Lucifer stood in front of Chloe Decker's front door, wondering if he should actually knock. He hadn't been here in ages. Well, months anyway. He hadn't thought of Chloe, to be perfectly honest. At least not in the pining after a lost love sort of way. He'd been too invested in Eric Northman and North Star Agency and everything that came with both.

Quite honestly, he hadn't given his Detective much thought until her safety had come into question. And even then, Eric had soothed that worry, and Lucifer had easily been able to focus on the case again. Then she'd shown up while he was with Pierce and her anger at him, her disappointment—it had reminded him that she really did matter to him. He didn't like the fact that she was upset with him, even if her reasons were purely selfish. But he wasn't entirely certain how he cared for her—was he projecting his own guilt of loving his ex—if you could even call her that—on Eric unjustly?

If Eric hadn't stormed off, Lucifer was pretty sure he wouldn't be standing here, debating whether or not he should ring the doorbell. But as it was, he was fresh out of ideas in regards to their case and he didn't have his vampire to bounce new ones off of at the moment. Besides, he clearly needed someone with a knack for problem solving, and there was no one better at it than Chloe Decker. Truly there wasn't.

Even if the thought of her was confusing the Hell out of him.

Knowing it was probably a mistake, but unable to stop himself, Lucifer knocked on the door. There was a time when he would have walked right in, acting like he owned the place. But not anymore. Not now, with both of them clearly defined within their own had said he was coming here after he'd left the North Star offices, and while Lucifer would gladly break up that relationship if he could, he couldn't bear the idea of walking in on them . . .

He might be a man in love, and he might be a man open to sharing, but he drew the line when it came to Chloe. And Pierce. He shuddered at the picture in his mind just as the door opened and Chloe peeked out. Her look of curiosity clouded over as soon as she recognized him and before she could slam the door in his face, he stuck his foot through the opening and gave the Detective an imploring look. "Please, Detective. I'm not here to fight. I'm here to ask for help." Nothing but the truth in his statement—he couldn't lie, after all.

He watched her consider his words. It was clear she was upset with him, but perhaps she liked the novelty of the devil asking her for help, because after a few hesitating moments, she finally opened the door wider to let him in. "Do you ever bother to look at a clock?" Chloe griped at him as she let him through the door and into her home. But even if she was complaining, she was letting him in, and that was a win in Lucifer's books.

He scanned the place as she closed the door behind him, not finding Pierce. "Not spending time with the Lieutenant?"

"No," Chloe said, the simple admission so familiar to him.

Lucifer turned to focus on her, raising his eyebrows in question.

Chloe shrugged as she padded away from him toward the kitchen area. "He said he had some things he needed to get done at work tonight. So it's just me and Trixie."

Lucifer cocked his head to the side, curious. The devious man had lied—not just to Chloe but to Lucifer too. Where had he gone after leaving the North Star Agency? Was he up to his nefarious ways or was he going off on his own to search for the Fomorians and the missing halflings? It would be just like him to solve the problem on his own and return to gloat at Lucifer.

Chloe walked past him, her slippers slapping against the floor to remind him he was interrupting her at her home, during her downtime. She was dressed in PJs and slippers, her hair uncharacteristically down. The lights were dimmed and there was a spread of what looked like Trixie's homework on the kitchen island. The sink was full of sudsy water and Lucifer realized he'd interrupted Chloe's dull housework. Barring Eric Northman himself, it was this look into Chloe's life that should convince the devil that while she was a gift from Dad, she certainly wasn't made for him. The idea of cleaning house and driving kids to school and generally being domestic was horrifying. Horrifyingly dull.

Lucifer and Chloe just did not mesh. It was important for him to remember that, even as his heart thudded painfully in his chest. It was hard standing in this house with the woman he thought he loved. It was even harder to ask for her help, but that's precisely why he'd come here.

"Detective," he started, as he followed her into the kitchen area. Her hands were already in the sink and when she whirled around to glare at him, water splattered toward him. He instinctively shot backwards, frowning.

"Why do you think you can come here and ask for my help?" she asked, a strange light in her eyes. "You quit and then you ghosted me for two solid months, Lucifer. Why do you think you can suddenly start showing up again?" She gave him a good glare. "I've already told Pierce not to let you have your job back."

Lucifer sighed. Was this how every conversation was going to go?

"I'm not looking to come back," he tried soothing her, but it didn't really seem to do the trick. She just rolled her eyes and threw her hands in the air, more water droplets flying. "I'm looking for help," Lucifer said, ploughing on, because he didn't know how else to do this. Was he going to get in a huge fight with her as well? Have neither Eric nor Chloe willing to talk to him any longer? "A friend close to my Viking partner has gone missing, among other things, and I was hoping I could get your opinion on the situation."

Chloe turned her back on him again, her attention focused on her dishes and chores. "Your Viking partner. Do you mean your dead boytoy?"

"He's not dead," Lucifer stressed, rankling at her insults. "He's simply got an affliction. And he's not a toy to be cast aside, either."

"Isn't he?" Chloe asked, her voice a bit too high. She was upset, and Lucifer was beginning to understand that it probably had nothing to do with his quitting the L.A.P.D. It had more to do with her thinking he'd abandoned her personally. About being serious with someone that wasn't her. "Barring that one time you went on a bender and got married, I don't think I've ever seen you in an actual relationship."

Lucifer felt the words like a slap in the face, and couldn't help firing back. "Seems the one person I kept showing interest to didn't want a dedicated relationship with the devil. Seems she preferred the intricacies of the power play involved in a romance with her superior."

Chloe froze, one hand holding a plate out of the water. Her shoulders tensed. "That's not fair," Chloe said.

"And your jabs are?" Lucifer countered. He could tell she was about to defend herself, and for the first time in what seemed like forever, he decided to push this particular topic. When it came to them, he'd always let Chloe take the lead. She was her own person, after all, and he had never wanted to be with her because she had to be with him. He'd wanted her to make a choice, and she never had. Not really. "You chose to be with Pierce, Chloe. That was your choice. I even accepted it! I finally make my own choice, and this is the reception I receive?"

Chloe finally put the plate down in the dish rack, nodding her head silently at his words. When she turned to look at him again, she was biting her lip as she thought something through. "Why him, though?" she finally asked. "Why a vampire from some backwoods town half a country away?"

Lucifer felt a tiny spark of hope at her question. Did this mean she wanted to accept Lucifer's decision? Could they go back to being friends? He was very good at toeing that line with her—keeping each other in their lives and not ever acting upon any kind of interest either one of them might have. He'd be ecstatic if he could keep his Detective in his life, just as friends. "Eric's special," Lucifer told her, wanting to be as honest as possible. "He's not just a vampire from Louisiana. He's more than a thousand years old, with the heritage of a Viking prince. He struggles with his inherent instincts to be a predator, worries about his soul and what will happen to it when he dies." Lucifer's heart grew softer as he spoke, looking through the new memories from the past few months. "I've never had someone chase after me if they thought I was in danger before. It makes a man feel special."

Chloe really did seem to hear him, to process his words. But then she looked to the side, eyes on the sliding door to Trixie's room, making sure it was closed. When she was satisfied her daughter was sleeping and not listening in on their conversation, she turned on Lucifer, her words low. "But a vampire, Lucifer? Really? I know you get along with him, but he's evil! Pure and simple!"

Lucifer was taken aback, not having expected this response from the Detective. Perhaps something about Eric's being a man—Chloe seemed accepting and all, but switching teams in between lovers had left a few previous exes with mixed feelings—but not about being a vampire. Was humanity's deep-seated fear of predators ingrained even in the great Chloe Decker? He'd always assumed her to be very open-minded. And even when he'd first introduced the Viking to his friends at the L.A.P.D., she hadn't blinked an eye. Detective Douche, now he had been a rude jerk, but Lucifer hadn't been surprised there. But for Chloe to say such a thing?

"Vampires are not evil," Lucifer shot back, his words clipped. "They may need human blood for sustenance, and perhaps they've had their souls stolen from them, but they are not what you think they are." Lucifer straightened his shoulders, tugging at his suit. "Eric Northman has had plenty enough evil done unto him, by humans. Vampires are no more evil than humans—they do, after all, derive from humanity."

Chloe sighed, giving him a big doe-eyed look, as if her emotional reaction to his relationship could change the way he felt about things. She was trying to manipulate him, Lucifer realized. And if there was one thing Lucifer didn't like, it was being manipulated. "You do not get to tell me who I should love, Detective. Do I tell you to stop dating Pierce?"

Chloe frowned up at him. "That's not the same," she said. "Pierce is human. I'm human. Don't you dare start telling me I can't see him."

"I'm not," Lucifer replied, wondering how he could steer this conversation back to where he wanted it—discussing missing halflings and how to find them. That was a much safer territory than the two of them at each other's throats about who the other was seeing. He was learning a lot, but none of it was helping his heart, and it certainly wasn't solving the mystery at hand. "That's my point."

This got another frown from Chloe.

Lucifer sighed. "Why are we fighting, Detective? I don't think it's because I quit consulting for the L.A.P.D."

"Why can't it be?" Chloe asked. "Maybe it's as simple as that."

"If it were as simple as that, you'd have no issue with the Viking's immortality."

"It's not the immortality that's the problem," Chloe began.

She didn't have the chance to keep talking though. The door to Trixie's room trundled open and the little girl poked her head out, blinking up at the two of them. For a second, the girl just stood there, and then suddenly she was flinging herself at Lucifer.

"Lucifer!" she cried out, clearly happy to see her favourite cheeky devil. He patted her uncomfortably as she grabbed him in as big a hug as she could muster. Children—ugh. Lucifer still couldn't figure out why this particular one liked him.

Chloe sighed, her shoulders slumping. This wasn't the first time Trixie had pulled a stunt like this. Lucifer got the impression that Trixie stayed up past her bedtime more often than not. She was the sort who hated to follow rules, which was something Lucifer did understand.

When Trixie pulled away, she frowned up at him. "How come I never see you anymore?" she asked.

Lucifer opened his mouth to say something but found no words forthcoming. He looked down at the girl, feeling like he was disappointing her. How did you tell a girl you stopped coming around because her mother was dating the world's first murderer? That it was no longer your place to drop by unannounced, because that honour belonged to someone else?

"Lucifer has his own business now, monkey," Chloe said in her singsong voice that she saved for babying her daughter. "He's a lot busier now with things that aren't related to my work."

That certainly wasn't the original reason he'd stopped coming over, but he couldn't deny that there was some truth in it. With Eric and North Star occupying his time, he hadn't even thought of dropping by like this in the last two months—and not because of Pierce. The realization made him pause.

It was true.

He could stand here in Chloe Decker's kitchen, surrounded by the things that made Chloe Chloe, and honestly say that he hadn't given much thought at all to her since Eric had come into his life. What a realization to have at midnight in your ex-love's kitchen.

But Trixie was not to be forgotten. "Didn't you like working for the L.A.P.D?" she asked him.

"Of course I did," Lucifer replied instantly. He truly had. It wasn't just Chloe that had made the job so worthwhile, either. Solving mysteries, dealing out justice—by the book, but also sometimes behind everyone's back—Ella, hell even Dan. It had been a great time spent on Earth, avoiding his responsibilities back down in Hell. "It's just I've met a vampire," at this, Trixie's eyes got big, "and while getting to know him, I came to realize that vampire problems shouldn't always be solved by the police."

"Why not?" Trixie asked.

Lucier pursed his lips, wondering how to reply to that honestly without making it seem like the police were all bigoted. He had thought Chloe wasn't, but now he wasn't even sure anymore. He quickly latched onto the idea of legalities though. "Vampires are still, unfortunately, often considered legally dead. Even though they're not." Lucifer paused to give Chloe a meaningful look. "Because of this, sometimes the police can't help." He tilted his head, thinking. "And sometimes vampires have problems with other vampires, and do not want to involve the police."

"But they'll want to involve you?" Trixie asked. "How come?"

Lucifer gave her a self-satisfied smile. "They trust me."

"Lucifer is dating a vampire," Chloe said, and the disappointment was obvious in her voice, not just to Lucifer but to her daughter as well.

"Yes, one of the reasons they trust me," Lucifer said, hoping his own words could stop Trixie from falling in line with Chloe's behaviour.

Trixie suddenly smiled at him, easing that particular fear. "What's it like dating a vampire?"

Lucifer considered the question. He could see Chloe shaking her head at him, but he decided that he'd tell Trixie anyway, especially since Chloe didn't want him to. There was no better way to stop prejudice from happening than by teaching them young.

"Dating a vampire is different," he told the girl, wondering just how old she was and what she would understand. He couldn't recall if Chloe had ever mentioned Trixie's age before. Perhaps it was best to discuss the simple things. "Vampires can't go out in the sun, so if I want to see him it has to be at night."

"But what about when it's time to go to bed?" Trixie asked, and she gave Chloe a pointed look. Apparently Trixie disagreed with her bedtime.

"Vampire bedtimes are when the sun comes up, so it's just as easy as changing my bedtime to match his," Lucifer said. "And since we opened a detective agency together geared to vampires, my hours of work don't start until night either."

"So you sleep during the day now?" Trixie asked.

"I sleep all morning and into the afternoon," he agreed. Truth be told, the hours weren't so different than before he'd met Eric. Except now his coworkers didn't frown at him for his apparent lazy lifestyle.

"That's so cool," Trixie said. "Mom, I want to sleep all day and be up all night too."

Chloe frowned at her. "No, pumpkin. You still need to go to school."

"Can't I go to school at night?" Trixie asked, sounding reasonable almost. "What about a school for vampires?"

"Trixie, you're not a vampire," Chloe replied, her words coming out fast.

"Vampires don't age," Lucifer told the child. "I also have yet to meet a child vampire."

"Oh," Trixie pouted. Then she brightened again. "Do you love your vampire like Mom loves Marcus?"

Lucifer cringed at the question. It should hurt, and it sort of did. But he thought of Eric, and the bloody billboard the man had put up for him, and he suddenly found himself smiling. Sure, Eric had stormed off, but the vampire did love him, and he certainly loved him back. "I do," he replied to Trixie. "Very much."

Trixie returned his smile. "Good!"

"Trixie, monkey, you really need to go to bed," Chloe coaxed. "Lucifer and I have things to discuss and you do need to get up in the morning."

Trixie let out an insufferable sigh, giving Lucifer a look that nearly screamed "Moms, am I right?" before she trudged back to her bedroom. Lucifer watched as the door trundled shut. Lucifer knew that while the door might be closed, that little girl was not planning on sleeping.

He looked back to Chloe who was finally draining the sink. How had they gotten so off topic? "I didn't come here to defend my relationship," he said as he leaned up against the kitchen island. "I came to ask for help."

Chloe had grabbed her dish rag and was now rubbing down the counters. "And why should I help you, Lucifer? You left the L.A.P.D. because you didn't need my help."

"Not true," Lucifer defended himself. "You were the one who sent me home during that last case."

"You were biased!" Chloe cried out.

"Was it me who was biased?" Lucifer countered. "Or the person telling me my boyfriend is a corpse?"

Chloe gave him a glare.

"Point is, Detective, I left because there is a gaping hole in the judicial system when it comes to vampires and supernatural crimes. Dan's response to Eric, for instance—not at all uncommon. In fact, just this evening . . ." Lucifer regaled Chloe with what had happened just that night, and when his favourite Detective finally began to listen to him, everything just came out.

He told her about Sookie—he really told her about Sookie, the entire history of it—about their impromptu trip to Bon Temps to investigate her going missing. He told her of angry gods and sick werewolves and missing halflings and strange weather. He told her that they didn't know where to look for the halflings, and he was desperate for help—any kind of help—in figuring that out.

Lucifer told her the truth, all of it, and when he was done, he stood across the kitchen island from her and waited to see what she would say.

A silence stretched out between the two of them, and as the seconds ticked by Lucifer began to worry. Was this the time she would actually believe him? Now that they had gone their separate ways, could she finally remove herself from the situation in such a way that she could actually believe that he wouldn't lie to her?

When Chloe crossed her arms over her chest and frowned at him, he felt his heart crack, just a tiny bit. Today was not the day she'd take him at his word, it seemed.

"I thought you wanted my help," Chloe started.

"I do! I want your help putting the clues together, finding the way to track down the missing halflings."

"It's going to be impossible to figure that where to find missing people if you keep talking to me in riddles. Why can't you just tell me the facts, Lucifer? Why do you always have to turn it into a colourful story?"

"I am telling you the truth," Lucifer shot back. "Why is it so hard to believe that? You believe in vampires enough to think they're evil, but I tell you I'm the devil and apparently I'm just talking in parables?"

"There is dedicated proof that vampires exist, Lucifer," Chloe reprimanded. "And even more proof that they're dead. That they're cold-blooded killers."

"Shouldn't it stand to reason that if one supernatural creature only just came out of hiding, that there are plenty more still too afraid of humanity's reaction to their existence?" Lucifer shot back. "Why not believe me when I bring these truths to you?"

Chloe rolled her eyes. And Lucifer's heart cracked a little bit more.

It was always like this with her. And he was beginning to realize it would never change. He bared his soul to her and she twisted his words to suit herself and feel justified in not being there for him emotionally. This time it wasn't about him! It was about Eric, about that damned waitress.

He'd wanted help from the one person he knew could maybe figure things out, and instead he was met with this disrespect. Again.

Lucifer huffed to himself, deciding perhaps it wasn't worth it. Any of it. Coming here had been a complete waste of time. As always, the Detective found a reason to not believe a word he said. And even with his own heart on the line—for Eric had left in his own angry huff—she'd rather berate him for being himself than listen to him and help.

"Why don't you ask Pierce?" Chloe suddenly said. "I saw you buddying up to him yesterday."

"I've already asked Pierce," Lucifer bit out. "He's helped but not enough."

Chloe shook her head. "Well, I can't help until you start telling the truth."

"I am telling the truth!" Lucifer said, frustrated.

"The real truth!" Chloe retorted and Lucifer swore he'd had a conversation like this with her in the past. Or perhaps half a dozen of them.

"I give up!" Lucifer cried out, throwing his hands in the air in defeat. "I come for help, and I find a friend who is no friend at all."

He whirled on the spot and headed for the front door. He didn't need this sort of treatment. Spending the last two months away from her—he'd forgotten the bad, and only remembered the good.

"Lucifer, wait!" Chloe called, regret in her voice. She was realizing she'd gone too far this time, but Lucifer was in no mood to turn back and forgive her. It was time he stopped letting her walk all over his feelings. It was time to leave Chloe Decker behind and move forward, thinking only of Eric Northman.

As Lucifer let himself out into the humid night, he quailed though. How on earth could he accomplish that?