Chloe went after Lucifer outside the precinct, but he had gained considerable distance what with his long legs striding effortlessly on the streets of Los Angeles. So she ran and called out his name. He turned around, not surprised at all, probably because he was cryptic enough she'd go full detective mode on him.

He smiled at that. He stood on that spot for several seconds as she was still a few meters away and he kept his eyes on her. She had to stop at the intersection and pressed the go button impatiently while she waited for the signal to turn green.

Lucifer sighed, placed one hand and tapped it twice over his heart and gave her a genuine smile, to which she smiled right back. She shrugged, still at a lost on his utter weirdness today, signaled for him to either wait for her there or come to her. Lucifer held his palm up as if he was saying goodbye.

Then it was all over. His eyes rolled back and his knees gave out as he fell down ungracefully on the pavement. The detective gasped as her hands automatically flew to her mouth and she sprinted to where he was, ignoring the oncoming vehicles. Training kicked in and she knew better than to move him from his spot. She tried to stir him awake by lightly tapping on his cheeks but he was unresponsive.

Chloe fumbled for her phone and called 911 as people started to crowd them.

"Hey, Lucifer?"

She cradled her cell phone between her ear and shoulder, as she placed two fingers on his neck to feel for a pulse. She found none and she began to panic. The operator was asking one too many questions (in her opinion), and Chloe was starting to lose patience.

"Listen, this is unit 831, requesting immediate assistance. Track my phone, alright? Please!"

The detective hung up. Desperate, she asked the crowd if anyone is a nurse or a doctor, and one did not hesitate to step in.

Doctor St. John, he introduced himself and started to do some initial checks.

"Okay, let's do CPR. I'll work on the compressions. Ready?"

Chloe nodded as she helped lay down Lucifer on the ground and tilted his head upward. The doctor began chest compressions and she breathed air through her partner's mouth. Yet after a few tries, Lucifer remained still.

And from the looks Dr. St. John gave Chloe, it would seem like her partner has passed on.

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that he's gone, officer."

"No! You're wrong."

"I'm sorry."

The doctor stood up, and not a moment later, the ambulance finally arrived.

A few minutes earlier…

"Hey, Detective."

Lucifer sat down on the chair across her and toyed with the seat adjuster.

"Why are you hovering over at my desk, Lucifer?"

She didn't spare him a look. She was buried deep in her paperwork and he wasn't helping.

"Just wanted to see my partner, is all."

"Right."

Chloe deadpanned as she continued scribbling notes and typing on her computer.

"Listen, I just wanted to tell you that I'm gonna be gone for a while."

That got her attention. She finally looked up and furrowed her brow.

"Where are you going?"

"In the land down under."

"Australia?"

"Somewhere more...hot."

"Come on, Lucifer. Really?"

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, I will try to find a way to come back to you."

"What?"

"Maze will be furious; please tell her I would love to take her with me, but I can't. She'll understand. She'll watch over you and your spawn for the time being."

"Lucifer, you're scaring me."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean that. I don't want to leave without saying anything this time."

"What is going on? Talk to me."

She reached out her hand and placed it on his arm, hoping to convince him.

"Well," He stood up from his seat "I don't have much time."

Lucifer grabbed her hand, dragged her into one of the empty rooms, closed the door behind him and gave her kiss on the lips, a very short one, but he hoped it conveyed all the feelings he had for her. Their foreheads touched, his hand still on her face as he breathed out. Stunned with the gesture, she just stared at him and asked if he was okay.

"I am now. And will be...eventually. Until we meet again, Chloe."

The devil knew those were empty words. Once she passed on, she will be in Heaven - no doubt in his mind about that, and he'll never see her again for he's forbidden to step foot in the Silver City.

Dumbfounded, Chloe needed a few seconds to regain her bearings and subsequently followed Lucifer.

She sat outside the room, hunched over a chair with both hands on her head and tears streaming nonstop. The coroner said it was a brain aneurysm, there was nothing else she or the doctors could have done.

Maze and Amenadiel arrived. The demon saw Lucifer lifeless on the metal bed and her knees immediately buckled underneath her, but the devil's angelic brother was there to break her fall.

"Well, Lucifer, that wasn't so hard now, was it?"

"Shut up, Azrael. Why are you showing me this? Why didn't I went straight back to Hell like I was supposed to?"

"I stopped it."

"Whatever the heck for? To torment me?" He let out an exasperated sigh. "Congratulations on a job well done. But really, you don't have to do the honors. I will be tormenting myself for eternity anyway, thank you very much. Besides, she'll get over it in time. It's better that way. You bloody bastards better keep your word on letting her live her life! Otherwise, I will wage war against the Heavens."

A few days ago..

"Hello, brother."

"Ugh. Azrael, welcome to Earth. What do you want?"

"I thought you'd like to know that your precious detective is on the list."

"What list?"

" The list."

"What the hell? I fulfilled my deal with Dad! Why can't you just leave the detective alone?!"

"Hey, don't look at me. I don't decide who gets on the list you know. Like you, I just facilitate and enforce."

"How do I fix that? What do I need to do?"

"I really have no clue, brother. Consider this as my gratitude to you for handling things properly with Mother. I would most likely get into trouble too for relaying this information but well... Can't stay long, I just wanted you to know. Goodbye, Luci."

At his balcony, he looked up to skies and cursed Him under his breath. Guess this is the best choice.

"Father, please. I beg You. I will do anything You want. Be Hell's enforcer again. Spare her life as You promised. I won't ask for anything else. Please."

Azrael reappeared and informed her brother that their Dad accepted. He was given a week before his soul is returned to the underworld.

Enough time for him to take care of earthly business before he goes.

"Just let me go back, Azrael." He said, dejected.

"Are you sure you don't want to go back to her?"

"You have no idea how much I wanted to. But, if I go back to Chloe, then one of our siblings will threaten her again. I will not have that. I want to keep her safe. Even if it means that I won't ever see her again."

"Why would you go that far for a human?"

"I love her, it's that simple. So are we done? Can you please let me go now?"

"You gave up so easily, Lucifer. It's not like you."

"You can say I've changed a lot since coming to Earth, since meeting Chloe. I don't care now what happens to me as long as she's safe. So please, let me wallow in my melancholy."

"As you wish, brother."

"Thank you."

It was genuine this time and he gave his sister a small smile as he stepped into the bottomless pit, forced out of retirement, back to the abyss where he can see no stars. Then again, the only light he needed was Chloe. And he had to leave her behind as well.

The devil does not cry. Yet he let the tears fall and hoped it would alleviate the pain for the slightest bit.

"Whoever you are, I don't want to talk. Leave me alone." His voice thundered and echoed in the halls of his palace in Hell.

"Not even for me?"

Lucifer looked up and saw the firstborn brother back in all his glory.

"Amenadiel. What are you doing here?"

"I came to see you. Obviously."

"Well, now you did. Please leave."

"Don't you wanna hear news from the mortal plane?"

"No. I've left it behind for a reason. Let's leave it at that."

"That's too bad. I also brought someone who's itching to punch you in the face."

Amenadiel smirked as Maze's right straight connected to the devil's face. He didn't even see it coming as he stumbled from his throne.

"'I'd never abandon you' you said, and yet, you did! You idiot!" She proceeded to kick him on the back and the impact of the blow caused him to hit one of the pillars.

"I've missed you too, Mazikeen." He bared his teeth as he stood up, having felt no pain from her wrath. Maze knew this, however, she needed to blow off steam and had to beat the shit out of him, even though it was less satisfying not seeing him beaten to a pulp.

"Are you done now?" He exhaled and rubbed off the accumulated ash and dust on his suit.

"Tell me what happened!"

"Chloe was on Azrael's list. I had to do something."

"And this is the only choice you had? What makes you think they'll fulfill their end of the bargain? And why was this a bargain at all? You took care of your mother! In return, Chloe will be protected! I don't get it."

"Well, you know Father is a dick, right? Listen Maze, I just want her to live her life. She had one before me - although one can argue that that was entirely boring - but then no real threats coming from celestial beings. I just want them to leave her alone until she's really ready to go. And I need you... To go back up there to make sure they keep their word. Or there will be Hell to pay."

And all at once,
the crowd begins to sing
Sometimes the hardest thing and the right thing
Are the same

-The Fray

A/N: This one I had for a while...