Kneeling on the floor next to the unconscious Lucifer, Chloe started clearing up the blood stained tissues and when she got to her feet she let out a soft groan as her knee cracked painfully. With a slight hobble she walked to the trash can and deposited the mess. His nose hadn't bled for long, but she was more than a little concerned. He'd passed out twice now, collapsed three times and had bled more in the past day than she was comfortable with.
She gazed up at the ceiling wondering how or even if this would work.
"I don't know if you can hear me Amenadiel, but Lucifer needs you. We need you." She muttered under her breath about how stupid she felt when she heard a strange sound, almost like the fluttering of wings and spinning around she came face to face with the dark skinned Angel.
"Amenadiel," she breathed his name like a prayer.
"I can't stay long." He looked passed her shoulder and saw his brother stretched out on the sofa and strode forward. "How long has he been like this?" he asked and crouched next to Lucifer, resting his hand on his brother' warm brow.
"Ever since he became young he's not been himself, it's like he's sick and he keeps passing out and bleeding. Earlier it was from his nose and ears and just a few minutes ago it was his nose." Chloe folded her arms over her chest and stared hard at the Angel. "What's happening to him?"
"Father did it to keep him safe. To keep him hidden from our mother." Amenadiel closed his eyes and focused on helping to heal his sibling, after a moment he turned his gaze back to Chloe who was watching with wide eyes. "She is looking for him, and our father hoped by changing his appearance and making his body mortal that it would be harder to locate him. It's why I can't stay long. She is still able to track me. I've been trying to keep her occupied."
Chloe frowned. "So why has he been ill? Is it this body? Is something wrong with it?" She couldn't keep the fear from her voice, or the shiver from running down her spine at the thought of Lucifer' mother coming after him.
Amenadiel smiled sadly. "No Chloe. You have to understand, my brother is very powerful, he still has those gifts but using them in this body is draining him. He can't keep it up for long and considering he was brought back from the dead and immediately started using his gifts, freezing time, helping your daughter with her nightmares and what he did just now. You'll probably start to notice a pattern. He hasn't been giving himself enough time to settle in this mortal body."
When Chloe started to think back on it she realised the Angel was right. It was only after he'd been using his powers that he collapsed. Dammit.
"So why did God put him back like this then? Why not make Lucifer more powerful so he could defeat your mother?" Chloe was starting to see why Lucifer got so pissed at his dad.
"My father has a plan, Detective. It not for us to question it." He gazed down at his brother and laid his hand on his shoulder giving a small squeeze. "Tell him to rest, to give himself some time to fully mend. When he's ready to face our mother, he'll have a choice to make."
"What choice?"
"He'll know when the time comes," he said cryptically and stood to his full height, towering over Chloe. "I have to go. Tell him what I said, Detective. He should be waking soon."
Decker didn't even have the chance to respond and he had gone in the blink of an eye. She felt her frustrations building up inside her. No wonder Lucifer was constantly pissed at his family. The couldn't just give a straight answer. Everything was in code.
"Is he gone?" Lucifer mumbled, blinking blearily at her.
"Yeah." She sat next to him, her brow pinched in concern. "How much did you hear?"
The young Devil grunted and pushed himself into a sitting position. "Enough."
"Are they always like that?" she prodded.
"Oh yeah." He smirked at her and Chloe couldn't help but smile in return. "That was actually pretty tame by their normal standards. It's usually all, 'your a mockery of everything divine, Lucifer'. Get back to your hellish throne and all that goes with it." His face scrunched up as he did his best impersonation of his angelic brother and in doing so he made Chloe laugh and the sound was like music to his ears. "So I guess I've been over doing it then?"
"A little bit." Chloe patted his leg and stood from the sofa. "I'm going to go get you some more clothes, you got blood all over yourself again. You stay there and rest." She commanded, pointing her finger at him.
"But that's boring."
She arched an eyebrow at him, challenging him to defy her.
He huffed and folded his arms. His eyes following her until she disappeared upstairs and Lucifer felt his expression soften at how much this woman cared for him. How willing she was to protect him. The Devil. And this lowly human cared so much for him that she'd more than likely risk her life for his. He'd never let that happen. She had Trixie to think about, but it made his decision much easier. He'd do whatever it took to keep Chloe and her spawn safe, no matter the cost to himself.
Lucifer gazed up at the ceiling, his lips curling into a devilish smirk and his eyes flashing crimson at the heavens. Well, father, I've made my choice and for some reason I feel you already knew that. You really are a Sanctimonious Prick.
He sat up straighter when he heard Chloe return and groaned when he saw her choice of clothing. It was like she was trying to torture him.
"I'm not wearing that." He stated stubbornly, his posture defensive.
"Well you're not walking around the house naked, Lucifer." At the suggestive smirk he shot her, she glared right back. "Not with Trixie in the house. Actually, not ever. Well not in that body. I mean-" Chloe trailed off realising she was just digging herself an even bigger hole. Especially if the beaming smile spreading over his features was anything to go by.
"So there is a maybe?" he asked, chuckling when she tried to hit him with a cushion. He dodged it easily and picked up the jeans and light blue shirt she'd left for him. "Fine, I'll do as you ask. For now." With a sneer at the clothes he headed to the bathroom. "I'll need to ask Maze to go shopping for me. This simply won't do."
Chloe shook her head fondly and tried not to smile at his Luciferness. It was nice to see some things didn't change.
"Mom?"
"Hey babe. You okay?" Chloe scooped the pyjama clad little girl into her arms and headed to the kitchen. She'd decided to keep Trixie home from school after everything that happened and let her have a pyjama day. "Did you sleep okay monkey?"
Trixie grinned and shook her head. "I didn't have any bad dreams, mommy. Although, I think I dreamt that Lucifer showed me where he lived, and it was so beautiful. He lived in this huge castle and it sparkled like silver and there were Angels flying about. It was so cool."
Chloe's jaw hung open as her daughter described what Lucifer had shown her. She had no idea how that was possible but then again, this was the Devil they were talking about.
"It must have been transference. When I showed it to you, it leaked into Trixie' mind because she was near and her defences were down." Lucifer fidgeted with the cuff of the shirt and continued to smooth down imaginary wrinkles. His gaze narrowed when he saw both Chloe and Trixie trying to hide their smiles. "Don't say anything," he snapped.
"Not a word." Chloe made the motion of sealing her lips.
"Are those Daddy's clothes?" Trixie asked innocently.
"That's it. I'm stripping naked." Lucifer started unbuttoning the shirt only to be stopped by the Detectives' firm grip on his wrists.
"Don't you dare." She growled and he arched an eyebrow, impressed.
"Detective," he purred and the word seemed so wrong coming from this younger boy' lips. "I've never seen this side of you before. Where have you been?"
"Lucifer." Chloe warned, and she thought if she has his powers that her eyes would probably be flashing red right about now.
He seemed to deflate slightly and nodded. "Sorry. Not sure what came over me." He mumbled then with shuffled steps he walked over to the sofa and slumped down on to it. "I want my body back. I hate him so much, you know. He couldn't just let me handle things myself, he always has to butt in with his holier than thou ideas." He looked up at Chloe, his dark eyes suspiciously wet. "This will be his idea of punishment, a way to show me that my actions have consequences and that no matter what I do he still has control over me."
Using his sleeve, he wiped away the treacherous tears that had spilled down his cheeks. He didn't care that he was using the shirt, it wasn't his anyway. He felt the seat dip next to him and his eyes widened in surprise when Trixie wrapped her arms around him, her head pillowed against his chest and he felt the sadness start to dissipate as he stared down at the little girl. How could something so innocent and pure, like him so much? Kids should be afraid of him. Check their closets before going to bed at night. Okay, that was more like the Boogieman, but the same fear should apply. There had to be something about this family, the Decker woman had some sort of hold on him and he had no idea what to make of it.
He glanced up at Chloe who stood watching them, her own eyes glistening and he motioned for her to come closer. Taking her hand he pulled her down next to him so that he was sandwiched between the two, both with their arms wrapped around him and for once Lucifer didn't care what anyone thought, he was happy, he felt safe and loved for the first time in so long, and he would do anything to keep his girls safe. Pressing a kiss to Trixie' head, he heard her giggle and she pulled back to smile up at him and Lucifer felt his heart swell in delight.
His mother wasn't getting anywhere near his new family. She'd have to go through him first.