"So then, she leaves another message saying it was a false alarm," Linda concluded with a crazed laugh.

"Well, whew, that's a relief. Here I'm thinking she lost her marbles and I'm walking right into a trap," Ella said. "Which would have totally worked because here I am, right where she told me to go."

"Yeah. I know, I know! It's crackers. And even weirder...now I'm thinking about getting one."

"Well, I mean... It's not a half-bad idea, I mean, there's a lot of real nuttoes out there. You gotta do what's best for baby. I―pfft, I'd get one."

"You would?"

"Mhm, and all my friends would have a key."

"Aww. Me, too?"

"Uh-huh, and you know, all those people thinking guns make a safer world, I'm just saying, underground bunkers are probably more common than we think. I mean, if a guy who tried to kill me were to knock on your door, right now, what would you do?"

A knock from outside made both pairs of eyes go wide.

"Panic!" Linda whispered. She stood up and went over to the crib to fetch Charlie. Looking over her shoulder at the curtains, she saw a feminine shadow with a ponytail. She went over to the window and peeked through the side of the curtain, relieved to see Chloe; then flung open the door. "Oh, thank God. I thought you might have been this Pete guy."

"Nope. No body-switching shenanigans here."

"Good." Linda closed the door, unruffled by her remark. Chloe studied the therapist, who was back to her chipper self.

This was going to be a very hard conversation.

Charlie started babbling, and Linda went over to his crib as Ella began addressing Chloe. "What the hell, Decker? Why are you scaring me about Pete? You know what he did to me!"

"Yeah. Um... It seems that we may have left out even more details, and I think you should know them. Not even because we're friends, but because you can protect yourself better if you know."

"Yeah, protection, we were just talking about that."

"Okay, good. Um..."

"Like your gun. Okay, I know you take out the trash and it might make you feel safer, but it doesn't really create a safer world if everyone's shooting each other. Actually it kind of adds to the problem, you know?"

"Hmm," she said brilliantly, as the women sat. Linda held Charlie in her lap. "Well, guns don't do any damage to Lucifer, or any of them. And... Okay. This is going to sound absolutely insane, but just―hear me out. His parents... Uh, you know, God and Goddess...have been absent from heaven. Uh, because they've been in an alternate universe, which has been destroyed, and it seems like they have taken on the bodies of Pete and Carol. So they don't mean you any harm. Okay, and Michael..."

"Wait, who's Michael?" Linda interrupted.

"Oh-ho, looks like I'm in the in crowd," Ella said. "Decker, hang on, can I... Can I tell her?"

"Fine, go ahead."

Ella turned happily in her seat. "Michael is Lucifer's twin brother. You can tell them apart by the scar on his face, the slump of his shoulder, and...Michael doesn't have an accent!" she realized.

"No. But he does a wicked impersonation, so be on the lookout for a scar."

"Oh, damn. I didn't sleep with him, did I?"

"No. But Ella and I did work with him for a bit."

Ella tilted her head, trying to recall a time when Lucifer was behaving differently.

"So, wait, hold on. You're telling me that God, who created everything, is now...stuck in the body of a killer?"

"The Whisper Killer?" Ella added.

"Yeah, afraid so."

Ella began nodding, and then stammering uncontrollably. "Okay, great, good, that's no biggie. That's fine. He's invincible, can't kill God, it's alright, right?"

"Right. Yeah! You know, everything's fine. I just needed to explain myself to Linda, and finally tell you everything." Chloe paused, and took a deep breath. "Okay, so, before I go on, I need to tell you that I'm pregnant and then just blow right past it because that's not my big news. Okay, the big news is that my daughter has visited me from the future and she's also an angel. Surprise."

As Ella freaked out, Linda smiled and lifted her son proudly. "Aww, he gets a cousin, that is so sweet."

"From the future," Ella enunciated. "Like when, though?"

"Um...probably the 2060s."

"Oh my God, I'm dead," Linda blurted.

"No, maybe not, maybe you live another twenty years..."

"Do I?" she exclaimed hysterically.

"Well, I...don't know, I mean, she didn't want to change the course of history just to satisfy our curiosity."

"No, of course not, you don't decide to visit another dimension so you can visit; that's absurd. Who cares about a never-in-a-gazillion-lifetimes opportunity? And it's not like human history is anything to write home about; now all the crime, all the injustice, it makes even less sense," Linda said, as she distractedly handed Charlie to Ella. "Do you realize how ironic it is that now, more than ever, I'm trending towards atheism? Not even a-a-a...disbelief in God, but a rejection of him, knowing he's there, and thinking―"

"Amenadiel took his place."

Linda went quiet, staring at Chloe; who along with Ella stared at the speechless therapist.

Finally she said, "So you're telling me...that the reason my baby's father is not here, is because he's God?"

"Yeah..." Chloe said, and hesitated, twiddling her thumb. "Huh. So much for not being mysterious."

"And that rat bastard knew how hurtful this would be, and where is he?" Linda demanded. She stood up and tearfully left the room.

Chloe looked at Ella, bouncing Charlie in her lap. "Do you think I should follow her?"

"No, I think she left because she wanted space. Anyway, what could you do?"

"Right..."

"Anyway, I do appreciate you coming clean with me. I'm still listening, I mean, if there's anything else."

"Hmm. Uh... Oh, watch out for his wings."

Ella looked down at Charlie, then back up at Chloe in disbelief.

Chloe checked her watch. "Um, I... I think I've done enough damage. Anyway, I think that's about all of it. Except for the part where Lucifer is in hell right now, but you know, that's part of the job. Uh, and that he was in hell when you thought he was in Florida."

"So that's when we were working with Michael?"

"Yeah. So that's pretty much everything you should have known a long time ago, and...I'm just really sorry, you know, for excluding you. I just had a lot to deal with. You know, the devil roaming the earth, demons running around, meeting an actual god and goddess."

"When were there demons running around?"

"Uh, oof. Well, Charlie was already born. And Maze is one, by the way, but...it's fine. She apparently has a soul, and...has been, hm, improving herself."

"Seriously, stop nodding before your head falls off."

Chloe stopped, then stood up. "Yeah, so, you're all caught up. Basically. I'll try to keep you up to date. I need to go to work."

"It's your day off."

"I need to pick Trixie up from school."

"Day off."

"Okay, then I'll just go home."

Ella stood, still cradling Charlie close. "Wait, hold up. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, fine. Everything's fine. The whole family's invincible, Pete isn't a problem. It's good. You don't need to worry. 'Bye, Linda!" she shouted, almost interrupting herself. Then she looked back at Ella, eyes wide, fingers shaking. "It's good. It's all good," she repeated, before letting herself out.

"Right," Ella said to herself. She looked down at Charlie, suddenly feeling inferior to him.

It was the pounding headache that pulled him out of dreams of a burning city. Corbett started to open his eyes, but slammed them shut again when the first sliver of daylight threatened to drown him in agony. Thoroughly confused, he reached out to grab the sunglasses off of his bedside table―and smacked his hand into the back of a sofa.

He didn't have a sofa. Groaning, he sat up and began to feel his way around, keeping his eyes shut as he found the arm of the couch. He walked behind it and dropped down behind it, finally opening his eyes. He was looking at an elevator... But that didn't make sense.

He looked over his shoulder to see a wall of beers, liquors, shots, ciders, vodka, gin, tequila, whiskey, and every other kind of alcoholic beverage. Wait, was this Lux? What was he doing at Lux? Why had he been drinking? He couldn't remember picking up a single glass. Actually the last thing he remembered was telling a stranger to lower his weapon. He sat there for a moment, trying to remember more, but he couldn't.

He got up and stumbled to the mirror, turning his back to it and looking over his shoulder. Yep, blood. He lifted his shirt slowly, expecting a nasty wound―but he was fine.

Corbett looked around Lux, finally noticing the dust and cobwebs. Certainly didn't seem like he'd gone to a party. Disturbed by his situation, and confused about his healed back, he moved towards the elevator, deciding it was all just a dream. Head trauma, maybe from the car chase. Life had to go on; he had to track down the stranger from the mall and Pete.

Yeah, that's what would happen. None of this mattered, none of this was real. He turned around, looking at the penthouse and trying to ignore how real it felt. He could see the dust. He could smell the alcohol. He could see the city, shining in the distance. It felt real...but it wasn't. It couldn't be.

A ding from behind made him turn. The elevator doors opened. There was a beautiful woman, who appeared to have passed out in the elevator. He walked over to her and knelt beside her, trying to wake her long after the doors slid shut, isolating him in the small room with the corpse.

"Oh, hell," he muttered, when he realized she was dead. He took out his phone. He was still certain he was dreaming, but he dialed Ella's number just in case. "Yeah, I'm...I just found a body at Lux."

He hung up and pushed the button to the lobby, where he pulled the woman out of the elevator. He sank into the nearest booth and put his head in his hands, willing himself to wake up.