A/N: My dear readers. Here comes the fifth story of the one-shot-collection

A devil's talk

Hello my dears, this is a little one-shot I wrote during the weekend. I dreamed about the first part and the rest just went with the flow. It's rated T, just to be on the safe side but there should be nothing serious in it.

This story isn't proof read, since my beta is busy going through the next chapter of my other story, and this will take a while. I'm pretty sure there are errors in it so please feel free to point them out. Really, it would be a great help for me to avoid them next time.

The story follows after where we've been left hanging at season 2.24, so after Chloe had seen his face.

When my beta has time to have a look at this little cutie, I might change some little bits here and there, but so far I'm pleased with it and hope you like it as well.

Enjoy!

"So, Mr. Rodrigues," Chloe began and sat down on the chair in the interrogation room, dropping the file in front of her. She was about to open it when a twitch went through her lower abdomen. Her grip on the file tightened and she used all her strength to stifle the groan that had rolled up her throat. She just came back from chasing after the suspect for almost two miles before they were able to catch him. It surely was just a stitch, she assured herself and swallowed the pain. She cleared her throat, bringing her mind and focus back to the man in front of her who was sitting across the table, handcuffed to it, and rather looked like a picture of misery than a cold-blooded killer. "Do you deny that you were with the victim?" she questioned and took several photos from the folder, leaned forward and placed them in front of him. They all showed a dead body lying in the living room in his own blood, which came out of numerous stab wounds.

"No! I was there," he confessed meekly and shoved the pictures away in disgust so as not to have to see them any further, but then his head shot up and he quickly added, "But I didn't kill him!"

"Neighbours said that you left the crime scene around the time the victim was murdered," she flatly pointed out, leaving out for the moment that they had also told her that he had fled the house as if set on fire, and that his hands had been covered in blood.

"I found him like this! I swear! I had nothing to do with it! He was my cousin."

'Right! As if that would rule him out as a suspect,' Chloe thought. She felt another twitch, stinging as if someone was stabbing her from the inside with a long, sharp knife, and she had to lean forward a little to ease her muscles and breathe the pain away. Quickly straightening up again, she objectively stated, "The neighbours had heard you fighting about half an hour before his death."

"Yes," he confirmed, then shook his head hastily. "But that was all we did. We had a loud argument and I left to cool my head. Then when I came back, I found him like that. I checked his pulse, but there was none." He took a deep breath, remembering his cousin lying there lifeless. "I panicked and ran!"

She raised one of her eyebrows doubtfully. "You really want me to believe that someone entered the victim's house, and by that I mean that your cousin let that person in because there were no signs of violent entry, after you left. That this person then killed your cousin and then left again before you returned?" Her voice made it clear that she wasn't at all convinced of his story. It sounded too absurd.

Mr. Rodrigues, however, nodded firmly and looked her in the eyes with an expression that showed nothing but honesty when he replied, "That's right!"

Another sting went through her body. This time it was so intense that also her lower belly cramped. A soft groan escaped her and she visibly leaned forward. Quiet panting left her mouth as she concentrated on getting a grip on herself. Never show weakness in front of a suspect! She told herself. Squinting her eyes shut, she took another deep breath, then sat upright again and asked as if nothing had just happened, "What was the fight about?"

"Nothing serious." The man shrugged. "Only about money he owed me, and he promised-" He stopped and gave her a concerned look. "Ma'am, are you all right?"

"Yeah!" Chloe pressed through gritted teeth, the pain suddenly rolled over her like a train at full speed. A soft cry of pain filled the room. She could barely breathe and squinted her eyes tightly as she concentrated on pulling herself together. This time it didn't work. She bent forward, almost closing the gap between her chest and her thighs, to ease the muscles in the tummy area where the pain increased. Then it suddenly vanished. With a relieved sigh she sat up again. "Sorry," she apologised quickly and cleared her throat again. With another exhale, her police mask was back on and she was ready to go on. "So the money, you said, he owed you-" She couldn't even finish the sentence when another wave of pain hit her. All her inner muscles cramped at once, leaving her no room to breathe, and then suddenly it all went black around her.

/-/

"So, Daniel," Lucifer pronounced his name with anger and impatience, the only emotions that currently accompanied each of his actions. "Did you two have time to talk, yesterday?"

Dan shrugged his shoulders. He felt irritated and intimidated by the two eyes that stared fiercely at him from the otherwise relaxed seeming expression on his face. "Actually, she didn't talk much," he confessed quietly.

"What?" Lucifer shouted and gave way to his anger and growing distress. "I booked half the restaurant to give you privacy for your little chat. I even watched that little spawn of yours and you couldn't get her to talk? Not even for five minutes?"

"Man, it hasn't been that easy with her lately. Just..." He shrugged his shoulders again. "Give her time, man! The whole thing with Charlotte and Pierce-" He broke off, shrugging his shoulders once more. Nothing had been easy since then. For no one. And yes, he wanted to help Lucifer, but he didn't know what to do either. "Just give her time," he repeated.

"It's been three weeks, Daniel!" Lucifer countered, and this time despair was gradually spreading within him. Even Linda hadn't taken that long to… recover from the sight of him. And he'd really done everything to not stand in the Detective's way; had fully focused on her needs and had put his own last. What else was he supposed to do? How long would it take before she would finally talk? He was at a loss. No! He was at his wits' end! And slowly he saw the little light of hope fade in him. If not even Dan could get through to her... After he had spent two hours alone with her… Suddenly a completely different idea crossed his mind, one that re-ignited the anger in him. "Or didn't you want her to talk about me?" he asked and gritted his teeth to keep his emotions from breaking through. "I mean, it was all prepared, perfect even, just the two of you, all alone," he said, as if suggesting adultery.

"No!" Dan denied vehemently, his voice an octave higher. "Nothing is going on between Chloe and me!" he declared to defend himself and felt some of his own anger rise at the accusation. But he could also understand him. Having to be around someone who was emotionally ghosting him… it was so unlike Chloe and he couldn't wrap his own head around her any more. "Just, I mean," he shrugged his shoulders once again, feeling sympathy for Lucifer, and he elucidated, "She really made it clear that she didn't want to talk to me about you. Yeah, we did talk a little about weather and work, and when we talked about Trixie we had the conversation for more than a few minutes, but all the time she seemed absorbed in her own thoughts, she got tense as soon as I mentioned you. And, I don't know, man, but why don't you just talk to her?"

"I've already tried!" he growled and balled his fists to prevent himself from releasing his anger with a well-adjusted punch. "She made it pretty clear-" He was interrupted by a soft bang and he groaned in frustration and raised his voice to continue, "-pretty clear that she didn't want to talk to me. Not unless it's about a case." He wanted to say something more but another bang brought him out of his thoughts. He groaned again. And another bang followed. "Bloody hell, what is that noise?!" he barked and looked up. Only now did he see the man behind Dan, who stretched his head as far as he could in his half-squat position and even lifted his foot to kick against the window of the observation room again.

Dan turned around with a muttered "What the heck" and stepped forward. That's when he saw her, or rather, some bits of her. "Chloe!" he screamed and rushed out of the room and over into the interrogation room.

Lucifer was startled as well and quickly hurried after him, sparing a look at the window first. He darted into the room and saw Daniel already crouching over the unconscious body of the Detective, lying there on the cold floor, and trying to wake her up. When Lucifer spotted the huge dark-red area between her legs, clearly blood, his mind stopped working. "You hurt her!" He stormed to the suspect, grabbed him by the collar and lifted him up.

"No! She collapsed! I swear!" cried the man in defence, already scared to death by the strength of Lucifer. He'd lifted him up by his neck as if he weighed nothing. "I tried to attract attention. Anyone's!" he quickly added as he felt the fingers closing around his throat.

He wanted to squeeze the life out of this human, but some of his reason held him back. The man was still cuffed to the table. From his position he could never have reached over the table and touch the Detective, let alone hurt her… He turned his head around and saw that more people had rushed in to help her while Dan pressed the phone against his ear, probably to call an ambulance. He let go of the man who fell to the ground and huddled trembling under the table, but he didn't care. He stepped forward, pushing a policeman out of the way, knelt down to Chloe, put his arms around her and lifted her up.

He felt her limp body in his arms. She wasn't responding to anything and he feared she would drift away completely. He didn't care that the others yelled at him, he didn't even register what they said. He only new that she needed help. And at this time of the day, at rush hour, he knew that an ambulance wouldn't make it in time. He wasn't ready to lose her. Not again! And so he held her safely in his arms as he rushed out of the precinct, and then, with his recently healed wings, he flew her straight to the ER.

/-/

It was a sight he'd sworn himself to never see again after Jimmy Barns shot her. It was just like then. She lay unconscious on a stretcher while several doctors and nurses were scurrying around her, attaching wires and needles to her body whilst at the same time stripping her naked. And he could do nothing but stand in the back and watch everything. He felt weak, helpless and more forlorn right now than he'd ever felt before. He couldn't lose her, it once again went through his head. Not when he didn't even have the chance to get everything back in order with her.

He sighed when they moved the stretcher and rolled her through two large double doors with signs showing the words "surgery" and "no entry beyond this point" on them. He remained there at the doors, looking through the glazed windows, from time to time catching a glimpse of nurses while the doors were still swinging, and then, when they had stopped and denied him any further look, he sighed again and turned, heading for the waiting area. There were still some papers waiting for him anyway... Humans and their bureaucracy...

Surprisingly, they didn't take long. About half an hour and then a young doctor approached him.

"Are you a relative of Miss Decker?" she asked in a comforting voice.

He nodded slightly and then clarified, "I'm her partner." It surprised him that his voice had remained calm. Maybe it was because of the look on her face that assured him Chloe was still alive. He stood up and braced himself innerly for what was to come.

"I'm sorry to inform you that she had a spontaneous abortion, a miscarriage," she quickly added, as if he didn't know what the medical term meant.

For a moment, his head was empty. "She was pregnant?" he heard himself asking. He didn't even know why he wanted to make sure on that.

She nodded warmly. "Some of her blood vessels were torn when the placenta came off. Hence the huge blood loss. We removed all the remaining tissue. She's stable and responsive, but we have to keep her here for a couple of days just to be on the safe side. It was good you brought her so quickly."

All he did was nod. His mind didn't even seem to fully register what the woman was further saying to him. 'So she was pregnant… there had been a little baby growing inside of her', it went through his head. He didn't know what to do with this information. Once again, he felt at a loss. "May I see her?" he suddenly blurted out, interrupting the doctor from whatever she was just telling him.

She nodded with another one of her warm smiles. "Of course. I'll call someone to take you to her. Is there anything else you want to know?"

He shook his head, making clear that he didn't want any further conversation.

He watched the doctor leaving him for a moment to go to the reception, where she spoke to a nurse and said something inaudible to him near the other woman's face. The nurse nodded and then walked over to him.

"This way, sir." He heard her say and without a word, he followed her into the patient room area.

When they reached the room, she stopped, turned to him and, pointing her finger at the door, she informed him, "You can go in."

He nodded swiftly and gave the woman a strained smile before turning his attention to the glass window next to the door, that was half covered by curtains. Chloe lay in there on a bed facing the wall. From where he stood, he couldn't tell whether she was asleep or not, and he hesitated for a moment to go in. Did she want him in there? In a place where she couldn't fob him off with a 'see you tomorrow' to nicely make clear that she needed her space. But he couldn't just not go in either. He wanted to know how she was doing. He needed to know.

And so his feet brought him forward to the door, and with a gentle knock against the fake wood he opened it and stepped inside. He tilted his head to the side to make sure she was awake and that he wouldn't disturb her resting, and when he saw her move her head dizzily, he whispered a soft "Hey."

"Hi," she replied, her head was still a little foggy from all the meds. They had given her something to sleep during the procedure and then something to wake her up again, mixed with a dose of several painkillers. She felt numb and sleepy, and most of all not really herself.

Lucifer took the chair from the side on the wall and sat down in front of her. "You scared me," he revealed to her with a quiet voice.

"Sorry," she replied.

But there was no emotion behind it. Nothing. He couldn't see in her eyes if she was glad he was here or if she wanted him to leave. And he himself didn't want to decide. For far too long the fight had been going on inside of him between his longing to be close to her and his feeling of guilt dictating him to stay away. Most of the time his longing won. And just now, this feeling was reinforced by his concern for her.

"Thanks for saving my life," she whispered, bringing him out of his thoughts, and added a weak, "again."

A pain-filled smile stretched his lips. "You're welcome," he replied. He watched her eyes close and then open again and he knew she was exhausted. He felt selfish, because he wanted her to stay awake and talk to him. Not for her sake, but for his. Unfortunately he didn't know what to say. He didn't want to ask how she was. How should she feel after what she had just been through? There were souls in Hell who were tortured with this! But he had to say something if he didn't want her eyelids to close again and she could give herself to sleep. "So," he began and saw her eyes open and focus on him. "Was it… Pierce's?" He didn't know why he'd chosen that as the topic of conversation. He wasn't even sure if he really wanted to know or if it was important to him.

Chloe nodded slowly. "I didn't even know I was pregnant," she disclosed.

The sadness that resonated in her tone was almost graspable. There were no words in this language that could make her loss any less painful. But he wanted to say something. He wanted to support and comfort her. He just didn't know how. It was all so new to him, so complicated and overwhelming. His first instinct was to thank her for not bothering the world with little mini versions of Pierce, but he would rather bite his tongue off than say that out loud, knowing full well that she wouldn't take it as a joke, but that this would tear the delicate bond between them and there would be nothing in the world to ever be able to fix it again.

"It's better this way, anyway," Chloe suddenly stated, breaking the silence that had wrapped itself so softly around them like a velvet scarf, bringing him once again out of his thoughts. "Considering that he was, well," she paused and made a swirling motion with her finger while she searched for the right words.

"Cain. The world's first murderer," Lucifer completed with a smile.

"I actually wanted to say: the head of a large crime cartel, but yeah." Her shoulder shrugged slightly.

He compressed his lips, stretching the strained smile over his cheeks when he agreed, "Right."

Then the silence came back and covered them under its veil.

"Lucifer?" she called his name after another moment went by, and he looked straight at her, hoping that she would finally open up to him, but she just muttered, "I'm really tired. See you tomorrow?"

There they were again. These little words that kept him in the loop with everything and nothing at the same time. Once again he sent her a smile, this time visibly sad, but then nodded and got up. "Till tomorrow, Detective."

When he reached the door, he turned to her and sent her one last warm look, and then he stepped out and closed the door.

"Lucifer!" he heard Dan call his name and looked up. He saw him at the back of the corridor approaching him at a fast pace. "Is she in there?" he asked when he was at his side, but then didn't wait for an answer, but went further past him and rushed into the room.

Lucifer stared after him and then took a quick glance at his watch. It took Dan almost three-quarters of an hour to get here, and since he was a cop, he knew it had taken him so long through the city despite using the sirens. She would have been dead by now if they had waited for an ambulance, and he didn't know if he should be angry with him or glad, that he could at least spend some time alone with her. Actually, he had wanted to tell him that she was tired and didn't want to be disturbed, but then as he watched them through the window… Dan only approached her and took a seat in the chair while his hand was already lying on her arm, gently stroking up and down. And then he saw her convulse, releasing the tears and emotions she had held back for so long; she had held back while he was in there with her.

Anger build up in him, but it was quickly replaced by sorrow. It wasn't him she confided in how she really felt; she'd kept her mask on. She chose Dan to comfort her. To be there for her. Not him! And it tore his heart apart. He couldn't bear to see her so close, couldn't stand to see Dan doing what he wanted to do so badly himself. But he also couldn't get his head to turn away, couldn't even make his eyes blink. It felt like torture. Torture he chose for himself and the loneliness continued to spread within him.

Then, finally, his heart became so heavy that his feet began to turn, and he walked away from her room and left the building.

/-/

He remembered that he had also come straight here back then, standing on his balcony with a glass of his best beverage in hand, and as he'd looked out over the city his thoughts had circled around what had happened, up there in the Loft...

When he'd just killed Pierce, the sound of his laughter still ringing in his ears, and suddenly he heard another sound, footsteps. And he had turned around and seen Chloe standing there with her eyes wide open, staring at him. He had seen the terror in them. And he sighed heavily, for only now did he realise that his devil's mask was back on his face. He wanted to go to her, but when he saw her take a step back, he froze. And she froze as well. And it felt like eternity when they stood there staring at each other.

He'd quickly changed back, but the damage had already been done. She finally knew the truth. She saw him. And he was relieved and scared to the bones at the same time. Then a SWAT team had entered the loft, spreading hastily and looking for a threat that was no longer there, quickly followed by the police. And they had both been pulled out of their trance. He had watched her being approached by a policeman who started asking her questions, and he didn't want to let her out of his sight, but then when another policeman demanded his attention and he turned around for a moment before looking back at her, she was suddenly gone. He had searched the whole room, but he couldn't find her. He wanted to run down, but also wanted to give her some time. Time she definitely needed after what she had seen. Him.

The next day he came to the precinct, her well-being the only thought on his mind. And he was amazed when he found her in the substitute lieutenant's office and shouted in a loud voice because they wanted him to go down for Pierce's death. She had defended him; made clear to them that it was self-defence, that he had protected her, that he had saved her life. And it was only thanks to her that they finally agreed to let him off the hook. But then, when she had left this room, she couldn't even look at him. She went in the opposite direction the moment he wanted to get close to her and brought people between him and herself like a shield behind which she could hide. He hung his head and left that day. But he had visited the next day, unwilling to give up on her. No, he would fight! This time she didn't actually flee from him when he approached her, but she didn't talk to him either, didn't even look him in the eyes. He couldn't take it and left again, only to come back the next day and endure the same. He couldn't stand it any longer and went to her home that night, knocked on her door until his knuckles hurt, and finally, after an eternity, she opened the door and stood there, already in her nightgown, her eyes drugged with sleep.

Actually, he had prepared a speech about what he wanted to tell her during the ride to her, but once she had opened, his head was empty, and for a moment he could do nothing but open and close his mouth like a fish out of water. "Detective… Chloe," he then had started, "I know what you saw wasn't easy to bear. That it is something completely different when I tell you that I am the devil than to see my face, to see the real me. And I can understand that you are afraid. I don't want to frighten you. And my biggest fear would be losing you, but if you want me to go, if that's your wish, then I'll go." He'd breathed deeply and waited anxiously for her answer, while the voice inside his head repeated again and again 'Please say no, please say no' and then, after what felt like aeons, she finally answered him.

"I don't want you to go," she'd said with such a sweet, soothing voice that he wanted nothing more than to jump forward and take her in a firm embrace, but he couldn't. He still saw the fear in her eyes, the grief, and his heart had become heavy, as if to crush him.

She must have seen the hurt in his eyes, because then she had told him, "See you tomorrow, Lucifer. Yeah? At work", offering him a tiny straw of hope and he had grasped it with both hands.

He'd smiled at her and nodded and confirmed to her, "Tomorrow it is, then."

But after that, it hadn't been the same.

She spoke to him. Occasionally. About cases. About his opinion about certain suspects or motives. But whenever he wanted to talk to her about that day, about what had happened, she shut down and either changed the subject or uttered her infamous words, "See you tomorrow, Lucifer."

It became routine. Somehow. An agonising, strength-sapping routine that filled him with fear as soon as he intended to tell her something. And it was ridiculous that he, the devil, the one that mankind itself feared, was afraid to hear those tiny words. But these four words meant the world to him, the cruellest and most terrible world: they meant hell.

He hadn't been out in those three weeks. Hadn't gone to parties or meetings with random people. Only had sex about five times, not because he wanted it, but because he hoped to distract himself. But it hadn't helped. He had no desire for anything. He didn't want to do anything. All he wanted was to have Chloe by his side. And above all, he wanted to talk. But the problem was: she didn't want to. And that tore him to pieces. It drove him crazy. He didn't know what to do about it. Not even Dr. Linda was useful. Yes, she had offered him to go to her and talk to her, from woman-who-knows-about-divinity to woman-who-now-knows-about-divinity, but he refused. He wanted Chloe to talk to him. Not with Dr. Linda. And if he was really honest with himself, not with Dan either. Only with him. As selfish as that sounded.

"Damn it!" he suddenly shouted, bringing himself back to the here and now. He tossed the glass to the floor, watching its pieces slide across the ground, and he grumbled quietly, then turned around and walked towards his door. He needed distraction!

He'd needed a lot of distraction from his mind, lately. And it always turned out the same way. First he took his car until he was tired of driving through the streets of L.A., then he parked it somewhere and went for a walk. And somehow, no matter where he was, his feet took him to the only place his heart desired. He would stop as soon as he recognised the familiar row of houses, and first he would think about returning home, but he never succeeded. So he would walk along the path until he came to her garden entrance, and then he carefully opened the garden door and watched her from the protective shadows of the trees and the night. He watched her sitting on the couch, reading a book, or watching TV with her offspring, or walking around, cleaning her house of the chaos Maze had left behind once again, and he saw the lightness in her eyes, the occasional smile. How he missed her smile. He missed her.

It was the same today. She had been discharged from hospital a day or two ago and was still on medical leave. Dan had taken her child to give her some time for herself. He didn't know that because he was stalking her. Albeit, he'd rather call it 'keeping an eye on her'. No! Maze had informed him. He hadn't even asked her. But his face had brightened when he had received her message telling him that Chloe would be alone for the next three days since she's on a hunt. He didn't know why she had told him, and actually, he didn't really care.

So there he was, standing in her garden watching her. His stomach turned painfully from all the rage he was holding inside, for Dan was with her. They sat on her couch, chatting, smiling. A gap between them, big enough to fit two people there, but still, that couldn't stop him from clenching his fists and gritting his teeth and wishing he could let go of at least some of that pent-up rage on the Douche.

Then suddenly they got up. Chloe walked him to the door, and Lucifer quickly went through the garden to watch them say goodbye. He didn't know what he had expected or feared; a warm hug and said 'bye' to each other, however, was not.

"You know," her voice suddenly sounded when she was alone, and his heart stopped beating. "Dan had also lost someone then. He needs comfort." She said it to no one specific, her gaze was still straight out, but she knew that he was listening. She knew he was there.

He was stunned and perplexed and couldn't do anything but stare at her standing there, wearing her long sweater with skintight leggings, her arms folded in front of her chest, her hair hanging loosely over her shoulders. She looked like an angel. And if he hadn't already been in love with her, he was certain that at that moment he would have fallen for her forever. And this fall, he wouldn't have minded at all.

She suddenly turned around, went back inside and he hurried forward, hoping to take a brief glimpse of her before she closed the door. Again she surprised him. For the door was still widely open, and she stood beside it, leaning against it. She had been waiting for him.

He swallowed nervously, unsure about what to say or do.

"You wanna come inside or not?" she then asked. Not angry. Not impatient. It was almost a warm question and it calmed his heart as if she had just given him a kiss. He nodded quickly, stepped in and stood there, awkwardly watching her close the door not knowing what to, and then followed her on the couch like a good little devil as she walked over to it.

She returned to her seat without losing a word. Her hands grabbed the blanket next to her and she wrapped it around herself to get some comfort.

And he sat down on the other side, all silent himself.

"I just figured you could keep me company in here," she mentioned as she wrapped the blanket around her a little tighter before adding, "For a change."

Again Lucifer was completely stunned and his head empty. He wouldn't even have been able to bring anything out of his mouth, even if he had known what to say. That was something only she could trigger in him. Did she... know… that she could do that? Was she… aware… of it?

As if he had spoken his thoughts out loud, she answered suddenly, "I knew you were there. I saw you." She turned her head to him to look at him without really looking him in the eyes. "And the last time," she confessed with a nod. "And the times before," she then added.

His cheeks began to fill with heat, and he looked down on the coffee table as he gathered all the remaining courage he had left inside of him. He dared a glance at her, and for the first time in this whole time she gave him a little smile as she said, "You're not really good at hiding… and also not very subtle."

He swallowed. She had just told him something to be ashamed of, but he couldn't help but smile as the warmth spread within him and broke through his heart. She had smiled at him. An honest, genuine smile. "I'm sorry," he muttered, but with the feeling still in him and his lips spread across his cheeks, those words almost sounded like a chuckle. "I didn't want to frighten you," he apologised profoundly.

"You didn't frighten me," she assured him.

"No," he shook his head, correcting her, "I meant then, in the loft. I really didn't want to frighten you."

Chloe took a deep breath and then, to his surprise, she repeated, slower and more meaningful this time, "Lucifer, you didn't frighten me."

"But," he stammered, momentarily lost for words. Again. "I've seen your face… You were… terrified."

She took another deep breath, thinking back, and then nodded slightly, but declared decisively, "I was terrified, but not of you." He was about to protest again, when she explained, "I was terrified of the situation. The meaning of it. The truth it revealed." And suddenly the sorrow was back in her face, settling down like an old lady would do in her favourite chair she'd been sitting on since childhood.

It broke his heart to see her like that. To see the pain so visibly in her eyes. "Is that the reason you avoided me?"

She nodded and her eyes sparkled from the little tear drops that had filled their corners. "Seeing that face on you-" Her voice broke when the moment had finally come that she had avoided for so long. It wasn't the ideal time she'd imagined in her head. It wasn't the perfect moment, but she couldn't go back now. "I still know very vividly what I had said to you after you went AWOL on me for two weeks," she began and breathed deeply again. Her hands went up to her cheeks and wiped off the small traces that her tears had left. "The speech I gave you," she continued with a slight shiver in her voice. "That I couldn't rely on you because you left me, our partnership. And when I saw that face and realised you had been telling me the truth all along. That you didn't lie to me. You weren't crazy. You..." She paused to swallow the lump in her throat and wiped away the fresh tears that had fled from her eyes. Her lips trembled as she thought back to the moment Malcolm had shot him, and she muttered, "You really died for me to protect me. And I didn't believe you just because I didn't want to believe. Because it was easier for me that way. I chose not to believe you. And during all the years of our partnership I closed my eyes to all the evidence, and I never-"

"Don't be so hard on yourself," Lucifer interrupted her, his voice calm and warm. Seeing the arm of her resting at her side, he moved a little closer to her in the hope that he could grasp her hand and comfort her a little, but before he was even near her, she raised that arm as if she wanted to interrupt him too, and she countered with determination in her eyes.

"No, Lucifer! At that moment, when I saw your face, I recognised that you couldn't rely on me all these years. Not even once. You couldn't confide in me what was really bothering you because I just didn't want to hear it. And yet you trusted me. You protected me. You stayed by my side… Lucifer I have taken all the advantages of our partnership and left you with nothing."

He firmly shook his head to contradict her. He didn't feel that way at all. But he didn't want to interrupt her either. After all, it was exactly what he had wanted and it felt so good that she finally talked to him again.

"All this time, I was a terrible partner to you. And a terrible friend. And right now, there is nothing but pain left inside of me because it hurts so much to know how much I've actually hurt you," she disclosed to him.

Instantly his gentle voice arose, not being able to hold back any longer. "You didn't hurt me, Detective. Not once!"

"I shot you!" she countered to prove him wrong.

"I wanted you to shoot me!" he corrected her, determined.

Chloe searched through her head for another example of her failure. Finding one, she stated, "That case, when we were chasing that sniper. I knew something big was on your mind from the way you acted. That something was troubling you and I wasn't there for you. You had no one to talk to and instead of helping you, I yelled at you. This nearly got you killed!" she reminded him to make her point.

Again Lucifer shook his head and moved a bit closer to her. This time she didn't withdraw and he wrapped his hands around hers and lowered his head to look her right in the eyes as he told her, "I didn't want to talk to you at that time. Believe me, Detective, you couldn't have helped me in that situation even if you had known about all this." He smiled at her warmly, and raised his thumb to brush away the new trail of tears from her cheek. "It wasn't your fault," he assured her, and then he softly whispered, "Don't torment yourself, my dear."

It was like he'd cast a spell over her. She felt the warmth of his hands around hers and on her cheek and she wanted more of it. She wanted to feel him all the way. Without warning she darted forward, wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed him tightly to herself. "I am so sorry," she whispered close to his ear. "I am so terribly sorry!"

"There's nothing to apologise for, Detective. You didn't do anything wrong," he assured her. It had surprised him, her sudden hug, but he had quickly regained his grip and also put his arms around her body and pressed her even tighter against himself.

Only their breaths were audible, slow and steady, as they held each other. No one wanted to let go and possibly lose that soothing feeling that had spread out in both of them. Especially not Lucifer, as he finally felt complete again. Yet his conscience reminded him of what it had been like with Linda back then and he gently mentioned, "You must have a lot of questions."

A loud sigh came over Chloe's lips as she admitted, "I don't even know where to start." Now that she couldn't put that truth off any more, the questions just bubbled into her head and bounced around like a bunch of little school kids trying to get to a task first. One question war particularly persistent, and so she shyly asked, "Did you really go down to hell for me?"

"Yes," he replied so casually that she flinched slightly, then eased the grip around him a little bit to look at him directly, and then asked, "And did you… fly there?"

He suppressed a soft chuckle and mentioned calmly, "Well, at that time I didn't have my wings back yet."

"You have wings?" she interrupted him, completely forgetting that her previous question actually implied this. It was just too new for her mind to keep track.

"Of course!" Lucifer affirmed. He looked directly into her eyes and reminded her matter-of-factly, "How else could I have protected you from the hail of bullets and then flown you up to the roof?"

Her mouth was slightly open as her mind sorted in this information and she suddenly remembered, "Wings like the ones we saw at the auction?"

He nodded, but then clarified, "Well, they weren't real, obviously, but they were pretty close to the original."

She swallowed and then took a deep breath. "And," she began and picked up her initial question again, "You didn't have them when you went down to hell to get me the antidote?"

He shook his head briefly and breathed a "no" so quietly she almost didn't hear it.

"How did you do that then?" she replied at the same soft volume.

"I died," he simply said and shrugged his shoulders once.

Chloe was flabbergasted and had to swallow the shock down before her system continued its work. "You really died?" she confirmed herself once more and when she heard his clear "yes", she immediately wanted to fall around his neck again and beg him never to do something like that any more, but then she reminded herself that he was right beside her, alive, breathing, and she calmed herself down with the thought that dying was probably not the same for him as for her. "And that's your thing, right? I mean, if someone shoots you or something happens to you, you just die and then come back, right?" she checked again, trying to sound nonchalant but it wasn't possible for her to keep the worry and hope that this statement also contained out of her voice.

"No!" Lucifer denied and when he saw the frown on her face, immediately followed by deep concern, he sighed. 'This explanation requires a more comfortable position than the half-turned one of my upper body', he silently told himself and embraced her again. With her firmly pressed to himself, he let himself fall backwards, then he adjusted himself a little on the couch until he lay snugly on it, and she half on him with her head resting on his chest. One of his hands grasped her fingers, caressing them, intertwining with them, while his other hand moved along her back to gently stroke her. "Normally human weapons can't touch me," he explained calmly. "Bullets, for example, would just bounce off me. I couldn't cut myself even if I wanted to. But, well..." he paused, not quite knowing how to best continue with this. "You… make me vulnerable to such things."

"I make you vulnerable?" she asked in a mixture of doubt and concern.

"Yes," he breathed with a sigh.

"How's that?"

"Well," he sigh again. In his head he had imagined it all much simpler, he had to admit. More like: I'm the devil, you're a human being, but we like each other, so let's hook up. And not that he had to fish every word out of his brain one by one. But he couldn't just blabber away. After all, he didn't want to reveal too much of himself all at once. "Because," he began and his hand glided up her back until he could grasp her shoulders and then press her closer. "It's, well..." he stammered on.

"Is it me?" Chloe uttered the only logical conclusion she could draw from his stuttering. This new look at the world gradually became very interesting for her, although it also irritated her to see him stammer like that, in this sweet, almost sexy way.

"Well, somehow… yes, but actually… not. It's more… my… feelings… towards you?" he disclosed and silently cursed at himself. He rather sounded like a broken record than the self-confident angel he actually was. Fallen angel, he quickly corrected himself.

"Was that a question?" she replied and couldn't help smirking at him. This new side of him was simply too cute.

"No, a statement!" he clarified with a firm voice and then the words just fell out of him without a filter, "Well, I'm not a hundred percent sure, but this comes pretty close when you consider that you also made Pierce mortal."

Chloe stared at him in bewilderment. "I made him mortal?" she asked confusedly. She only heard a smug "yes" from him and asked again to make sure, "He wasn't mortal before?" In her head the first worried thoughts popped up. Did she have sex with another species?

"Well, he was human," he replied, completely overhearing the relieved sigh next to his ear, "but he couldn't die because Dad didn't want him to."

"And by Dad you mean-" she didn't finish her sentence, pointed her finger upwards instead and swallowed when he simply nodded. "The actual," she cut herself off and quickly changed the topic, as this was an area she wasn't yet ready to explore. "So, Pierce was mortal because of me." Not waiting for his confirmation this time, she quickly added, "Why?"

He shrugged and before he understood what he was revealing he stated, "Well, because he fell in love with you."

"Uh-huh," Chloe said slowly as the wheels in her head spun, connecting the dots. "So, he fell in love with me which made him mortal," she mumbled casually, "And I make you vulnerable, too." Now she couldn't hold back the grin that had spread on her lips and stretched them widely.

Her sight made him even more nervous and he feared that he had just said something to her he would have better kept to himself. His instinct was to leave now, but he didn't want to interrupt the cuddling with her either. It felt good to have her so close after he hadn't even come one foot near her these past three endless weeks. And that feeling was hard to let go of. "Do you have any other questions, Detective?" he said when the silence had become too quiet for him. He blinked down to her, saw only the huge grin on those soft lips and quickly turned away as if embarrassed.

"No," she denied and shook her head. Still grinning, she countered, "have you?"

"Well," he began and dared one more look at her. There it was again, the huge, inviting smile on her lips. The sparkle in her eyes. The soft skin of her face that he would love to caress continuously, and only one thought came to him. "Well, there is a question. A small one, so to speak," he noted. "Would you like to," he broke himself off when he considered the words too ridiculous and tried it with a different approach. "Would you mind-" again he interrupted himself. It just didn't seem right to ask her something like that. Especially since he had never needed to ask such things before, but somehow it didn't seem right for him to just-

Before he could finish his thoughts, Chloe had already reached up to him, grabbed his cheeks and gently pressed her lips onto his. He was startled for a moment, but then he relaxed quickly and gave in to the kiss. How sweet it tasted. How soft her lips were, even softer that he remembered, and his heart pounded loudly in his chest, and his blood rushed through his veins as the arousal rose in him. When he felt her lips move away from him, he quickly grabbed around her, pulled her back close and pressed his mouth firmly against her. His tongue darted forward, running along her lips and requesting entry, and when she granted it, he gently slipped into her mouth and gave himself completely to her sweet taste. Their kiss intensified and he flipped her over, gently pressing her into the couch so she could relax her head while he explored her mouth further. A soft moan escaped her throat spurring him further on but then he felt her gently pushing against him and he lifted his head to end the kiss.

Still completely out of breath, she jokingly rebuked him, "Really, Lucifer. I give you a finger and you take the whole hand immediately?"

"Damn right, you are," he replied just as jokingly. "But not only the whole hand, my dear. I'll take your whole heavenly body right away!" He pressed his lips back on hers, stifling her giggle with another deep kiss. Before they were out of breath this time, however, Chloe gently pushed against him once again. He broke the kiss and pulled them around so she was lying back on his chest.

There was a sudden hint of sadness in her eyes when she looked at him this time, and she asked softly, "You don't age, do you? I mean, not like us, right? You don't grow old," she stated, continuing the words in silence 'with me'.

He shook his head and smiled, but the sadness was already in his face as well. "No, I won't" he confirmed quietly.

"And when I die, I will never see you again?"

He pressed his lips together and thought for a moment about giving her a beautiful, more hopeful answer, but no matter how he turned it around, there simply was none that wasn't a lie. And he would never lie to her. "No," he gently confirmed to her and the knowledge about it made his heart heavier. "Unless you suddenly decide to sin. In this case you would go down to Hell. But I won't let that happen," he made clear to her with a light shake of his head.

"Well, I guess we just have to make the most of it now," she replied determinedly, the sadness disappeared from her again.

"Yes, indeed," he fully agreed with her and a devilish grin accompanied him as he turned them both around again and once more pressed his lips against hers.

She wanted to give herself completely to his kiss when she noticed how his hand slipped deeper and deeper down on her. She quickly tilted her head back, gave him a little slap against his shoulder and scolded him sternly, "Lucifer! When I said 'make the most of it now' I didn't mean 'right now' in any way!"

"Oh, my bad, Detective," he apologised with a smug grin, not sorry at all.

"You are one little wicked-"

"I am the devil!" he interrupted her rebuke, smiling determined.

"Yes, indeed you are," she replied gently and thoughtfully, as if this fact had only now completely sunk into her. She sighed deeply, but then her heart became lighter again and she added, being absolutely serious, "But not for me! For me, you are only Lucifer, my dear and overly protective partner."

Lucifer grinned at her, his heart so light he grasped tighter around her for fear he could float away. "Let me show you how dear I can be to you," he quipped and bent down again to continue the kiss.

A/N: The end. I hope you liked it. Please leave a comment and let me know :D

Have a nice day!

:o)