Lucifer had wanted to kick his brother's ass many, many times before, and he'd even wanted to kill him a few times. But this? Staring at the look of pure terror and confusion on Chloe's face as the Detective stared at where Michael had previously been standing, Lucifer genuinely wanted to murder his brother in cold blood. He stayed where he was, watching her carefully, eyes wide and concerned as he waited for her to process. She was mumbling under her breath, something along the lines of "It's all true", but Lucifer couldn't really hear all that well. The Devil took a deep breath and took a few steps back - Unfortunately bringing Chloe's attention back to him. Lucifer froze for a second, staring into her wide, disbelieving, terror-filled eyes, but managed to force himself to speak. "... Are you alright?"
"Wh…" Chloe's voice shook slightly as she trailed off, shaking her head vigorously and burying her face into her hands. The Detective took a deep breath, literally shaking, before finally forcing herself to look up, focusing on Lucifer. "It's all true? He's- He's- And you're… You're Lucifer, and…"
"That is what I've been trying to tell you," Lucifer managed, rushing into an explanation. "I am the Devil, Detective, but you already knew that, didn't you? And Michael - He's an angel. Archangel, actually, but… And I know this is a lot to take in, but Pierce is Cain - From the Bible, world's first murderer, blah, blah, blah, and he took Miss Lopez to piss Michael off so that Michael would kill him with the Sword which is probably the only thing that can kill him and I… I'm not… Helping…" He trailed off.
Chloe stayed silent for a long time, eyes flickering uncertainly with the new information. Finally, she took a deep breath and swallowed, shaking her head and forcing herself to focus. "Ah… Wh… Ella…" She trailed off, clearing her throat. "I need… I need to get to Ella…" She paused, looking up at him. "Do you… Can you…"
"Teleport? Fly? Yes," Lucifer mumbled uncertainly, shaking his head. "But I don't know where Miss Lopez is, and I… surprisingly can't sense her at all." He hesitated, staring at Chloe uncertainly. The Detective didn't reply for a moment seemingly still trying to recover from everything she'd just learned.
"Cain… Michael…" She exhaled, looking up once more. "Okay, then, uh, we need… To get to… To Pierce and… Michael…" She hesitated, looking Lucifer up and down as the realization struck. "You… You're really the… the Devil…"
"Chloe," Lucifer lowered his voice, his gaze meeting hers. "You know me. You trust me, don't you? Yes, I'm the Devil, but I've never lied to you about that. And I've never hurt you, and I never would."
That helped Chloe relax a little bit, seemingly. She nodded, taking a deep breath and holding it, silent for a long, long time before letting the breath out slowly and taking a few steps toward Lucifer, who stared back at her in silence, eyebrows furrowing in concern as he watched her. "Okay," she whispered. "Take… Take me to… Pierce."
"... Are you sure?" Lucifer asked slowly, eyebrows furrowing. Chloe just nodded, and Lucifer hesitated, standing still for a moment before reaching out to touch her shoulder. Surprisingly, Chloe didn't flinch - She actually relaxed as soon as he made contact, and stared with wide eyes as he reluctantly spread his wings out, looking up and closing his eyes. "Might want to close your eyes, Detective."
He waited a moment, and when Chloe gave his arm a squeeze to tell him she was ready, he gave a soft whoosh of his wings, opening his eyes. He immediately wrapped one of the wings around Chloe, pulling her back when he saw Michael and Pierce fighting. His brother was obviously winning. And Lucifer watched, wide eyed, as Michael snatched the abandoned Sword up off the ground and slammed his wings into Pierce's legs, knocking him back. And when he was flat on the ground, he raised the sword and brought it down.
It sliced right through Pierce's chest, and the man sucked in a strangled gasp. Chloe flinched, turning and burying her face into Lucifer's shoulder, shaking, and Lucifer wrapped his arms around her as well, watching his brother. Michael yanked the sword out and knelt down beside Pierce, leaning in close. Lucifer couldn't hear what they were saying, but judging by the look of relieved satisfaction on Michael's face, he had to assume Pierce told him Ella's location. After that, time seemed to slow - and not literally, Lucifer checked, Amenadiel wasn't anywhere nearby. And he didn't have his powers, anyway.
Finally, Pierce went still, his glazed eyes fixed on the ceiling. Michael didn't stick around to wait; He was gone before Lucifer could blink, the sword clattering to the ground where he had previously been kneeling. Lucifer hesitantly pulled away from Chloe, gently shushing the Detective's protests and pulling her along, holding her close as he walked over. He stared down at Pierce, silent and waiting, waiting for him to suck in a gasp of air and sit up again.
But he was completely, and relievingly, still. Lucifer sighed, closing his eyes for a second before kneeling down and picking Michael's Sword up, turning back to Chloe, who was staring down at Pierce with wide, terrified eyes. "I'm sorry, Detective," Lucifer mumbled. "I never wanted this."
Chloe just shook her head, looking up at him. "... I know." She looked down again, going silent for the longest time before forcing herself to speak. "... Ella."
"Right." Lucifer wrapped his wing around her again and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he was surprised to see them in a hotel room - A hotel room he recognized, actually, this was the hotel beside Lux… Why the Hell couldn't he sense her there before? The Devil frowned, frustrated, but the frown faltered, mouth pressing into a neutral line as he watched Michael wrap his arms around Ella, holding her close. Ella honestly seemed okay - A little shaken up, but surprisingly unfazed, and Michael… Lucifer was shocked to see tears rolling down his face as he held Ella close, not saying a word. And she hugged him back just as tightly, just as silently, looking up and grinning at Lucifer and Chloe as they appeared. She extended one arm to hug Chloe when the Detective rushed over to check on her, but Lucifer stayed frighteningly still, his gaze fixed on the three of them.
The only thing he could think of was that that, what had just happened, had been so, horribly close to going completely wrong. If Pierce had wanted to harm Ella, this could have been completely different. This could have been real danger, real danger that he and his brother put her in. And now, Chloe, too. Lucifer hadn't wanted her to be dragged into any of this, and now she was, thanks to Michael. Now she knew everything, now she believed everything, thanks to Michael. Lucifer's grip on the sword tightened, wings folding back silently.
"Lucifer!"
Ella practically tackled him, but Lucifer stood still, quietly wrapping his arms and wings around the girl and holding her close, staring down. "... Glad you're alright, Miss Lopez," he whispered, shaking his head. "I…" He trailed off, clearing his throat. "I was very worried about you."
"Pfft, of course I'm fine! Takes more than Cain to take me down, heh," Ella assured, giggling a little bit and pulling back to smile at him. Lucifer forced a smile back, his gaze darting from Ella to Michael, to Chloe, and back again, hesitating.
The realization was hitting him hard, and it hurt. Ella and Chloe would both be much, much better off without Michael and Lucifer there to put them in any danger.
Lucifer knew what he had to do. He didn't want to, but he knew what he had to do. So, the Devil sucked in a shaky breath and looked up. "I need to talk to Michael," he murmured, squeezing Ella's shoulder. Without waiting for a reply, he strode forward, and grabbed Michael by the shoulder, turning to face him. They were in his penthouse before he'd turned completely, his wings spread out and Michael's wings folded. His older brother's eyes widened, obviously startled as he glanced around, before shrugging Lucifer off and stepping back. Lucifer simply dropped the sword at his side, shaking his head.
Amenadiel looked up from where he sat, standing up and walking over instantly, reaching out to place one hand on his brother's shoulder. "Luci?"
"Watch out for Chloe and Ella, Amenadiel," Lucifer mumbled shakily, shrugging him off and turning to face him. He met his oldest brother's gaze, his eyes flickering with anguish as he looked up into his eyes. "Please."
Amenadiel stared at him, his expression changing. "What are you going to…" He trailed off, glanced at Michael, and his eyes widened with the realization. Michael just stared back in confusion, glancing between them.
Lucifer shook his head and turned back to Michael, folding his wings back. "I'm ready to go back to Heaven, brother. Just… Take me to Heaven."
Michael's eyes widened, opening and closing his mouth silently for a moment as he fought to respond. Lucifer just stared, eyes cold. "It- It's- It hasn't been a month yet," Michael finally managed to stammer out, his eyes wide with disbelief as he stared at his younger brother.
"Michael," Lucifer hissed, lowering his voice. "Ella could have been hurt, because of us. I don't care if it's only been a few days. I want. To leave. I want to go somewhere where we can't hurt them anymore."
"But Dad…"
"Wanted me in Heaven!" Lucifer exclaimed, voice raising suddenly as he shook his head. "Well, I'm willing to go now! So obey his bloody orders and take me to Heaven!"
Michael looked taken aback for a moment, but after a second, his amber eyes sparked up, flickering with flames as he raised his chin. "That's what you want?"
"Yes." Lucifer narrowed his eyes.
"That's really what you want?" Michael insisted, taking a step toward him. Lucifer took a small step forward as well, leaning forward and holding his gaze.
"What I want," the Devil growled. "Is for Chloe and Ella to no longer be in danger. Every second that we're here, they are. For you, this should be two birds with one stone. Miss Lopez is fine, and you get to prove yourself to Dad. So beam me up, Scotty, do what the Hell you have to do, just get us out of here before I stab your own sword through your chest."
Michael glared at him, eyes flickering with fury for a long, long time. Finally, though, he reached out, clasping one hand firmly over Lucifer's shoulder. "If you insist."
Lucifer took a deep breath and held it, squeezing his eyes shut. A few moments passed, Michael's hand remaining on his shoulder. And Lucifer didn't want to open his eyes. He didn't want to look and see the Silver City - Possibly see his Dad for the first time in… Forever. Didn't want to see his siblings again, their disapproving glares. But at the same time, he also didn't want to open his eyes and see his penthouse. LA, where Chloe and Ella and Linda were, where they were in danger as long as Lucifer was there. He would have been content to just never open his eyes at all. And so, he kept them shut, he kept them shut tightly and let the minutes pass.
And he kept them shut until Michael's voice broke into his thoughts, quiet and confused. "... Sammy, something's wrong."