But she didn't say, 'I don't want you here,' did she?" She left a pause there for Lucifer to respond, but he didn't say anything. "So that was an excuse. Why did you really leave?" When Lucifer stayed silent again, she changed her question. "Was it because of Constantine?"

Lucifer grumbled but still didn't say anything, so Linda changed tack. "I think maybe Chloe was right. Are you afraid of Constantine?"

Lucifer sighed. "Not… exactly." He leaned forward. "I do not like him. What power he has, he got by manipulating others."

"And yet you let Chloe work with him on her own."

Lucifer snorted. "An interrogation is hardly working with him. Even Constantine can't get up to much trouble in an interrogation room. The Detective will be quite safe."

"But you wouldn't be?"

Lucifer squirmed, settling back into the sofa and looking anywhere but at Linda. "I… worry—" This was followed by a single pointed glance at her before he looked away again. "—that if John knew of the Detective's effects on me, he might use that against me."

Ah, that seemed to be getting at the crux of things. "You met him before, didn't you? Did he try to manipulate you then? You never told me the whole story."

Lucifer pulled a face, as though he was tasting something foul. "No. But that situation couldn't have turned out better for him and worse for me if he had."

Linda frowned. "From what I heard on the news, you stopped a serial killer. That sounds like a win to me."

"I was forced into acting like one of Dad's good little angels, doing the job He set for me." That came forcefully. Lucifer was sitting up again, leaning forward and gesturing upward. "I thought I was tracking down a demon summoner. Instead I found a demon breaking her vows and was forced to judge her for that."

This was hitting a nerve. But still, Lucifer seemed to be making an overly fine distinction. "But the end result was the same, right?"

Lucifer huffed a laugh and leaned back in his seat. "I know Amenadiel gave you some of my history, Doctor. How much of it did he tell you?

"Not that much beyond your real name, but…."

"That is not my real name," Lucifer interrupted her sharply. "Not any more."

He crossed his legs before he continued. "I was created to cast light where my Father was blind. For a while, I was happy doing it." Lucifer's eyes became more distant, but the expression on his face twisted. "And then Dad created humanity, the 'greatest' of his creations. They were free even from His will… and He found that while he could know everything else, He couldn't see into their hearts." A grimace. "But I could. If I asked, they would tell me their desires.

"After the first human was cast out of Eden, Father gave me a sword and commanded me to guard the gates. I was to be judge over those wanting to enter the garden. Only those whose heart and soul were pure, were to be allowed entry. Anyone else, I was to destroy."

Lucifer fell silent. Linda couldn't yet figure out what to say. She also had the feeling Lucifer wasn't done talking yet. If she interrupted now, he might never open up like this again. She was this close to holding her breath.

She should be taking notes. There was so much to discuss in Lucifer's statements and assumptions.

The silence stretched. Somewhere deeper in the building, a door slammed, and there were muffled sounds of people speaking. There was even some shouting. Someone's patient was having a hard time, it seemed.

Lucifer started again. He spoke more quietly now, tired and desperate. "The first rule we were given, once Dad created them, was 'do not kill the humans.'. And now he was asking me to obliterate their souls. Just because, when they came to the gates, they were not worthy. I… I couldn't."

His tone regained some strength, and he moved. "I would not." He was sitting proudly now, shoulders down and back straight. His regal posture didn't last long. Another door slammed, closer now, and Lucifer sank back down. "That choice cost me my place in Heaven. And although I had a place in Hell…."

Now there were not just doors slamming in the building, but a scrabbling at her door. Lucifer fell silent, the moment broken. Both looked over to the entrance. Linda started to rise, intending to tell the interloper that she was in session.

She never made it to the door. It burst open, and someone ran through.

Straight at her.

Intermezzo

The doors to the morgue loom in front of me. Approaching them feels like walking through molasses. I need to fight for every step forward, while it feels like my soul is sinking deeper and deeper.

A woman in LAPD motorcycle gear approaches me. "How about I make you an offer," she says.

I frown at her. I have to look up, she's so tall. I can see myself, mirrored in her sunglasses. She looks… wrong, somehow. I know what this place is supposed to look like. Despite her pretense at a uniform, this woman doesn't fit in.

She smiles at me. At least, the corners of her mouth turn up, and I can see her teeth. "I can get you out of here. And there's just one thing you have to do for me."

"Why would I want to get out of here?" I know why I'm here. And although I'm dreading what's inside as much as I'll ever dread anything, that doesn't mean I don't want to go there. I need to be there. I walk past the woman and go to open the door.

She takes a few quick strides to put her hand on the door, slamming it shut. As the turns to face me again, her blood-red ponytail swishes around. It nearly hits my face. "Are you sure? I could make it stop."
I take a deep breath and try to give her a stern look. I end up addressing my two mirror images. "I don't want it to stop. Now please let me go in."

The woman doesn't move for a few seconds. Then she nods. "Suit yourself," she says. "If you don't want to take this deal, I can get a dozen others." She turns away and is gone. My way into the morgue is clear. Inside, the familiar policewoman awaits to take me to see my mother's body. It's the last time I'll get to see her. Again.