Author's Note: So, I actually wrote this with Chloe in the place of Dan towards the end, and it just didn't go well. I really, really tried it and I'm sorry - I like writing Dan. Dan and Maze are probably my favorites because they don't get enough air time that I don't have to worry about canon really, whereas Lucifer and Chloe are surprisingly difficult (considering that this breaks off from like episode 4 onward). Also, I like how I plan on getting Chloe to believe in Lucifer's identity a much bigger part of the story, so there's that too...

Anyway, thanks again for all the reviews and encouragement! I really love some of the reactions (ranging between emojis to long mini stories) and I just want you to know that I definitely pay attention to the repeating names for reviewers. I like knowing that I can keep your interest!


Lux felt wrong for the first time since Lucifer bought it. Entirely too many strangers, and not the kind she was interested in. Instead of smelling of debauchery and sin, it reeked of industrial solvents. The lab had cleared it of any biological or chemical contagions, and actually remarked on how clean it was for all that went on there. The air system had been thoroughly scrubbed, checked and rechecked, every ounce of consumables tested and every surface scrubbed.

Maze scrunched up her nose. They'd actually managed to wash away the smell of brimstone she always found comforting. A little bit of Hell on Earth, and now she missed it.

Oh well. One night of opening and it would be right back to where it was.

As soon as the CDC had cleared the building as safe to return, Lucifer had. Apparently playing house with his human was only so thrilling once he stopped feeling like crap, and the detective had been only too willing to let him go home.

What was that human phrase about familiarity and contempt?

As much as Lucifer claimed to be interested by humans, he was still him - an easily distracted, easily bored malcontent. Things he thought were interesting and fascinating had a tendency to be fleeting, especially from her perspective. She'd been around him for ten million years.

And yet…somehow these last five seemed to stretch beyond that eternity. And the last three months? This was her Hell.

"Anything interesting at the precinct?" Lucifer asked, digging around under the bar for his private stash.

Maze slid onto the barstool, and reached behind the counter, easily grabbing the missing bottle. She raised an imperious eyebrow at her boss as he smirked briefly.

"This is why I have you," Lucifer said, pouring a glass, pushing it towards her, and then drinking straight from the bottle.

"I did hear some interesting things," Maze admitted, twirling the glass in her hands. "And you're not going to like any of them."

"Do I ever?" he grumbled. He grabbed the bottle by its neck and made his way to the piano. "What ridiculousness has transpired now?"

"We're dealing with True Believers," Maze said. "Actual, honest to your Father True Believers."

Lucifer rolled his eyes, dropping down on to the bench with a less than graceful thud. "I hate zealots. For one, they never get anything right. Nothing is in moderation. And they always pick the stupidest things to get up in arms about. I mean really, what the Hell do I care what they do or who they do it to? Consenting adults can do whatever they damn well please, and I encourage it."

He ran his fingers down the ivory keys, smacking the lowest notes harder than necessary for effect.

Maze sat down next to him, pouring herself more from the bottle before she said anything. "Look, Lucifer, these aren't your average stand on soap box and yell about the end of days people. We both know those ones are just putting on a show. These people…I met one of them. These aren't people putting on an act."

Lucifer shrugged indifferently. "It'll blow over."

As he reached for another key, Maze grabbed his arm. "Not this time."

Lucifer didn't move, but she could feel the temperature drop around him. "Let. Go."

Maze was tempted to ignore him, but relented – while she occasionally enjoyed pushing Lucifer's buttons, especially when he was acting disturbingly like a human, now wasn't the time. She needed him to actually listen for once. "I think they're the ones who stole your wings."

Now that got his attention. With careful, precise movements, he slowly lowered the fall over the keys, turning to face her.

"Want to repeat that, Maze?" he said with a cold smile that didn't reach his eyes.

"These people, whoever they are, they're not interested in the Devil," Maze hissed. "They're interested in Samael. You've seen what people are like when they see your true forms. Especially the simple ones. As soon as they see something that's truly divine, it's like they…" Maze threw her hands up, mimicking an explosion.

"You're telling me you found someone who has seen them…and you didn't get them back?"

"She kind of killed herself before I could ask her anything," Maze snapped back. "Unlike you, I can't talk to the recently departed."

"Did you at least find out where they were?"

"I'm not a hellhound – if you want someone to sniff out the angelic, you're going to need to ask someone else."

Lucifer laughed. "I didn't realize you had a sense of humor, Maze. Looks like both of us are evolving, eh?" He took another long drink from the bottle.

"Look, wherever they are, whoever these people are, I can't find them," Maze said. "These people made an actual binding sigil that managed to trap you. This is more serious than just the fact that they might be who took your damn wings – they actually seem to know what they're doing and worse, they're learning."

Lucifer scowled. "Now you sound like Gabriel."

Maze jolted in surprise. "Wait, you already spoke to your brothers?"

Lucifer shrugged absently. "One of them, anyway. He decided to pay me a visit in the hospital."

"What did he say? Did he know anything?" Maze pressed, and Lucifer gave her a withering scowl.

"No. Nothing useful, anyway. Said basically the same thing you just did – that these people seemed to know what they were doing, look out for consequences…boring."

Maze fought the urge to strangle her boss. She loved him, but twice damned Job, he had the self-preservation of a lemming. "Lucifer – you need to take this seriously. What happens if something happens to you?"

Lucifer suddenly pushed away from the piano, taking his bottle with him. "I don't care," he spat. "Hell, Heaven, dead or alive…does it matter? Perhaps there will be a reckoning, a second coming, a rise of the Horsemen. I know!" He slammed the bottle down on counter. "Perhaps dear old Dad will make an appearance! That would be new!"

"What happens if it's not just you?" Maze said. "What if it's all of you?"

Lucifer froze, and Maze could tell she'd finally managed to hit on something Lucifer cared about more than sticking it to his Father.

A brother's love was a brother's love – there was no older story than that.

"What happens if they go after your brothers?" Maze said. "You may pretend not to care about them, but what would you do if something like what just happened to you happened to your little brothers?"

Lucifer's eyes flickered crimson, irises sliding horizontal and she could feel the temperature skyrocket. "They wouldn't live to regret it," Lucifer snarled.

"They're not trying to kill you," Maze pointed out. "The crazy bitch from the other night? The one who tried to exorcise you? She claimed someone told her that was how she was supposed to 'free' you – as if that was a vessel instead of your own form. She said something about touching the divine and wanting to be saved and she claimed she was acting under the directive of something called the Order of Samael."

Lucifer frowned, and the temperature dropped back to normal. As quick as he was to anger, he could just as easily be distracted. "There's no order for Samael," he said. "That name isn't even mentioned anymore…unless Amenadiel mentioned it to someone else. Samael was all but stricken from history – they don't even list us as the same angel."

"Well there is now," Maze said. "At least according to her."

Lucifer shook his head. "No, that's not possible," he insisted. "Even when I was Samael, there wasn't any version of an order or patronage. People prayed to Michael, and to Gabriel and Raphael…but the only prayers about Samael were that I wouldn't come."

Maze shrugged. "Maybe someone actually did their homework."

"Well fine then, what would even be the point in that? If they knew of Samael, then they should know his dominion was over death, and why would anyone want to be touched by the angel of death?"

"Because you're still you," Maze pointed out. "You're still an archangel. We've spent enough years punishing people, and you can't figure out that they want what they can't have?"

"That's the foundation of desire – wanting something you can't have. Wanting what's readily available is called greed."

"It doesn't matter what you want to call it – but hey, let's call it desire," Maze said. "What do you bring out of everyone?"

Lucifer blinked, then groaned melodramatically as realization hit. "Dammit."

"Tell me, what is it you desire?" Maze mimicked. "Do you see my point now?"

Lucifer dropped onto the barstool, rubbing a tired hand over his face. "A True Believer's deepest desire is to have their faith realized. To have proof of what they believe."

"You need to get someone to help you," Maze said. "Something has been going on with you ever since that detective showed up – you're losing your immortality, and that exorcism did you no favors. I'm not going to be enough this time around. This falls way outside of what my purpose is. And if they can trap and bind you…then they're going to have no problems doing it to me."

"If you're suggesting asking who I think you're suggesting, I have two words for you – Hell no."

"Fine, don't ask Michael. Ask Gabriel. You said he's already tried talking to you about it. Maybe he would be willing to help."

Lucifer sighed, eyeing the bottle and Maze could see the wistful look – she understood what it was like to want the alcohol to do more than have a nice taste. The downsides of not being human – no getting drunk.

"No…not Gabriel. And not Michael or Raphael either." He pinched the bridge of his nose. "We need someone who can go where we can't."

"How are you going to convince your detective that she's looking for something supernatural?" Maze asked. "She seems pretty adamant that you're a charity case human."

Lucifer smirked. "Not my detective."

(*(*(*(*(*(*(*(*(*(*

If you were to ask Dan Espinoza to list the last people on Earth he would expect to call asking for help, Lucifer Morningstar and Mazikeen Nolastname would've ranked dead last. They would be preceded by actual dead people. He would expect a message via Ouija board before he thought he would see Morningstar's number on his caller ID (how in the actual Hell did that man manage to get an LA cell number with 666 as a prefix?).

When he'd pointed out that this was Chloe's case too, he was met with indifference – he could tell her to come if he wanted, but it would be easier to try and explain to him alone.

He was so done with these people. So. Goddamn. Done.

So while questioning his sanity, he told left a message for Chloe that he was following up on a lead with Morningstar and the ninja bartender and headed to the club.

It took him five minutes to decide whether or not he even wanted to get out of the car. The last time he'd gone to Lux on his own, he'd wound up across town ass naked in his ex's house. He was in no rush for a repeat performance.

But at the same time…when did Lucifer ever ask him for help? Or call him by name? Regardless of how he felt about the man on a personal level, he was still an officer of the law, and it came with certain responsibilities – like not letting feelings get in the way of an investigation.

Which is how he wound up sitting in a night club at ten in the morning having a discussion on theology.

"So what the hell is a True Believer?" Dan asked.

"Like a groupie," Maze explained mildly. "But usually homicidally obsessive."

"Like the Heaven's Gate people in San Diego?"

Maze and Lucifer stared at him blankly, and Dan sighed, rubbing his forehead.

"They were this weird, end of the world cult that thought there was like some sort of alien space craft was following Hale-Bopp and if they killed themselves as it passed, then they would be taken…somewhere. I don't remember the details beyond that they were pretty crazy," Dan explained.

Maze raised an eyebrow. "That's what passes for religion nowadays?" She snorted. "Maybe we have even bigger problems than I thought…"

"Look, point is, we may have actually figured out what these people are playing at," Lucifer said. He pushed a half filled glass towards Dan, but he waved it off.

No matter what the conversation was, 10AM was too early for the kind of liquor Lux served.

"What'd you get?" he asked.

"Maze said the woman who almost killed me the other night claims she was part of an Order of Samael, right?" Lucifer said.

Dan nodded. "I tried looking them up," he said. "But there's no such thing – not that I can find, anyway. There was one guy down in South American who claimed that he was Samael, but he died in the late 70's and so did most of his believers. And it was less about angels then it was about a power tripping psycho."

Lucifer looked affronted, as if it were a personal insult. "I remember him…things didn't quite turn out for him the way he was expecting when he arrived on my doorstep."

"You met the guy?" Dan asked.

"Of course I did. He was a moron with delusions of grandeur who thought he deserved a special seat in Hell – Hell has no special places. It's a democracy." Lucifer said it as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Anyway, you're correct – for once. There has never been an order for Samael. Most people don't even know he ever existed and the name was wiped out from history."

"Is that why they wrote 'damnatio memoriae' in Enochian at the last scene?" he asked.

There was that same look he'd gotten from Maze in interrogation – not quite being impressed, but more along the lines of appreciative interest.

"You know, Detective, instead of us telling you what we know…how about you go first?" Lucifer said, suddenly leaning forward on the bar.

Dan leaned back, looking dubiously between the two of them. "Okay…yeah. Fine. Whoever is behind this has a religious affiliation. Thus all the murders that are made to look like sacrifices – and Kaitlyn Kincaide, the woman from the other night – she said they were willing sacrifices. They went from vague religious sigils pulled from half a dozen religions down to specifically Enochian, which means someone out there really believes in angels. There's less violence with the second victim, but it's not any less cruel – maybe the person behind it had some sort of change of heart. First one was a crime of passion, second one was more planned out. Evidence says there was some sort of sedative used for surgeries in their blood – what little remained, anyway. So we're looking for someone with a medical background and a religious affiliation. And since they picked a cult figure that shows up only in really, really old texts, I'm guessing they pretty much made up a cult on the spot to rationalize their victims."

Lucifer actually looked stunned. "You humans will never cease to amaze me," he said, and he actually sounded like he meant it. "You're much smarter than I gave you credit for."

Only Morningstar could simultaneously insult and praise someone.

"Dude, what is your deal?" Dan said irritably. "I know Chloe asked and you gave her some bullshit story about your past – like you were actually the Devil. But what does the name Samael have to do with you? She said it was like a past alias of yours or something. When are you going to drop the damn act and actually help with this? People are getting killed, and it has something to do with you."

Lucifer frowned, and was it just him or did it suddenly get warmer in here?

"It's not an act, and I don't know how many times I have to tell both of you that. If you want to get technical, my name is Lucifer the Morningstar, but I'm not much for titles and it's really hard to get people to get it right on paperwork like car titles."

"If you're the Devil, prove it," Dan said, folding his arms defiantly.

"Not a good idea," Lucifer said bluntly. "People don't fare well after seeing the real me."

"How convenient. An all-powerful being, second only to Michael in the Heavenly Host, and you can't prove it."

Lucifer glanced over at Maze, who shrugged, and Lucifer suddenly smiled. Dan could swear he just saw the flicker of something inhuman in that grin.

"Tell me – would you believe me if I could prove the supernatural was real?" he asked, and there was something in the voice, something almost like Maze's when she was in interrogation. That odd sort of siren's call that made him want to answer.

"Like what?"

"If I can prove that Maze here is a demon?"

"I thought you said you couldn't show me the 'real' you?" Dan pointed out, making air quotes around the word 'real'.

Lucifer's grin widened. "I can't – but archangels are a little different than demons. We're designed to drive mortals mad. Demons are just the things of nightmares. So what do you say, Detective? Want to be a believer? It would really make this investigation so much easier if you were, since your wife doesn't seem interested in the truth."

Dan hated to admit it, but now he was genuinely curious as to what the hell the man was talking about. Magic tricks? Maybe this is what Chloe was always talking about with Lucifer's ability to get people to talk – he had some weird mentalist trick and appealed to their genuine curiosity about a world that may or may not exist.

He threw up his hands in exasperation. "Fine. But so help me, if this is just some weird paraphrased proposition for a threesome, I will-"

He never finished his sentence.

Maze's face flickered, and suddenly half of it was gone – rotted and torn away, skin and muscles peeled back to reveal inhumanly sharp teeth through a ruined mouth. One eye flashed milkly white, surrounded by damaged flesh that looked like something had ripped it from bone.

"Still think I'm pretty?" Maze asked, her voice sounding like feline grace and broken glass all at once.

Dan screamed.


So this was not how I imagined it playing out, but you know what? I kinda like it. I know a lot of people are Chloe/Lucifer shippers (I have never actually shipped anyone in any fandom I have ever been a part of), but I actually really want Dan to stay in the show. He's interesting to me - especially based on the last episode where they really made it look like he was going to side with his asshat partner over killing Lucifer but instead decided to man up and face the consequences of his actions from earlier. I like people who can surprise me.

Anyway, let me know what you think! Maze and Lucifer arguing was actually surprisingly difficult because in the show he just sort of ignores her or overrules anything she has to say.