After leaving the Detective's place, Lucifer did some tests. He'd started out slow this time just in case the bleeding happened again, but it didn't. By the end of his experiments he was once again completely convinced that he was immortal. It just seemed to not be true when he wanted to show people. There had to be some reason why, some difference between then and now that he just wasn't getting. What was the difference?

He ran round and round the facts in his head, trying to remember every time he'd bled and what had been going on at the time. He tried to remember the specifics about where he'd been, what he'd been doing, who he'd been with… and then it hit him. He hadn't bled when he wanted to show someone. He'd bled when he'd wanted to show Chloe. Chloe had been there every time he'd been hurt, and more than that, every time he'd been immortal she hadn't been around.

But this was just a theory. He couldn't be sure unless he tested it.

When Chloe called the next morning to tell him they had a case, Lucifer felt sure he'd get a chance to test his theory soon. What he wasn't sure of was how she'd react if it turned out to be true.

"How's your hand?" Chloe asked once she'd given him all the information he needed about their new case.

"Healing quickly," Lucifer said.

"That's good," Chloe replied. "Any idea yet what's going on?"

"I have a theory," Lucifer admitted

"And that theory is?"

"I'll tell you when I'm sure," Lucifer said, hoping she didn't push it. He was worried that if he told her now it might sound like he was accusing her of something.

"Alright," Chloe replied, though he could hear disappointment in her voice. "I'll meet you at the crime scene then."

"Very well, Detective," Lucifer agreed and Chloe hung up the phone.

When he arrived at the crime scene, Lucifer immediately recognized the murder victim as his landlord Dean Cooper. He'd been killed by a small piece of glass slicing his neck and cutting open a major artery. The glass had come from a shattered champion flute and Lopez was offering to put the shattered glass back together, proving once again that one person's hell was another person's epic puzzle project. Lucifer didn't get a chance to test his new theory, because he got an urgent message from Maze. There was trouble at Lux. Lucifer enjoyed the fact that Chloe wasn't too keen on his leaving but it couldn't be helped.

What was waiting for him at Lux killed his cheerful mood in an instant. With the death of his previous landlord the new owner was evicting him. This wouldn't be possible except for the fact that Lucifer's lease was a very 'written in lipstick on a thong over a handshake' kinda thing. All deals with the devil were powerful even when written on a thong, but the law didn't seem to agree. Lucifer refused to regret his thong-lipstick system, even so it was posing a problem now that the man he'd shaken hands with was lying dead at the crime scene he'd just left.

The man who'd come to evict him was named Eric Cooper. Lucifer at once liked him for Dean Cooper's murder. Patricide after all was a time honored classic. Arriving less than an hour after his father's death to kick out his tenants was rather suspicious as well.

Lucifer knew he shouldn't. Chloe wouldn't have liked it, but he couldn't help but threaten the man. This was his home and no one was going to take it from him. It was probably a good thing Maze stopped him from beating Eric up, even if it left him feeling very unsatisfied. It was less helpful when Maze accused his mother. Yes, mum was guilty of a lot, but this wasn't her style.

Once Maze was gone, Lucifer decided Chloe needed to be told of Eric's murderous deed. When Lucifer called to tell Chloe his suspicions he was happy to hear she agreed with him. Lopez's trick with the puzzle glass had found a single finger print on the murder weapon belonging to one Eric Cooper.

"Excellent," Lucifer said. "So shall we go arrest him?"

"Not so fast," Chloe replied. "We can go talk to him, but we don't have enough to arrest him."

"Fine," Lucifer said, begrudgingly. "Meet you there then." She agreed and he hung up.

When they met up at the Cooper building, Lucifer filled Chloe in on the whole 'Eric making deals an hour after his old man croaks' thing.

"You know what that means," Chloe said once Lucifer had explained what had happened. "You are personally involved in this case."

"So what if I am?" Lucifer asked.

"So that means if you mess up on this one a jury will roast us on that one fact alone," Chloe answered. "We have to do this one by the book."

"No problem," Lucifer smiled, but she didn't seem to believe him.

"I mean it Lucifer," Chloe said. "No fudging divinity out of the report this time, okay. This has to be all human. No terrorizing the suspects with any devil powers."

"Fine," Lucifer sighed. "Ruin all the fun." He couldn't help but sulk a little even if he knew she had a point.

"Okay then," Chloe said, and they began walking again towards the building's entrance.

Just then they were stopped dead in their tracks by the loud sound of something falling from the sky with enough force to trash the car parked behind them. Turning around they realized it was a person and not just any person.

"Isn't that the guy we were here to interrogate?" Lucifer asked. Chloe nodded, stunned for only a moment before she sprung into action. Moving closer Chloe discovered he was still alive and called an ambulance at once.

"Well that lead fell flat didn't it," Lucifer said as they watched their suspect being manhandled into the back of an ambulance about a half hour later.

"The hospital will call us when we can talk to him," Chloe said.

"And what exactly should we do in the meantime?" Lucifer replied.

"We could test your theory," Chloe offered.

"What, right here?" Lucifer asked, gesturing to the chaos surrounding them. Nothing like a failed suicide jump landing on a car to really bring the sirens to town.

"Good point," Chloe agreed and the two of them headed back to her car.

The whole time Chloe drove them Lucifer was going over the facts in his head again. He could remember Chloe had been there when he'd had his fight with Amenadiel, the fight where he'd been wounded ten times worse than Amenadiel, but she hadn't been there when he'd fought and beaten his other brother Uriel. He'd been saving Chloe when he'd taken the bullet that had sent him straight to hell. He'd been with Chloe when he'd gotten every single cut, scrape or bruise. The only exception he could think of was before the vulnerability had started. When she'd shoot him in the leg or for the first half of that gang fight over the viper. It just had to be her. Nothing else fit the evidence. The problem was he had no idea why it was her.

Chloe stopped the car and they got out. To his surprise she'd taken them back to his place, Lux.

"Okay so what's your theory and how do we test it?" Chloe asked once they were upstairs in his penthouse.

Walking over to his bar, Lucifer picked up the first sharp knife he saw. It was a fairly small knife meant for cutting limes and such at the bar.

"Here goes nothing," Lucifer said as he rolled up his sleeve and brought the knife gently to his skin. He could feel that the edge would cut him just a instant before it did. He pulled the knife away from his arm and placed it back on the bar. It had the smallest drop of blood on it.

"Vulnerable," Lucifer said. "Theory confirmed."

"What theory?" Chloe said. "You just basically did the same thing you did before. That doesn't tell you anything."

"Yes it does," Lucifer said softly. "You are here and I bleed. When I do this test away from you, I don't bleed. I figured out the difference between my being immortal and merely human. It's you."

"Me?" Chloe replied, nonplussed. "But I'm not doing anything. It can't be me."

"It has to be," Lucifer disagreed. "All the evidence points to you. I don't know why, but it is what's happening."

The look on Chloe's face wasn't what he'd expected. Actually he wasn't really sure what he'd expected, but it wasn't this.

"I'm hurting you," Chloe said slowly. "Just by standing here?" She looked horrified and was backing away from him.

"Of course you aren't," Lucifer said. "It's just that with you close by I can be hurt. That's all."

"So what you're saying is that everytime you come near me, all the time we've spent together you were in fact risking your life," she said slowly.

"Only so much as every human is risking their life by walking around everyday being human," Lucifer replied. "It isn't so big a deal really and it might be helpful to know."

"To know what?" Chloe asked. "That I'm poison to you?"

"You most certainly are not," Lucifer snapped. The very idea she could think this way stung him. He hated it. Chloe had never and would never hurt him. Lucifer knew this, knew it in a way he couldn't explain. He'd never felt safer with anyone before, and yet in a way he'd never felt more exposed with anyone before either.

"But I am," she argued. "You are immortal, impervious, unkillable, ancient, larger than life! That is until you come near me and become- what? Weak? Poisoned? Mortal?"

"No, just a little more human," Lucifer continued simply. He was trying not to make a big deal of this, since clearly the Detective considered it one.

There was a long pause in which Lucifer hardly knew what to say. He wanted somehow to comfort her, to make her okay with this development but he had no idea how to. The only thing that crossed his mind was hugging her, but in her current state of mind he sensed that wouldn't work.

"I'm not sure what to do with this information," Chloe said slowly. She was still standing much too far away for Lucifer's liking.

"You don't have to do anything with it," Lucifer replied, respecting her space even if he wished it wasn't there. "I promised I'd tell you when I figured it out and I have. It doesn't change anything."

"It changes everything!" Chloe exclaimed louder. "Don't you understand. I have a physical effect on you that has never happened before since the beginning of time." She paused all the energy falling out of her voice before adding quietly, "It's- it's a lot to process."

"Fair enough," Lucifer said. "We can agree then that this is a bit weird." He was trying with all his might to stay calm, but even if he could keep his outward appearance calm he was failing on the inside. It felt like everything he valued most in this world was falling away from him. Between the look in Chloe's eyes and the eviction notice hanging over his home, Lucifer hadn't felt this abandoned since his Dad had kicked him out of heaven.

"I- um," Chloe began. "I have to go."

"O-kay," Lucifer said slowly. "But you'll call me when we can go interview Eric at the hospital right?"

"Um hmm," Chloe said. Her mind was clearly elsewhere as she mumbled. Lucifer didn't think she was even hearing him. He was also pretty sure she had no intention of calling him back onto the case anytime soon.

Even so, he let her leave. It wasn't like he could do anything else. If she didn't want to be near him, he couldn't force her.

What he could do was pour himself a glass of bourbon, or two… or three. After his fourth glass Lucifer found himself wondering idly if being vulnerable around Chloe meant he could actually get drunk around her too. It was an exciting idea, though his heart fell when he remembered the chances of her being willing to test his theory were slim.

Lucifer hardly knew what to do next. What if this meant she didn't want to be partners anymore? What would he do then? The idea hurt more than the cuts on his hand. Chloe couldn't vanish from his life. She just couldn't. Lucifer didn't want to lose Lux, but losing Chloe felt ten times worse somehow. When had she become more important than his home?

He'd finished the bottle and opened another one when it occurred to him that he could go upstairs. Drinking alone in his empty club was a tad pathetic, though he supposed drinking alone upstairs wasn't much better. He was spared from having to decide which by the doors of his club opening.

"Who are you?" he asked the ten odd men who'd just walked in wearing what he could only describe as blue jumpsuits.

"Moving crew," the man on the left said. "New owner."

"What do you mean new owner?" Lucifer asked, furious. "I only just got the eviction notice."

"Elenor Bloom," the man said. "She purchased this property from the Coopers a few hours ago."

"Well she doesn't waste time, does she?" Lucifer snapped.

No one responded. Instead they fanned out, caring boxes and those huge ugly moving blankets people used.

"Hands off my piano!" Lucifer snapped as he saw one guy attempt to lay one of those ugly blankets over it.

"It's nothing personal," the guy near the piano said. "It's our job. We don't want any trouble."

"You think you can come in here and take apart my life without any trouble?!" Lucifer spoke with as much authority as he felt he could muster on humans, or at least innocent humans.

"You gentlemen have no idea who you are dealing with," Lucifer said firmly as he pulled the ugly blanket off his piano. "Well let me show you."

He waited until he saw just the right amount of fear in their eyes before he cried, "No one throws a party quite like the devil!" And he sat down at the piano and began to play, filling the room with music.

"Mark my words I will have a hundred people in this building before you can pack up two boxes," Lucifer said, whipping out his phone and sending some very purposeful texts.

There was nothing he could do to make the Detective okay with the knowledge that she was making him killable, but there was something he could do about this ridiculous Bloom lady tearing down his house.

True to his word the entire club was fit to bursting with dancing, drinking bodies faster than the moving idiots could pack. To Lucifer's delight those same moving idiots ended up joining the party which suited him perfectly. Getting them drunk became his one number priority. That is, until his mother showed up.

"To what do I owe this displeasure?" Lucifer asked the goddess.

"Just because I don't understand why you want to stay doesn't mean I can't support you," mum replied. "So where exactly does one sit in?"

Lucifer was taken aback. Was this his mother? "You're actually being a good mum." It was almost a question, but not quite. He took her arm and led her into the heart of the party.

To his surprise he saw Dr Martin in the crowd. She was waving him over.

"Hey Lucifer," Linda called over the crowd.

Lucifer turned away to head in the opposite direction.

"Who is that?" his mother asked.

"My former therapist," Lucifer said. "She is going to assume some truly disturbing things seeing us together as it is and I'd rather not add to it."

"Ah so you haven't told this one the way you told the other one," his mother said.

"No," Lucifer replied.

"Does that mean she's less important?" mother asked. "Or more important?"

"I don't know," Lucifer snapped. "Why does it have to be one of those two? Can't I just do things without there being meaning behind it?"

"There is meaning behind everything we do, dear," the goddess said.

"I wonder why she's here," Lucifer sighed. Then he realized. "Maze. It was probably Maze. Geez, why do all the women in my life have to keep ganging up on me?"

"I can assure you dear, that part at least isn't about you," his mother chuckled.

"If you say so," Lucifer mumbled. He really was done with her company but had no one to dump her on. That is until he spotted his brother. Amenadiel could handle mum. Lucifer had an illegal party to host.

My editor finished this a couple days ago but I it just slipped my mind so here I am updating a bit later than I had planned but still not that bad. Also what do you think about Chloe's reaction? I changed it because now she is finding out before they become romantically involved. She is finding out at the same time as Lucifer and before Amenadiel comes up with his self-actualization theory. Without all that I felt like her reaction would have been alot different. Let me know what you think. :) Hope you are having a wonderful day. DFTBA

Sneak Peek Chapter 41

Interviewing Bloom didn't lead Chloe anywhere. Not only did she have an alibi but she seemed all together too likely to get revenge within the law than outside of it. Chloe did learn one thing. Dean Cooper was making large off the books payments to someone and hiding it from his company. It was the only lead she had, so Chloe decided to follow up on it. She got to work tracing the payments.

She'd tracked it down to a guy who called himself a 'professional tempter' and was in the middle of interviewing him when Dan interrupted her to tell her there was an illegal party at Lux. Clearly Dan expected her to deal with this, but that would mean seeing Lucifer and making him able to bleed. Maybe she shouldn't think that every time.

"I'm kinda busy here," Chloe said when Dan pulled her out of her interrogation. "I'll get to the party later."

"I have to send someone," Dan replied. "If not you, then it's just gonna be a shut down team. I thought you'd want to be involved is all."

"I do," Chloe said, and to her surprise she wasn't lying. Despite feeling like she suddenly had a toxic label stamped to her forehead, Chloe wanted to be there to help Lucifer save his home.

She handed Dan the file on this guy and asked Dan to finish questioning him. "See if you can get him to admit who he was tempting."