Lucifer sat in the living room of his father's quarters with Trixie. They were playing a game that the child had brought with her from home.
"Lucifer, can I ask you something?" Trixie asked.
"Certainly, child," Lucifer said.
"Do you hate Mom?" Trixie asked.
"No," Lucifer said after a few moments of considering it, He found that he didn't hate her. He probably should, and he might at some point, but he wasn't at that point yet. He wasn't yet able to hate her.
"Why not?" Trixie asked. She hated her mother for what she did to Lucifer, and for making it so that Trixie had to leave.
"Child, you don't mean that," Lucifer said. He didn't want her to hate her mother. Even if one day he hated the detective, he wouldn't want the child to. He knew what it was like to hate a parent. He wouldn't wish that feeling on this child.
"Yes, I do. She hurt you. She tried to hurt your brother and made God take me away. She always said it was her job to put the bad people away, but now she's the bad person," Trixie said.
"You shouldn't hate your mother because of me," Lucifer said sadly.
"You're my friend. You were Mom's friend too. You helped her get better when she was really sick. You helped her a lot of times. You're not supposed to hurt your friends," Trixie said.
Lucifer didn't know what to say. It wasn't as if she was wrong. He and the detective were supposed to be friends, and she had taken advantage of that. That was how she was able to get close enough to hurt him. She was his friend. He thought they were even becoming more than that. He never suspected that she would hurt him. That was the point, he supposed.
Just then, Lucifer heard a knock at the door. His father appeared in the room a few moments later.
"I believe that will be Linda for you, son," God said as he made his way to the front door.
"Bloody hell," Lucifer muttered under his breath.
God opened the door and was unsurprised to find Linda there. "Linda, please come in. In the future, you shouldn't feel the need to knock. You are part of my family now. As such, you are welcome anytime you like."
"Okay, thank you," Linda said as she walked inside. She immediately walked over to Lucifer and Trixie. She wasn't surprised to find the little girl there. Amenadiel had found out what happened and told her. "Hi, Trixie. How are you doing?
"Hi, Doctor Linda. I'm okay, I guess," Trixie said.
"Doctor, I'm not sure I can participate in our session today. As you can see, I am looking after the urchin," Lucifer said.
"Lucifer, I'm ten. You don't have to watch me every minute," Trixie said.
"Besides, I'd be more than willing to entertain young Trixie for a while," God said with a smile. He knew what his son was attempting to do, and he wasn't having it.
Lucifer scowled at his father. Of course, his father would destroy his perfectly good excuse.
God bent down a bit to reach Trixie's level. "Has Lucifer shown you my library yet?"
Trixie shook her head.
God stood up before holding out his hand for the young girl. "Come. I'm sure we can find some books you'll be interested in."
Trixie looked to Lucifer to make sure it was okay. She knew his dad was God, but he was still just a little more than a stranger to her.
Lucifer nodded to the child that it was fine.
Trixie stood up and took God's hand before leaving the room with him.
Linda took a seat across from Lucifer. "Trixie appears to be doing well."
"As well as possible, I suppose. She wants to be with her father and she's angry at her mother. I assume Amenadiel told you what happened," Lucifer said. His father informed him that his siblings had been apprised of the situation with the child. They had to be since she would be around for a few months.
"Yeah. I was horrified to find out that Chloe shot a gun off in front of Trixie. I would think she would know better," Linda said. Chloe was a cop. She should know how danger it was to shoot off a gun in front of a child.
"Yes, I said the same. The child could have been hurt. And if he shared my vulnerability, Michael would have been too," Lucifer said. His brother being shot at bothered him as well. As much as he hated Michael, he didn't want to see him hurt.
"How did you feel when you found out Chloe tried to kill your brother?" Linda asked.
"I thought he might have provoked it at first. I wondered if he attacked her. That would give her just cause to defend herself. However, it became quite clear quickly that she had started the entire thing. She didn't shoot him to defend herself," Lucifer said. He did still blame Michael a bit. It wouldn't have happened if Michael hadn't gone down there in the first place. But the detective was responsible for what she did.
"And how did you feel when you realized that? Were you angry?" Linda asked.
"Yes. Michael's a bastard, but she had no right to try to hurt him. And she could have killed her own child," Lucifer said.
"You realize she had no right to try to kill you too, right?" Linda asked.
"Yes, I had a feeling that's where you were going with this. It's not the same. Part of me understands her betraying me. I'm the devil," Lucifer said. That didn't mean he wasn't still angry or hurt by it, but he was used to people vilifying him. He was used to them thinking the worst of him.
"Lucifer, that's nothing more than a term humanity gave you so that they could have someone to vilify. You did nothing to deserve what Chloe did to you. You need to stop seeing yourself as someone deserving of betrayal. What she did to you was no different than what she did to Michael or what she planned to do to Amenadiel," Linda said firmly.
"I know you want me to hate her, but I can't do that right now. I don't know how," Lucifer said.
"I'm not saying you need to hate her. It's not even really about her. It's about you and helping you heal. A major part of that is placing the blame on the right person. I know a large part of you thinks you're at fault for what she did. That's not the case. You're the victim here, Lucifer. The only thing I want you to do is to stop blaming yourself," Linda explained.
"I don't know how to do that either. I feel like everything that's happened so far is my fault. You being forced to relocate here. Trixie being taken from her home. The pending end of humanity's free will. None of that would have happened if I hadn't left Hell," Lucifer said.
"It never would have happened if Chloe hadn't made the choice to harm a friend," Linda corrected.
"Doctor, I'd rather not talk about this any longer," Lucifer said.
"Alright. We don't need to discuss it any further today. I do want you to at least consider what I've said though. How are things going with your father?" Linda asked, changing the subject.
Lucifer rolled his eyes. It was yet another subject he wasn't eager to discuss. "I don't know. I'm not happy to be under his nose all the time. He did admit that he was wrong to send me to hell. He said he was sorry."
"That's something, isn't it? You've always wanted to hear that," Linda said.
"I suppose. It felt good to hear. I can't forgive him, though. Not yet," Lucifer said.
"That's understandable. Something like that isn't easily forgiven. He'll have to work to earn that. But maybe the fact that you had to come back here is a blessing in disguise. It can give you a chance to finally get past what happened. Even if you can't forgive it, maybe you can at least move on from it," Linda said.
"That seems impossible," Lucifer said.
"Right now, I'm sure it does. The pain is still very raw. It may have happened an eternity ago, but you never had the chance to deal with it. Now that you finally are, it's going to take time," Linda said.
"Well, I have no short supply of that. My father's never gonna let me leave here, so I have no choice but to deal with it," Lucifer said bitterly.
"Did he tell you that? Did he say you'd never be able to leave heaven?" Linda asked. She doubted that God had said that. Lucifer tended to expect the worst without getting confirmation, especially where his father was concerned.
"No, but it seems obvious to me. He wants me here. He's never gonna let me leave," Lucifer said.
"Lucifer, I think you need to work on not assuming you know what people are thinking. You should give people a chance to voice how they feel or what they plan to do. I mean, you thought your father would never admit that he was wrong to send you to Hell, but he did. If you want to know whether or not you'll be allowed to go back to Earth one day, you should ask him. Don't just assume you know what the answer will be," Linda advised.
"Fine, but I'm sure I'll be right. My father may have admitted he was wrong once, but that doesn't mean he's not still a controlling bastard," Lucifer said.
"Alright, let's end it here today. Think about the things I've said, and we'll talk again next week," Linda said.
Lucifer nodded, and watched her get up and leave.