Author's note: There it is at last, the end of this small story. I hope it will reach your expectations. Enjoy!
As the sun was going down and painting a beautiful array of yellows and oranges in the darkening sky of LA, Lucifer was sitting at his grand piano, brooding and immobile, incapable of finding a song to play that would be sad enough to match his feelings.
He'd tried to keep himself occupied those last hours, to block the depressing thoughts away, without much success, he had to admit. He'd been drinking, of course, but not enough to get drunk. He'd have to be very dedicated to the task for it to happen, and right now he was way too distracted to focus properly on anything.
He also kept contact with Miss Lopez to follow the evolution of the search for survivors in the rubbles of the precinct. The current deaths count was officially of four, Charlotte included, with still a few missing persons to account for. It was surprisingly low, considering the amount of damages inflicted to the building. Of what he also heard, Williams seems to be well on his way to stay crazy for the rest of his life, some small comfort, and after that he would finally have his real punishment down in Hell. Lucifer was just sad that he wouldn't be there to insure himself that the culprit would receive proper penance.
In spite of all his efforts to distract himself, Lucifer's thoughts always came back to Chloe... She was freaked out, half broken by the revelations he had imposed on her. She hadn't said so, of course, but he knew, he'd seen it in her eyes. He'd already seen that kind of lost look countless times before, of a mortal not understanding her universe anymore. It had just taken his leaving her a short time this morning for her to fall into a panic attack. Despite his reluctance to do so, he'd been forced to leave her again, as she'd asked him, and now he feared she would start panicking once more. And this time, she might not let him hold her hand while she did. Why she had the first time around was still a mystery to him though. Maybe she hadn't been able to think properly back then. As soon as she got herself back together enough to think it through, she might very well decide to cut him out of her life for good. It was just a matter of time before she understood that she was better off without him. She would undoubtedly come to that conclusion, sooner or later. After all, he wasn't even human, but the Devil, a being feared and loathed for thousands of years by humans. That kind of ancestral fear could not be erased so easily.
Let's just say that he didn't have great hopes of her coming to him after Daniel's return to consciousness, even if she'd assure him that she would. He knew she would find a reason not to come, once the dust settled down and she finally looked rationally at the situation. She was a smart woman after all, his Detective. And if she truly had freewill, as he now started to believe, thanks to his Mom, then she could choose for herself, and he would have to accept her choice, whatever it would be.
He went back to the memory of holding her in his arms in the basement of the precinct, after she had seen his Devil's face. He remembered the smell of her hair, the sweetness of her body against his, and the amazing felling of completeness he had experienced. He'd probably held her so for the last time ever.
As he had held his Mother for the very last time too... For she was gone, gone because of him, and back in Hell to suffer for eternity. How would he manage to live with the knowledge that she had given up her freedom to save his? He had no idea. And to think that she had damned herself to Hell to be with him the first time around... He didn't feel worthy of her sacrifices. Damn! He hadn't even threated her decently since her arrival on Earth, keeping her at arm's length all along and blaming her at the first opportunity for everything and nothing. He was also ashamed of not even having visited her in Hell during all those millennia. If he only had, maybe she would have told him the truth, maybe things would have turned out differently...
He sighed loudly. It was no good dwelling on the past. His Mother was gone, and unfortunately there was nothing he could do about it. He would never be able to tell her everything he should have said...
Lucifer…
And now his grief was making him imagine his mother's voice. He shook his head in disbelief. He really was good at torturing himself.
"Lucifer..."
He froze all of a sudden. That voice wasn't coming from inside his brain, but from all around him.
Eyes wide in anticipation, Lucifer looked around himself to make sure he wasn't in the process of losing his mind. He saw nothing at first, but then, right before him, a growing light started to expend in his living room. The light slowly took the form of a human body that then materialised into a well-known person.
"Mom?" He breathed, unbelieving.
The visage of Charlotte smiled sweetly at him. "Yes Son, it really is me."
"But... how?" He still doubted what his eyes were telling him. It just made no sense.
His Mom laughed at his stunned air. "You should see your face right now, Lucifer. It's priceless. But I guess I must have looked the same way when I ended up in front of your Father. Believe it or not, but He seems to have been impressed by my actions to save your life. Who knew it was all it took for Him to open Heaven's Doors for me once more?"
She walked to Lucifer's bar and retrieved a bottle of one of his finest wine.
"What? He took you back?" He blurted out in a high pitch voice. He stood up and joined her at the bar.
She took a moment to open the bottle and poor herself a good measure of the expensive liquid. "Well, sort of. I would call it more a probation. He doesn't trust me that much, I can tell. I'll still have to prove myself to Him apparently, before He allows me to wander around the Silver City unattended. There is always someone watching me as it is, and I'm pretty sure He is watching me as we speak." She raised her eyes and her glass to the ceiling silently for a few seconds, in a toast to her Ex. "But I don't really care, as long as I'm with my children. Not a lot of them are trusting me yet, I have to admit, but I'm confident they'll come around in time."
"You really are okay..." Lucifer whispered with incredulity. As if he was just starting to believe it. "You won't be tortured in Hell because of me?"
His Mom's face turned all tender and she cupped his face affectionately. "No I won't, my Son. And even if I had ended up down there, it wouldn't have been because of you, but because of all the choices I have made during my existence. And you can be sure that I would never have regretted it if it had been to save you."
"But Mom..., what you did..., what you sacrificed for me..." He couldn't find the right words to express his gratitude. "I'll never be able to repay you!"
His Mom gave him a scolding look and patted his cheek comfortingly. "Don't be silly, Son! I didn't do it to get payed back. I did it because I'm your Mother, and that I love you. Can't you understand that?" She squinted her eyes in thoughts for a moment. "But now that you are suggesting it, there might be something you could do for me in return."
Of course there had to be, thought Lucifer. But he couldn't refuse her anything at this point. "I'll do my best to fulfill your wishes, Mother." He answered warily, a bit on his guards.
She smiled mischievously. "All I ask of you, Lucifer, is to make sure to be happy."
"What?" He started in surprise.
"Don't think that I haven't seen you mopping about for the last few hours, already trying to convince yourself that you are unworthy of Chloe. You deserve some happiness, my Son."
Lucifer sighed in exasperation. "But it's not only my decision, Mom. Chloe has seen my Devil's face today. She knows everything now. If as you say Chloe has freewill, than the logical choice for her would be to push me away. And who could blame her for doing so, really?"
Mom looked surprised to learn that Chloe knew the truth, but it didn't deterred her. "We're not talking about logic, Lucifer, but about love. And love is so alien to you that you would miss it even if it was handed to you on a silver platter. You're so used to torturing yourself that even if Chloe threw herself at you, you would find a way to screw this up. For once, just this time, please, stop thinking too much and take what is offered to you. I want you to grab at happiness instead of throwing it away because you're afraid you're gonna get hurt."
She was now holding his face tenderly with both hands, having set down her glass of wine. She was trying to infuse to him all the truth in her words.
Lucifer was simply speechless. He wanted to tell her that she was wrong and that he wasn't afraid, but it would have been a lie. The truth was, he was already preparing himself for Chloe's rejection and even expected nothing else. And he was not just afraid, but terrified, of letting himself love Chloe or to let her love him. He knew that giving into such love would have the potential of destroying him or of being the most wonderful thing that ever happened to him in his entire existence.
Mom smiled at her son tenderly. His evident vulnerability in that instant confirmed her that she had read the situation correctly. "All I'm asking you, Lucifer, is to give Chloe and yourself a real chance if the opportunity presents itself."
Lucifer finally returned her a shy smile. "I'll try Mom. Thanks!"
"Now I'm counting on you to make the best out of this situation, Son. I won't be around to check on you though. It looks like your Father will not let me come and go freely for a while. You know what a control freak He is." She snorted at the huge understatement. "He probably thinks I'd go around creating plagues and provoking floods like in old times. As if it would be a crime to do so." She added in disbelief.
"Mom!" Blurted Lucifer in consternation.
"Just kidding, Son! Just kidding! I'm gonna behave myself, I promise." She patted his cheeks motherly, seemingly quite proud of her joke.
Lucifer just hoped it really had been only a joke.
Mom took a mouthful of wine, savoring it. There was no alcohol in Heaven and she would miss it.
She returned her attention to Lucifer. "But more seriously, I'll be back for a visit as soon as your Dad gives me some slack. So don't worry about me in the meantime, I'll be okay, as long as I know that you are too."
"I'll do my best Mom, I promise." He reassured her.
"I guess that's the best I will get." And with that, she drained the remaining of her glass of wine in one gulp, clearly ready to go.
Something suddenly came to Lucifer's mind that could be of interest to his Mother. "Before you quit the earthly plane, Mom, I think you should go make a visit."
Mom lifted her eyebrows in curiosity.
"I'm talking about Daniel. He got a serious head injury this morning and went into surgery."
She couldn't hide her concern and distress at hearing his news. "Will he be alright?"
"It looks like he's going to pull out of it alive and mostly whole after all, but I'm sure the news of your disappearance will crush him. The guy is quite infatuated with you, you know. Chloe should already have told him by now. Of what I gathered, Chloe and he figured out a lot about us from what they heard of our conversation back in that basement. Otherwise, Chloe would never have reacted so well when she came face to face with my Devil's appearance this morning. I think Daniel could be able to handle you too. It might even do him good to know that you are finally going to Heaven instead of Hell."
She looked quite disturbed by the whole news. She started walking restlessly back and forth while tapping a finger on her lower lip pensively. "I might do just that. Thanks for telling me. It could also give me the opportunity to make sure that he would recover completely."
"Just don't do too great a miracle of him, will you? It might attract unwanted attention on his case." Lucifer warned her.
"Don't worry, I'll do just enough..." She smiled, mischievously. Her decision seemed to have already been taken.
As an afterthought, Lucifer added another warning. "And make sure no one sees you at the hospital. It could be hard to explain your reappearance if someone saw Charlotte Richards walk around when she is reportedly dead."
"Don't be afraid, Son, no one will see me if I don't want them to. Now come here..." And she embraced him in a warm hug. "I'll be missing you, Lucifer." She whispered at his ear, emotion tick in her voice.
At first he stood stiffly in her embrace, but then he relaxed and buried his head in the crook of her neck and hugged her back tenderly. "Bye Mom! Take care. I'll... I'll miss you too," he admitted softly. "And don't forget that... I love you, Mom." He said the last bit with a shaking voice.
Mom hugged him more fiercely for a moment then framed his face with her hands to lift his teary eyes up to hers. "My sweet boy! I love you so much!" She kissed his forehead tenderly and lingered there a moment before releasing him.
They both took deep breaths to keep themselves from crying. It would have been embarrassing.
After having gathered herself back together, Mom made her last goodbye. "I have to go now. You know that your Father is not the most patient being in the universe," she joked lightly to lift the mood. "And also, I do have a visit to make before I get back up there."
The penthouse was only faintly lit with a warm orange glow when Chloe came in. Everything was quiet and for a second, the fear that he could have run away crossed her mind. But she knew he would never break a promise, and he had told her he would be there. So she walked hesitantly, going deeper into the Devil's lair, in search of its occupant.
She found him on his balcony, his back to her, leaning on the railings with both hands. She stopped her advance before he could hear her, as to have the time to observe him discreetly for a moment. He was looking upwards, seemingly deep in contemplation of the night sky. She'd seen him do it many times over the course of their partnership, though she never suspected before today that such a behaviour could have hidden meanings for him, other than to simply admire the few stars and the beauty of the sky. She wondered what kind of memories could be stirred up by such a sight for a celestial being like him.
Because her partner was an Archangel! Raised in Heaven, then later sent to Hell as a punishment for rebelling against his Father, who was God... The idea of God being real was still making her mind jam. But she didn't linger on it longer, well determinate to keep her head clear tonight. Handling her devilish partner would already be a handful.
She continued to watch Lucifer silently, in awe. That amazing being was her friend, the person she trusted most in the world. It was still hard reconciling her knew knowledge of him being the real Devil with who she had discovered him to be over the last few years. She had no doubt that the man she had come to know was the real Lucifer, the one he only let but a few get a glimpse at. She felt blessed to have gained that much of his trust.
There was so many things she wanted to ask him, such as how exactly and why she made him vulnerable, which seemed to be the reason for his getting hurt today, according to his Mom. Or why he had abandoned her to flee to Vegas not so long ago. He'd said he didn't mean to hurt her, and she believed him. She'd gathered that he'd probably wanted to protect her in some way. Even knowing that, it still did hurt just thinking about it. Fortunately, he'd been unable to stay away from her, and she was so grateful for that.
She also would have liked him to explain and clarify all the strange occurrences that took place over the last years, but today was not the time for all of that. Lucifer had just lost his mom and what he needed was not an interrogation, but a friend. So that's what she wanted to be for him tonight. She actually was ready to be a lot more to him than that, if he would only let her...
She now knew he had strong feelings for her. He'd admitted that much, if not in so many words. And after hours of soul searching, she could only acknowledge that her own feelings for him were exactly the same. After having almost lost him today, she wasn't ready to miss that second chance to make things right between them. There was still the problem of her not knowing what he could or was willing to give her, which left her utterly unsure of how to approach him.
At last, she took a deep breath and walked slowly to him. She saw him turn slightly his head towards her, acknowledging her presence. But he kept still, and quiet. His eyes and beautiful face were displaying a maelstrom of emotions.
She stopped a few paces from him, hesitant. "Lucifer..." She breathed.
She wasn't sure what she wanted to say. But she got the desired reaction from Lucifer who fully turned around and straightened up to his full height. His emotions were now guarded tightly behind a mask of insensitivity. He moved slowly towards her, looking quite magnanimous and powerful, as the Lord of Hell she now knew him to be. Was he trying to impress or scare her? She though he might be. It was just like him to try something like that. But she'd made her peace with that part of him already and was not about to let herself be impressed by the Devil tonight. So she held his gaze without flinching. He left only a mere foot between them, gazing down at her with an indecipherable look.
"You came?" He finally said guardedly.
Her right hand lifted of its own accord to go rest over his heart, which was beating as madly as her own certain was. She was still amazed at the realisation that he truly was alive and well after such an ordeal.
She smiled shyly at him, still not knowing exactly how far she could go in her declarations without scaring him. "Of course I came. I thought you might need a friend, and… and I needed you too."
A look of deep confusion crossed his face. His gaze went a few times from her eyes to her hand still resting over his heart. His mask of insensitivity was already crumbling down before her eyes.
"But... Don't you understand…? Didn't you see…?" His confusion was complete.
"See what?" She softly countered. "Your burnt appearance? Yes I did. So what if you look scary sometimes? You should see me when I wake up in the morning." She joked lightly.
That made him chuckle nervously in wonder.
Hesitantly, he inched even closer to her, at last lifting his left hand to rest it above hers over his torso. He squeezed her hand lightly and kept holding it.
"Shouldn't you be freaking out?" He wondered aloud.
"About you? Definitely not. But I reserve the right to freak out again in the near future, about everything else that rocked my world into shambles. But for now I'd prefer not to, if you don't mind. I had enough freaking out for one day."
"You really are a gift from heaven." He marvelled in a whisper.
Chloe preferred not to think about the possibility that he was still talking in double meanings. Let's keep that for another day, she reasoned herself. In that moment, she just wanted to enjoy the overwhelming way he was looking at her.
He surprised her by encircling her waist loosely with his arms and bringing her a bit closer to him. She could feel the heat coming off his body, and his soft breath against her cheek. His otherworldly eyes were shining with such intensity that it took her breath away. He was stunningly beautiful.
She didn't know what to read into his behaviour. Only a moment ago he had been all closed up and cold, and now that? Her heart was fluttering wildly at the rush of emotions that assailed her. Having him so close to her and looking at her this way were making her lose all her countenance. She reminded herself that she wanted to take things slow to make sure they both knew and accepted what they would be getting themselves into. There was still too many unresolved things lingering between them that had to be cleared up, and Lucifer was also grieving his mother. It wouldn't be right to take advantage of that.
Feeling that things were going way too fast for her taste and that she needed time to gather her mind, she tried to gain some time by diverting his attention elsewhere with a question. Still, she kept her hand over his heart and enlaced him with her other arm to rest her palm over his back in a tight embrace.
"When you look at the sky, like when I came in, what do you see?"
He gave her an enigmatic smile. "Oftentimes, I imagine the Silver City, or Heaven if you prefer. Even though I don't really miss the place, I find myself sometimes thinking of my brothers and sister, wondering what they have become. But tonight…," and his smile turned bittersweet, "it makes me think of my Mother."
Chloe's sadness at knowing his mother was gone for good crept back into her heart. He'd said he would never see her again, and that she was back in Hell. However, she had a hard time reconciling that knowledge with the sweet smile on Lucifer's lips.
Seeing her conflicting reaction, he continued. "I had a very surprising visit earlier tonight. My Mom came to say hello."
Chloe tried to speak, but no words came out. Her mouth just hanged open in a silent question.
He chuckled happily at her reaction. "Turns out my uncaring Dad must have been hit by lightning or something. Because he took her back in Heaven as a reward for sacrificing herself to save me. Who could have seen that one coming? I certainly didn't."
She slowly regained the use of speech. "Wha… But… Does this mean she's free? Will we be seeing her again?"
"I guess you can say that she is free, as much as one can be under my Father's control freak obsession. As for seeing her again, I'm confident that I will, someday. But the Charlotte you have known is well and truly gone and you won't see her again. Actually, the real Charlotte has been dead for months now, from the moment my Mother inhabited her mortal shell, right after she got murdered in that hotel room. It is only her body that was destroyed today."
Chloe had already guessed some of it from what little Lucifer had told her about his mom having borrowed a human body, but she was glad to be granted the details.
Then a strange thought crossed Chloe's mind. "Does that mean that your Mother and Father are going to get back together then?"
He almost choked giggling at her supposition. "Noooo! Never in a thousand years!"
"Then maybe in two…," she teased him.
He chuckled merrily some more. "Who knows? Dad works in mysterious ways after all! But for that to even have a chance to happen, they would have to start by not killing each other, which is far from a won thing. At least I wouldn't bet anything on it."
Chloe giggled in awe at the realisation that she was joking about things like that without even freaking out.
She was swept once more by Lucifer's lovely gaze and she swallowed hard. If he kept staring at her like that she risked losing it entirely and start kissing the hell out of him before being able to tell him what she needed to say.
They were mercifully interrupted by her phone announcing that she had just received a text message. She disentangled herself from Lucifer with an apologetic smirk and looked at her cell' screen. She expected it to be from her mother who was currently taking care of Trixie at her place, but it wasn't, and her jaw dropped when she read the message.
"Seriously?" Was all that came out.
"What is it, Detective?" Lucifer looked like he didn't know if he should be concerned.
"That was Dan!" She answered in shock. "He said he has checked himself out of the hospital against his Doctor's advises and that he will explain everything later. What the hell?"
"Well, maybe not Hell, but the closest thing to it," Lucifer started enigmatically. "I believe it must have something to do with my Mother going to say her goodbyes. Subtlety has never been one of her strengths, and she had in mind of making sure Daniel would recover quickly. I fear she might have overdone it a bit. It might not be such a bad thing if Daniel checked himself out before someone discovered that he is a walking miracle."
Chloe started laughing in a clear voice. Knowing that Daniel had been miraculously healed was amazingly relieving and awe inspiring. "Oh my Go...oosh!" She was able to catch herself at the last second.
Lucifer was still beaming at her, but she saw him put his hands in his pant pockets as if trying to give her some space. Maybe he thought that she needed the space, or that she could still freak out on him at the mention of God?
She made sure to erase that possibility from his thoughts in the best way she knew. She slipped her arms back around him and held him even closer than earlier. Happily surprised, he took his hands from his pockets and held her back tenderly.
"You are taking all of this suspiciously well, Detective," he marvelled at her.
She took a deep breath. The time had probably come for her to tell him everything she came to say. "As I told you, Lucifer, I already had my freak out about divinity. As for your identity, I think it doesn't really matter who or what you are in the end, because I know you Lucifer, the real you. And the person I fell in love with, with my heart and soul, is not the Devil, nor an Archangel, but you, Lucifer Morningstar."
Clearly thunderstruck by her declarations, Lucifer opened his mouth to talk but she cut him by putting a finger over his lips.
"I really need to say this Lucifer, please just let me." Now that she had started, she couldn't stop herself, even if her voice was shaking with emotion. "I know you have your reasons for keeping me at bay, and for not giving into this, this wonderful connection that has always pulled us together, even though you admitted also having strong feelings for me. It might even seem to be a good reason to you, whatever it is, but I think we deserve a chance, Lucifer. I just... I can't imagine my life without you either..."
There she'd said it! She'd never felt so vulnerable, as if emotionally stripped bare before him. She released his lips by taking away her finger. His mouth went slack from the shock of her declarations. He just stared at her and the sparkle of love she saw in his eyes told her that whatever was keeping him from giving in might be losing its hold over him after all.
As if to confirm her feelings, instead of answered her with words, Lucifer slowly leant forwards to capture her lips with his in a light and sweet kiss. Her heart swelling with an overdose of emotions, she answered his kiss slowly and languorously, savoring the feel of his lips and the taste of him.
She could hardly believe that it was finally happening. She felt him deepen the kiss even more and press his body more firmly against hers. She gasped at the feeling of him, of them. It was everything she had dreamed of and yet, she was still afraid to give in entirely, afraid to get hurt once more.
She broke the kiss and pulled back, breathing hard, her head spinning from the delightful rush of hormones. Lucifer looked as breathless as she felt and also quite confused at her reaction.
She didn't let him wonder longer about why she was pulling away. "What about that reason that was keeping us from being together? You said you couldn't." She shook her head softly. "I want to be with you so badly, Lucifer, I have never been so sure of anything in my life, but to think that you could back away from me once more, before we even had a chance to really try…"
"Chloe…" He almost moaned. "Whatever that reason was, I… I realise I may have given it way more hold over me than it had a right to, only because I was terrified it might be true. The only real truth is that however hard I tried to deny this thing between us, and fight it..., I already belong to you, heart and soul!"
He looked at her with such adoration and devotion that she lost herself in his gaze, totally speechless.
"And I am well determined this time to not let my fears decide for me anymore, about what I deserve, or what I truly desire." He cupped her face and caressed her cheek tenderly.
As if in a trance, her voice barely above a whisper, she asked the only question that really mattered. "And what is it you truly desire, Lucifer?"
He didn't hesitate. "All of you!"
"Then I am yours!" She breathed.
And this time she didn't stop him when he kissed her with all the passion that consumed him.
Author's note: Before you comment about it, I know, I am hopelessly romantic, but I can live with that ;) I first started writing that story for my good friend's birthday, Bebec. But now it also has become a Christmas' and a New Year's gift. Bebec, I hope you enjoyed the ride :) I want to thank all of you who have read this story, or commented it one way or another. Your support is so much appreciated.
Now I will go back to writing my last current story, Redemption, while I will start my plan for the sequel of Stuck in Hell, which I just finished writing last week. See you soon!