Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Arianwen didn't particularly want to be in the Vatican – she had a very low opinion of them, having seen their rise to power and knowing how they did that in many cases. 

Also, they didn't exactly like anyone like her either... She held back a snort: arrogant, terrified little children with their frantic horror stories and egotistical hypocrisy. 

Still, here she was. Not for long, thankfully, but she'd been in the area and figured she might as well steal some stuff since she was here. Not like these guys were appreciating what she was after anyway. They wouldn't know the truth if it danced naked in front of them and bit them in the arse – though, she mused with a private grin, the Devil might just do that to amuse himself. 

And their security on their secure archives... well, that was laughable. Not for humans, but for someone who'd been around as long as she had, and with her particular talents...well.

Hearing the name 'Lucifer Morningstar' spoken in one of the courtyards as she was passing through – secret to not being stopped and asked what you're doing somewhere? Act like you belong there, something she was long accomplished at – had her halting on her quest. The hell (no pun intended)? 

Her hearing being better than that of a humans, she had a seat in one of the alcoves, and listened in on the conversation between a priest...and a familiar looking woman as she identified them as the ones talking about one of her favourite people ever. 

What was Chloe Decker doing in Europe, and at the Vatican of all places? As far as she knew, the so-called 'detective' thought her civilian consultant partner was a playboy with delusions, who was helpful on cases so she kept him around. If she was here ...did she finally accept the truth of his identity?

"We've been aware of him for about seven years," The priest was saying – and he seemed sort of familiar as well, as if she should know of him from somewhere. "At first we thought he was just a benign eccentric, but the more we watched him the more... terrifyingly authentic he became." Well shit. Arianwen ground her teeth together. 

Priests were usually a mild annoyance to her almost-brother-in-law, but this one seemed especially pompous and full of himself. Probably thought he was on a damn mission from God... 

"And since you've travelled all this way to research him... I assume that you agree with that." Well, that had been her presumption at seeing the stupid woman as well. Not that this priest approaching her boded well at all... 

Decker was shaking her head slightly, mouth opening and closing a couple of times before getting words out. "I don't know what to think,"

If you've finally seen something you can't conveniently ignore or explain away, then you damn well should know what to think, the things he's done for you.

"I realise that this must be extremely difficult for you," They had come to a stop now, near where she was seated behind an arch. "But I want you to know: I'm here to help."

"How?" She gasped. "How can you help me?" The priest was silent, and she shrugged miserably, nodding in resignation. "That's what I thought."

"But there is something you can do."

Well that didn't sound ominous at all.

Holding back a sigh, Arianwen decided to follow the misguided pair: whatever they would get up to, it would probably be a minor inconvenience if anything – not like they could actually send the Devil back to hell as so many people seemed to believe, if that was indeed their intention – but she knew how Lucifer had felt about the woman. Not so much recently, admittedly, from what she had heard from Michael, but still: if she was going to betray him – and running away to the Vatican of all the ludicrous places suggested she might be, as did this priest who gave her bad vibes – it would hit him hard. He'd thought she was different, but may be about to be proven wrong.

(And what was it with humans and thinking the Devil was a Christian concept therefore the Vatican was the place to go? It was like no one, anywhere, had ever done any homework... she supposed the old fools in their silly robes had done a pretty good job at squashing others over the centuries...)

Poor Lu.

***

It wasn't hard to follow them into one of the reading rooms, and conceal herself in a place with a clear visual where she could see and hear everything and from where they would remain unaware of her. 

What she heard, she wasn't liking. Stupid International Association of 'Exorcists'. As if there was even demonic possession anymore – Lu banned that years ago.

Kinley, it seemed, had a scrapbook of Lucifer's 'misdeeds', which Decker was currently flipping through.

"Once we uncovered Lucifer's identity we were able to uncover evidence of his previous visits with humanity."

Decker, at least, sounded sceptical, but she could detect fear in her voice as well. Still kinda on the fence then... though, from the books open on the table, which she had clearly been reading before they came back here – depictions of 'Satan' eating children and other such hysterical images – she was leaning more towards the fear, unfortunately. "Y-y... you're saying he caused the Chicago Fire...and Nazi Germany...?" She sounded disbelieving at least.

"I'm saying that whenever he visits, death and destruction follow." He was doing a good job of the caring yet grave pious old priest anyway, the fool.

Flipping through some more of the scrapbook, Decker was shaking her head. "Ok well, speaking as a detective, this is all...circumstantial evidence at best." That was something in her favour... Though, to be honest, her esteem in Arianwen's eyes had been declining for a while. Constantly dismissing Lu wasn't good in her estimate, but trusting Cain... well, by that point having known him for so long and still thinking Lucifer was a delusional nut-case, she was either wilfully ignorant or plain stupid. She was going with either, to be honest. 

"Perhaps," The priest replied gravely, accepting the possibility, "But when the circumstances pile up this high, aren't you forced to draw conclusions." It was more of a statement than a question. 

"No," Decker shook her head, still on the fence in her denial. "No, no I'm not." She near-slammed the book closed. "This isn't the man I know."

Woo, that's more like it! At least she wasn't completely disregarding everything she'd known of the man for the last three years! Point to Decker... She sounded pretty firm in that conviction too.

Kinley came over and opened the book again – to more recent incidents, by the look of it. "Keep going,"

Decker shook her head again, sounding less firm though as she returned to the book. "He didn't kill these people,"

She flipped another page. "Pierce..." She whispered, hesitating. "...Ok. so he killed Pierce." Cain, you stupid woman – I know Lu told you that. But, oh yeah, you ignored him! "Lucifer was just protecting me."

"From a situation he caused." That was one way of looking at it – the wrong way, but sure, whatever. "As for the others, you don't need to be the one pulling the trigger to cause evil." He paused, watching the woman before him. Smiling sympathetically, he leaned in closer to her. "Look, I know this is a lot to take in, Chloe. But he. Is. The Devil. And he's not supposed to be here."

...And she was falling for it. Damn. 

"And somewhere inside you know that, whatever he may seem, he is dangerous."

The ominous lightening was a nice touch in the background – they'd been in this room for a while, as night had fallen. He couldn't have planned this better if he'd tried – sheer dumb luck. She cast a suspicious look towards the ceiling: well, it'd better have been luck. Not like their father often got involved these days...

He was holding out a vial now, and was that... holy water? Seriously? Bloody hell, these Vatican priests... 

Decker picked it up.

***

Liberating the items she came for was easy, as was overhearing the rest of their dumb plan. Holy water and an exorcism... Sigh. No imagination, not even any original ideas. She expected better from a so-called religious exorcism specialist – oh well. Can't expect too much from hysterical humans, she supposed.

Of course, she called Lucifer as soon as she left, mailing her packages, er, 'liberated' from the Vatican to him as well. Not made of money like her friend was, she shrugged and just shipped it overseas without any rush. Couple of weeks at least and it would reach him in L.A. hopefully. Maybe she'd even be there by then herself...

Sighing, she let herself back into the hotel room she was staying at with her daughter after picking the sleepy little girl up from her temporary minder while her mother broke into the Vatican, quietly closing the door behind her. (And wasn't Decker supposed to have a kid too? Where was she? Home with her father, presumably,  Arianwen knew from Lu that he had had a tough time recently.) Lucifer had a place in Rome, but she'd decided to stay nearer the Vatican – it wasn't like she thought the humans would manage to catch her even if they did catch her stealing from their precious 'Secure' Archives (and what a joke that name was). She knew she was free to stay at any of Lu's places around the world at any time, and she had a few herself that he was equally as free to use, but she had felt like a hotel. They were, after all, kind of on holiday.

Anyway, she'd called Lucifer on her way to pick up little Muireann. He hadn't been thrilled to say the least, but somewhat resigned as well. He'd come to expect betrayal from...well, pretty much everyone, though this one hurt more than most. He'd been growing apart from the human for a while though, and had recently started questioning her actions as well as his own feelings towards her. 

Still, she knew the betrayal of his friend cut deep. Hearing that she had run to the Vatican had drawn a disgusted snort and an angry comment, but he honestly hadn't seemed overly surprised. 

Plotting betrayal was one thing, however. Hopefully, when the foolish human returned to L.A. and resumed her friendship with the Devil – as seemed to be the plan, reading between the lines of what Kinley had been saying: he hadn't outright told Decker what he wanted from her yet, though it was pretty obvious when you thought about it. Or it should be, anyway: Arianwen wasn't overly convinced of this so-called 'Detective's powers of deduction, or of her general intelligence.

Still, hopefully she'd come to realise that the monster depicted in those damn books she was reading, and in the hysterical tales spread over the centuries as Christianity grew and spread across the globe was not the partner she had come to know and love. Hopefully, she would see the error of her ways, and remember that he was actually a good person.

Plotting to kill someone and actually going through with it were two very different things.

Still, she mused to herself as she put her sleeping daughter to bed, before readying herself. She'd stick around a little longer – keep an eye on the terrible twosome as they plotted – then go to L.A. herself. It had been a while since she had seen Lucifer, and she knew that her daughter would be thrilled to see her favourite uncle again (truthfully, the only uncle she'd met, and Arianwen and her partner were determined to keep it that way for as long as they could). Add to that the bonus of being on hand when shit hit the fan with Decker and the idiot priest, and the decision was all but made for her without even having to think too long on it.

Also, apparently their Dad had shown up. Yikes... She had no idea how that was going. Lucifer didn't seemed too furious/hurt/miserable, so that was something at least. And he was alive , which was actually saying a lot, not to mention still on earth... 

He'd only briefly mentioned it during their relatively quick phone call, and she certainly wanted details on this new turn of events. She didn't particularly want her daughter anywhere near the Being: yes, she knew that, logically, He knew of the little girl's existence – all-knowing, and all that – but that didn't mean she actually wanted Him anywhere near her. Nope, not at all: they didn't know what He would do to her simply for just existing. 

The last offspring of angels – the children of the Grigori – had been monstrous, and wiped out. Her little girl was nothing like them, but she wouldn't put it past this so-called 'merciful' God to have her killed anyway. Still, a problem for another day. She'd keep her girl away from the man – and, if she was lucky, avoid Him herself.

City of Angels, here we come.

***

Chloe Decker returned to L.A. and her job as an L.A.P.D. homicide detective a full month after she ran away. Don't judge her, alright? It was terrifying, finding out her partner – the... thing she had been in love with – was the actual Devil. Along with everything else that went along with that. Heaven, Hell, angels, demons, the Devil, God... It was too much, and she ran. She ran to Rome, where she had hoped to find answers.

She had found even better than she had hoped for in the confidences of Father Kinley – a good man who hadn't thought her crazy at all; who knew the Devil existed, and that 'Lucifer Morningstar' was one and the same. And, she shuddered slightly just thinking about it, they had a plan to send him away from earth, where he had no right to be. She didn't view it as murder: no, they were simply ensuring that he no longer existed on the earthly plane. That wasn't killing him... 

She felt bad about abandoning Dan, though. She should have been there for him to help him through his grief after Charlotte (and it hadn't yet occurred to her everything that had happened with her apparently being Lucifer's old 'step-mother' the previous year) but she had been dealing with a lot herself, and hadn't been around. 

Not only that, she had taken Trixie with her. She was not leaving her little girl in a place where she could run into the literal devil at any time – God knows what he would do to her! She couldn't believe she had allowed him to fool her for so long – acting as if his powers didn't work on her. 

He'd probably been manipulating her on a subliminal level the whole time – there was no other explanation why she had liked him, or worked with him for so long. How he could possibly have fooled her into thinking he was, deep down, a good person beneath the hedonism and childishness. And to have the audacity to make her fall in love with him...! He would pay for all the pain he had caused humanity, and her family especially. 

She had forgotten all the good he had done for her and hers, as well. Sure, it occurred to her sometimes, but it was always quickly overshadowed with the evidence Kinley had, and the stories she had heard. He had obviously been playing a long con – he was clearly twisted enough for it, and, being an immortal being, had the time. 

Sick. Sick bastard.

Now, however, she had had to return to L.A. and to her job, and she had had to bring her little girl back into the danger zone. To mitigate this, she had sent the girl to stay with Dan. Not only would this – hopefully – put Trix in less danger from the hellish denizens in their life, it would also help her father, who had needed them but they had been gone.

Chloe took a deep breath, studying her reflection in the mirror as she got ready to leave for work in her otherwise silent house – Mazikeen hadn't been back while she was there, which she was grateful for. 

This was it: time to go into the precinct, and pretend that everything was normal. She had just taken some vacation time to clear her head after everything with Pierce, having found out her ex-fiancee had been a crime-boss and his subsequent death – at the hands of the actual devil... She shuddered slightly. Right. She would have to see him too. 

And she had to sell her part well: act like everything was fine between them, as if she didn't now know him for the monster he is. She would have to gain his trust – not that he had any reason to mistrust her: as if she had ever done anything to him! – and then, when the time was right, slip him the vial Father Kinley had given her. 

That done and the devil incapacitated, she would call Kinley: together, they would get him to the appropriate spot – a place of worship and sin, apparently – though, if she could somehow get him to drink it in such a place, that would be a lot easier all round. Then, Kinley would perform the required exorcism, and they would send the devil back to hell where he belonged – or, if things went very well, even kill him for good. 

They weren't quite sure how these things worked, to be perfectly honest – at least, Chloe wasn't. She assumed that, as a priest, Father Kinley knew more. 

It wasn't murder, she told herself sternly as she felt a twinge of unease at the thought. It wasn't murder, because he wasn't a person. He wasn't human – he was a monster, and he didn't deserve to live. He left chaos and destruction in his wake – he shouldn't be on earth at all. Earth was for humans, and he was not human.

No, she told herself firmly, she could do this. She was a strong, capable woman. Sure, so she had never seen herself as having to rid the world of evil in quite such a literal sense, but, when they were finished, everything would be better. They would have achieved God's work, and they would no longer be tormented by evil. They would have won a great victory over the darkness, but that wasn't what she was most concerned with.

She had been terrified since she had seen that horrific face. Terrified for herself, for her daughter, of what it all meant. 

With the devil gone, she would be safe. With the devil gone, her daughter would be safe – and away from his manipulative, evil influence.

With the devil gone, they would then deal with the demon Mazikeen. Chloe hadn't realised that her ex-roommate was a demon at first: too busy reeling from LUCIFER IS THE ACTUAL GODDAMN ("literally 'God-damned'" his snide voice purred in her mind) DEVIL to realise that the woman – the thing – had been telling the truth when she claimed to have been 'forged in the bowels of hell to torture the guilty for all eternity'. ...talk about a scary thought.

Dealing with Maze would get Trixie away from her too. She would tell the demon that Trixie was still mad at her – she had really hurt the girl's feelings before they left, when she had seemed to be spiralling, and God, Lucifer had said he wouldn't take her home, and that was Hell, and these things kept hitting her, tipping her previously science-and-fact-oriented world on its head over and over again. Would it ever stop?! Now knowing that it was all real was terrifying, but she could do this.

She had to. The world depended on it. Her daughter's life depended on it.

Lucifer Morningstar had to go.

***

Lucifer Morningstar had no intention of going anywhere that wasn't wherever he damn well pleased (with some obvious exceptions, which he did not please). 

His Dad showing up shortly after the whole Cain fiasco and the Detective – Decker – running away had been one hell of a surprise (no pun intended), but, he found, he wasn't as thrown by it as he would have been previously.

He had, after all, had a revelation shortly before Chloe broke off her engagement with Pierce. He didn't hate his father after all – well, he did a little, but not as much as he had been telling himself he did for so very long. No, he hated himself . 

He had been working on not viewing himself as a monster: Mikey was a great help with that, as his twin didn't see him that way at all. Both of them were dicks, to be fair, but neither were monsters. He still had a ways to go with his self-esteem, he knew, but not viewing himself how humanity had for so long... Well, it was a work in progress.

Surprisingly, his Dad was helping him with that too, just by being around. They hadn't exactly talked much: certainly far more than they had since he was kicked out of Heaven, but still not...great with the communication. Lucifer's excuse was he had spent millions of years in a fiery pit of despair, resenting the Father who had forced it upon him.

He had no idea what his Dad's excuse was. Being a dick, he supposed.

Still, it had been kinda nice. He still got furious fast – and a lot – but...he didn't hate having his parent around as much as he thought he would have. They hadn't exactly apologised to each other... No, they were both too proud for that. But they were...cordial, he supposed. Yes, cordial. 

Not that God was around all that often – Lucifer didn't think he'd be able to cope if he was. Nope, he dropped by now and again, if they'd arranged to meet or something. 

He'd introduced Linda. She'd been stunned, of course, though not quite as bad as when she had helped him and God Johnson escape from the nut-house. He supposed that she'd had a practice run, so to speak. And had heard a lot more about his bad qualities since then. 

She'd been a, pardon the phrase, God-send. Not literally, thankfully – not like the Detective, and they would be talking about that at some point, so help him – but she'd been brilliant at helping him deal with his emotions, and had even sat in with both of them a couple of times. 

It was slow going, but he hadn't immediately been annihilated for killing one of His precious humans, so he was counting himself very lucky. Of course, Lucifer had previously been an exception to this rule back when he was still Samael – often basically his Dad's personal assassin, not that he had told his human friend that – but he had assumed that he was subject to that law now since the Devil killing humans would presumably be a massive no-no. 

Unless of course ordered by God, which had actually happened a couple of times since his Fall (Sodom and Gomorrah came to mind...).

He still had running Lux to distract him, thankfully, though he hadn't really been going into the L.A.P.D. much. He went sometimes – particularly when difficult suspects who weren't talking, and some officers would call him in to help, which he really didn't mind. But since the Detective had run away, he hadn't really been working on any of their cases properly. 

At first this was due to personal affairs – he had, after all, killed their precious Lieutenant. While the FBI were working to bring down his crime ring, with help from dear Charlotte's compiled notes, he hadn't been involved much. He was, however, more than happy to help the FBI bring down what was left of that bastard. 

It had mostly been kept out of the media, and he knew that the Detective had not been kept in the loop after she had run off, but the suits had been understanding at least. After questioning her, they had given her some time off to get her out of the way, pretty much. She didn't know about his criminal activities, that much was obvious. Usually persons of interest in an ongoing investigation were asked to stay in the country, but he knew that she hadn't. At least that didn't interfere with the investigation, thankfully.

Another surprise had been the lead agent, who, after spending some time with him in a couple of interviews, accepted that he was the Devil. As a true believer he had long lost his faith in any God – seeing what he did on a daily basis, Lucifer couldn't blame him – and had been easily convinced that Lucifer was telling the truth. That way at least he hadn't even had to creatively manipulate what had gone on, since he could mention his wings and not be viewed as looney tunes. Also thankfully, the man was not like 'normal' true believers: they were usually pretty crazy.

So Lucifer had a new acquaintance in the FBI who knew the truth about him, which was nice to have. Who knew when he may have need for someone like that. Though, to be fair, if he'd had that before this all went down, he could have gone to him and told him about Cain, he supposed. Then the FBI could have taken him down before Charlotte was killed.

Still, no changing the past.

Agent Green – and how fantastically nondescript was that, it was even the poor man's real name – had been perturbed by his presence at first but, upon realising he wasn't human, had seemed to relax. Not the usual reaction Lucifer tended to get, but hey. 

Now, however, he was on his way to a crime scene Ella had told him about. He doubted he would be needed – nor that Chloe, the potential traitor, would be there – but he had said he'd come by. He had been spending more time with the forensic scientist since learning that his sister loved her and had sent her out here to be with him. Sure, while she had been gushing about Cain and Chloe and 'beautiful Pecker babies' he had pulled away a little, but he was coming to love the bubbly young woman himself, and truly valued her company. 

Pulling up at the crime scene, he sprang out of his corvette and, hands in pockets, set off for the forensic scientist's side, mildly relieved not to see Espinoza anywhere. He didn't have anything – much, anymore – against the man personally, but the detective was back to being a douche again, blaming Lucifer for Charlotte's murder. They'd be having words about that sometime soon, if the other man didn't watch out. 

"Hey, Luce!" Ella called, looking up with a grin as he approached.

"Morning, Miss Lopez. So, what happened to this poor sod then?"

He'd had a nice fight this morning, working out some of his frustrations on some idiot humans who had attempted to rob him, and was feeling pretty good this morning. Sure, he'd given the man some money in the end – even given him his trousers as he had relieved the other man of his the last time they had met. The man was almost certainly headed to hell so they would meet again, but for now this was more amusing. 

He had been thinking of the Detective and her potential betrayal, wondering when she'd be back and how she planned on playing this when they had come up behind him and threatened him with their funny little guns. He couldn't be certain of course, not until she returned, but he was pretty sure he'd sorted out his mortality sitch around the Detective as well, not that they could have hurt him without her around anyway. He's been feeling melancholy and considering playing 'Creep' on his piano, but had decided against it. He wasn't that affected by the Detective leaving. 

Truthfully, it had hit him less than he'd thought it would. 

"Beekeeper guy, honey scraper to the neck," She chirped, moving back to the corpse. She glanced up at him. "Still waiting for Decker, huh? Turning up at crime scenes to see if she's back?"

Lucifer arched an eyebrow at her. "Ms Lopez, you're the one who called me here, remember? Decker has made her choice – can't say I'm too surprised at it – and she'll be back when she's back."

"Er...choice? Huh?"

Lucifer waved away her confusion. "Nothing, nothing. You wouldn't believe me anyway," He grimaced at her, before softening. "Speaking of, I can't help but notice you're still covering your cross. Everything OK there?"

She flushed slightly, looking down to fiddle with her camera. "Oh, y'know..." She swallowed, then flashed him a small, wavering smile. "Kinda on the outs with the big guy."

"It's His loss, Miss Lopez." He supplied softly, giving her a slight, kind smile. The Devil advocating religion...sigh. He had never resented her her relationship with his Father, however: religion brought her peace, something to turn to, and he would never want to take that away from her. It truly was his Father's loss.

"Thanks big guy," She gave him a tremulous smile, before changing the subject with false cheer once more. "And don't worry! Decker'll be back soon! It's not like she's just going to walk up –"

Her mouth fell open slightly as Chloe Decker appeared at Lucifer's shoulder. She noticed the man stiffened slightly, before turning to face her. Huh...

"Decker! Oh my God!"

Chloe laughed, leaning forwards to accept Ella's enthusiastic hug. "How have you been?! How was the vacay? And why are you not more tanned?!" She was pulling aside Chloe's jacket as she rambled, grinning widely as she slapped the other woman's shoulder.

Decker laughed, "I will fill you in later, but for now; what's going on here?" She gestured to the dead body behind them, seemingly ignoring Lucifer as he watched her, an odd blankness to his expression. 

Ella smiled, and turned back to the body. "Sure," She chirped, as Chloe gave the man beside her a wary look, quickly focusing on the forensic scientist. "Of course. Ah, so, our victim is 55 year old bee-keeper named Bob Goldback, cause of death chh – honey scraper in the neck!" She mimed out as she went. "Gnarly thing right! Who'd have thought bee-keeping was kind of badass."

"And it looks like one of the hives was attacked..." Decker mused, still pointedly ignoring Lucifer beside her, who had looked away back at the body. 

A few months ago he would have been fretting something fierce: now, however, with everything that had happened between them and his realisations about their friendship as it collapsed around Cain, he wasn't as worried for her as he might have been – certainly not for their relationship, whatever that may be. 

Not with her plotting to kill him, anyway... Still, he could play the part. He was admittedly curious to see how she was going to play this... 

"So maybe Bob caught the killer stomping on his poor bees and they fought?" Ella hypothesised, and Decker nodded her agreement.

"Possibly. Any witnesses?"

"None. But, Bob's wife Lenore's over there."

"Great, thanks," She smiled at the forensic specialist, still not looking at Lucifer. That wasn't too out of character when working a case, though he got the distinct impression it was very much to do with the recent evidence she had seen that had forced her to finally face the truth. Seeing his Devil face was certainly not something she could just explain away or completely ignore as she had done everything else in the past. "I'll go talk to her. Good work Ella," She complimented as she strode off.

"Sure," She smiled, before moving round to Lucifer. "God, Chloe's back. Now we can finally get back to normal!" She punched Lucifer's chest, but he was watching the woman leave, and didn't react. 

So far, there wasn't really much to tell how she would be acting – presumably, since their plan was to get his trust and 'drug' him with holy water, she wouldn't be ignoring him the whole time. She'd stood close to him, which he supposed was something – even if it was all an act. Ignoring him wasn't exactly going to achieve their goal though... Maybe she was acclimatising to being in the presence of the big scary Devil, he thought bitterly.

He followed after her, and stood to the side as she questioned the wife. Innocent man, no-one would hurt him, pillar of the community, and blah blah blah. He watched the detective out the corner of his eye as he half-listened(ish), not being too obvious about it – not that he cared.

As they went to move away from the wife, he stepped in front of her, forcing her to stop.

"Are you...OK?"

"Yeah," She nodded, glancing up to meet his eyes before looking back down again. Seeming to gather her courage (and doing a poor job of covering that, since he knew what to look for), she looked up at him again and smiled. "Fine."

"Where did you go?" Sounding confused, though he knew exactly where she had gone. If she admitted it...

"Oh, I took Trixie to Europe, and we travelled around, and, y'know, it gave me time to...process...what I saw," She was looking at him mildly conspiratorially, urging his understanding of her hints, nodding away.

"And...have you? Processed? Are you...OK with what you saw?"

"I..."

"Detective, are you OK with me?"

"Well, it's not like you haven't always told me the truth," She justified. "Y'know. So I think, deep down I just...I always knew," She shrugged. 

"But, how does it make you feel?" He urged. "Afraid? Terrified? You want to yell at me? Punch me in the face? Run away again?" Couldn't help that little dig there...

"I...I think I just wanna get back to work," She shrugged with a smile. 

"That's all?" Slightly disbelieving.

"That's all." That smile again, urging him to believe everything was OK.

With that said, she turned and went back to her work. 

Game on then, he thought, following after with hellfire flashing briefly through his eyes. 

***

She faked it pretty well, all things considered, Lucifer mused later that night. He hadn't seen Linda yet – hadn't mentioned that Chloe was plotting against him. He'd been telling himself that maybe she wouldn't – had been holding onto a last glimmer of hope. 

However, as Morpheus had reminded him before he had come to Earth this last time, hope was a form of torture, as the Devil well knew. Always the hope of something more... well, the Detective flinching away – nearly jumping out her skin, as the expression went – when he touched her shoulder at the farmer's market killed a little more of that hope. 

So much for being fine with him... Sure, she was 'startled'. Right. Because that made so much sense – he'd been walking beside her, talking with her, it wasn't like it was out of the realm of ordinary for him to touch her shoulder! 

Amenadiel's return had been a surprise. It was good to see him – which was surprising in itself – but he was glad his brother had got his wings back. Though he had seemed a little reluctant, perhaps, to return to the Silver City straight away... Maybe he was just reverting back to the automaton he had been, with all the smug, sanctimonious lecturing of course. 

And Maze, he should speak with her about the Detective. He knew that the demon was heading over to their shared apartment – she had never officially moved out, after all – to see the Decker girls. She had wanted to see where things stood with Chloe, true – Lucifer hadn't mentioned Arianwen's information yet: he was waiting to see what Chloe would do, and it hadn't exactly come up in conversation as it were – but more she wanted to see the young spawn. 

Truthfully, Lucifer wouldn't mind seeing the girl himself: she had certainly grown on him, he thought fondly, and was an excellent student, picking up various new tricks from both Mazikeen and Lucifer himself. 

He somehow doubted the detective would be fine with her daughter around the demon, however...not with how she had been reacting to him. Oh, sure, she was acting as if they were fine, and talking a pretty game, but Lucifer was keeping his guard up. He was noticing the cracks.

He wondered how long she would be able to keep it up. It was kind of funny, watching her reactions to his devillish skills. Mean, perhaps, but he felt she deserved it at least a little. And it wasn't like he had never shown her any of it before: now she just had a context she couldn't explain away anymore. 

Shame he hadn't been able to throw the human, though. Sure, that wouldn't exactly have helped her view of him, but it would've been fun. 

"How was your day, son?" A voice greeted him as he entered his penthouse, and Lucifer held back a sigh. Great: his Dad was here.

"Fine," He replied mildly, moving to pour himself a drink. "The detective has returned."

God – going by El, of course – raised a salt-and-pepper eyebrow. "Oh? How is she?"

"Saying everything's fine – acting as if she's fine with me being the Devil."

"You don't believe her?"

"Well not particularly, no!"

El nodded thoughtfully. "She's working with you though?"

"Aren't you up on what she's up to?" Lucifer snarked. "I thought you were supposed to be all seeing, all knowing and all that."

El chuckled slightly. "Only if I look." He replied, amused. "Seriously, though, I haven't really been watching the two of you – too much temptation to intervene."

Lucifer raised a sardonic eyebrow at Him as he leant back against the bar. "And yet you put her in my path." He replied dryly, though a hint of steel creeping into his voice and into his gaze. They hadn't really talked about this yet – truth be told, they had both mutually been avoiding the issue, along with a whole host of other ones. It was something of a miracle (ha!) that they hadn't come to blows yet, and neither particularly wanted to change that.

El shrugged. "I did, yes. I ensured she was born, foreseeing when you'd leave hell for an extended vacation," They both knew he wasn't retired as he liked to claim, not really, "But beyond that, that was all up to you and her. Yes, I made her immune to your charms, but that was so that she'd be intriguing for you. Admit it: how often do you meet people who challenge you?"

Lucifer had to give him that, but he wasn't about to tell his Father that. "So you were manipulating us."

"Son, everything you felt – everything she felt – that was all entirely you. I made the possibility of you two meeting possible, yes, but I did not ensure it. For all I knew, you could have never even met, and there would be one extra person in the world than there was going to be. There was never an end-game for you two. 

"Truthfully, she was a...gift, I suppose. Someone who could help you see the good within yourself, to draw you out of the anger and pain, if you wished her to. I did not create her to love you, nor did I force her to – nor you her. That's all on you," He finished softly, watching His son from His position on the (expensive, comfortable) beige leather sofa. 

Lucifer snorted, still smarting from finding out Chloe Decker was a miracle "Sure, right."

"You don't believe me?"

His son sighed, seeming to deflate slightly before his eyes. "I don't know what to believe," He admitted quietly, staring down into his newly refilled glass. "I've spent so long believing the worst of you – that you're manipulating everything, all the time – that it's...hard," He swallowed, and forced himself to continue. Linda would be proud of him... "It's hard to believe you'd do something...good, I suppose. For me."

"I didn't take her free will," His father replied, knowing this was a big problem with His son. "I wouldn't. She's human: and, as with all humans – her choices, her actions, her consequences." He shrugged. "You know that's why we don't interfere."

Lucifer sighed, throwing back his drink in one long swallow. "Yes, I know. Still: old habits die hard." He gave his Father a ghost of a hard smile, and He knew to let the topic drop – for now.

"You have new case you're working on with her then?"

"Mm, yes. Former mobster murdered while in witness protection. Although," He suddenly added with a grin, "Avocado honey's surprisingly good."

El chuckled at that, trying for a warm smile. He almost succeeded (He was admittedly out of practice dealing with any of His children, this son especially). "Sounds...unique." 

So they weren't at loggerheads, and they weren't approaching an all-out war. Sure, they weren't in a great space either, but they were doing better than Lucifer had ever thought they would. Truthfully, God hadn't ever expected any kind of reconciliation with His son either. 

He had hoped, sure, but, like His boy, He was too proud to make the first move Himself for so very long. When Lucifer had asked him for a favour saving the Detective and her child's lives...had given him carte-blanche for two humans, he had begun to gain a sliver of hope.

 Of course, His ex-wife had broken out at the time, so He had asked (in His usual fantastically unspecific, indirect way) Lucifer to deal with Her.

And what a solution he had found. He hadn't killed Her, and he had avoided a war. He hadn't gone along with Her plans – hadn't stormed the Silver City, cut through the gates, or tried to kill Him. No, His son had found a better solution, one with (almost) no bloodshed: he had sent his Mother to another universe, literally cutting a hole through the fabric of this one to do so. Sure, He missed His ex on occasion. 

Then He would remember how bat-shit She had gone, and why He had tossed Her away in the first place, and those pesky pangs went away. He was, however, grateful that She was still alive, and presumably thriving in Her own little universe. 

So things were – tentatively – looking up for Him and His long-lost son.

Maybe He should look into what Chloe Decker was up to, however. Lucifer didn't seem overly pleased with her – obviously not buying that she was fine with him being the Devil – and he seemed to know more about whatever was going on than he was letting on.

No. No, for now He would let the children sort it out amongst themselves. If the time came when He should step in...well, He wouldn't sit back on the sidelines – not this time.

Chapter Text

Letting herself back into her apartment later that night, Chloe let out a big sigh, shoulders slumping as exhaustion overtook her and she felt like a weight had been lifted off of her shoulders – at least temporarily. 

Outside, she felt like she was being watched constantly – like the Devil himself could see everything she was doing, read her thoughts. She knew it was ridiculous – he had said before he wasn't a mind reader (though she was questioning that as well – he was, after all, the Father of Lies, and had been playing her this whole time) but also he would never have believed her had him seeing her all the time been true – and anyway, it wasn't like that could be a thing...could it? 

God was supposed to be all-seeing, but she doubted the Devil was. And he had bought her act – it was tough work brushing off her old acting skills, but that was what this was: just an acting role. The Devil's love interest. 

She shuddered – well, maybe. For now, all she had to do – while on the case – was play his (leading, thank you very much, she was the detective here) partner. And possibly friend. She was impressing herself, to honest. There was no way he suspected her. Why would he – she had never done anything to him, nor anything that could be seen as a threat towards him. He was the liar and the danger here. 

But here, in her own home, she felt like she was in a safe space. A sanctuary, where nothing could touch her – but only her: she had sent her daughter away, after all, and not only because Dan really could use to comfort and company of their child to help him through this horrible, horrible trying time. And she did feel guilty over abandoning him... 

Nevertheless, she was done with all things unnatural today – because what else could the Devil be? He wasn't human, he didn't belong. Nothing could get to her tonight, not in her safe space. (She knew this was a lie too: he had waltzed right in manys a time, but she stupidly, stupidly felt like he couldn't see her or touch her here, and she knew she was being stupid too.) 

Tossing her keys onto the counter, she was just contemplating a fortifying glass – or bottle – of wine when a voice spoke from out of the horrifyingly not empty room behind her.

"'S up Decker."

Chloe almost jumped out of her skin, whirling round to face that voice she knew so well yet stupidly thought she wouldn't hear again any time soon – especially not tonight. Why had she thought the demon wouldn't return to their shared apartment at some point? She hadn't been back since Chloe herself had been, so she had assumed she was safe.

"Maze." Calling on her acting she had thought safe to leave behind at her door – and wasn't that a bummer, having her safe-space bubble burst so soon after beginning to feel like she was free for the night – Chloe quickly fortified herself. She turned fully to face the demon – sat with her legs crossed on a chair in the dimly lit sitting room, arms apparently behind her back. 

Was she...was she hiding a weapon back there? Chloe had seen her throw knives... Quickly pushing that image out of her mind but telling herself to be ready to move at a moment's notice should the demon attack, Chloe forced her voice to be steady and less breathy as she continued. "You scared me." She squinted, taking a couple of tentative steps forwards. "What the hell are you doing?"

Maze seemed uncharacteristically...gentle? Hesitant? That couldn't be right. "I heard you were back... And I know that you know. ...Y'know."

"Right," Chloe muttered, clasping her hands in front of her and glancing down to hide her agitation. "So you just...hid in the dark and waited for the creepiest moment ever to say something?"

"Old habits I guess," Maze smirked, body unnaturally still as she was very careful not to move – not wanting to startle the human woman who she had actually come to like after initially wanting to kill her for the threat she had thought she posed to Lucifer back then. She was very glad they were past that, actually.

There was a moment of tense silence, before Maze broke it again. "Look, I know you're probably really freaked out, so..." She finally moved, spinning her chair around to reveal, to Chloe's surprise, that she had handcuffed herself, before spinning back around. "Good faith gesture. I'm locked into these. You have nothing to worry about." 

Maze prided herself on always keeping collected in any situation, always being in control of herself, but she couldn't seem to stop the slight nervous shaking of her leg. She didn't want to scare Decker – she had, surprisingly, become a friend, and that was something the demon had come to cherish. Not to mention, this was the mother of the Little Human. 

Chloe stared in surprise, almost moving towards her. Well, she hadn't expected this...

"Look, I need you to know – " Maze was heartbreakingly sincere: she couldn't let this go badly, she couldn't ! "Chloe, that even though I'm a demon," She broke off, swallowing as these... emotions threatened to overwhelm her. "I would never hurt you." 

She felt a spike of hope as Chloe took a step towards her, "I know,"

"Yeah?"

"Really." Chloe nodded. And...well, part of her did believe her Tribe-mate. That part of her was the part that sometimes screamed that these were her friends – that these beings, these people that she was plotting to destroy were living, breathing beings who she knew felt emotions, who had had her back, who she knew loved her and her little monkey. 

But it was her little monkey she was doing this for – or at least, that's what she told herself when that part of her heart got too loud: she was doing this for herself and for Trixie and for all the other children and humans out there who were in danger as long as the Devil and his demon walked the earth.

"Good." Maze said brusquely – and snapped the handcuffs with little to no effort, standing and strolling towards her. As if flimsy human handcuffs could hold her. Besides, she wasn't Lucifer: she could lie whenever she wanted. 

Chloe barely held off an eye roll, unable to help a mild flash of amusement as she threw her hands up. "Good faith, huh?"

"Well, you thought you were safe. That's all that matters, right." 

"Is it...?"

Maze was in front of her now, and trying desperately not to show how badly her next question was plaguing her. "So where's Trixie? I was hoping to see her too," The tremulous smile she gave she knew gave away how anxious she was about this, dammit ! 

Shit ! "Oh! Yeah, uh," Chloe was not letting her daughter near this woman – this thing. No way. She had thought Maze was a bad influence when she was teaching her daughter how to fight, but knowing that she was an actual demon ... Nu-uh. Not happening. She didn't want Maze to know she was keeping the girl from her though. "She's at Dan's."

Maze felt her heart sink at these words. Of course. 

"You know, obviously, she hasn't seen him for a while, so she's gonna...stay with him for a bit." Was she nodding too much? Her eyes felt like they were too wide, displaying her terror – she quickly tried to fix her mask, trying to just convey sympathy and worry for her ex.

"Oh yeah, sure." Maze said, glad to know where she was. "I'll just swing by and say hi."

Chloe stepped infront of her as she moved towards the door. "I don't...!" Shit, had she just cut the demon off?! She pushed aside the flash of terror for herself, focusing on her protective instincts towards her little girl. "I don't think that's a good idea Maze."

Maze swallowed, looking down as she sucked on her lip and viciously pushed back the water that threatened to pool in her eyes. "I knew it..." She whispered, missing Chloe's twitch as she thought she had been found out, before looking back up at the Detective, "She's still upset with me isn't she?"

Overwhelming relief flooded through Chloe as the demon handed her this perfect excuse for her actions, regardless of the truth of it. "You know, Maze, she is , and I..." Both women had tears in their eyes now, but for very different reasons. "I'm sorry, I just...I don't...I don't see her getting over it any time soon." That, at least, was not a lie: just applied to the wrong Decker lady. Chloe didn't see herself getting over any of this anytime soon.

Maze was definitely on the verge of tears now, though she ruthlessly tried to push them back. "Yeah..." She nodded, trying to smile through her pain and knowing she wasn't doing a very good job of it.

Hell. She knew she didn't deserve to be forgiven, but she had so hoped... Well, she would win back the little one even if it killed her. Though where to start... Maybe she should talk to Lucifer again. He had seemed cagey when she had stopped by this morning. At least she knew he wasn't still mad at her for almost betraying him – thank hell they weren't human. 

Still, she knew he had been worried about Decker returning – and that he had known the whole time that her offer to track them down had been for herself and her desire to make up with Trixie. She supposed she should check in with him more thoroughly anyway: she had a horrible feeling he had mentioned his dad and dropping by in the same sentence a couple of weeks ago, but she hadn't given it much thought. 

Three years ago that statement would have terrified her and would have had her hunting down the threat to her lord. When had they drifted so much...? Earth was changing them both, she knew now, in ways entirely unforeseen.

She needed to find out what the latest with God was.

First though...yes, Linda. She should go see Linda. She could use a friend right now... She didn't like this hollow, achy feeling in her chest and stomach at all.

***

Linda had had a long day, so Maze decided to wait for tomorrow – she'd go bother her friend during her lunch break. She decided she'd like to compare notes with Lucifer anyway, so, breaking several traffic laws (because come on, what else was she supposed to do?) Mazikeen of the Lillim headed for Lux.

She was in luck, as she ran into Lucifer just returning himself from the precinct, having hung back to chat with Ellen apparently hence why Decker had beaten him home, even accounting for LA traffic.

He smiled when he saw her, but then frowned. "You alright?"

They'd been getting better, Maze and Lucifer. Both still had a tendency to annoy each other, to tread on each other's toes and purposefully aggravate the other, but Lucifer had been trying hard to be more concerned with his demon and her wellbeing – physically but mostly emotionally – as he had by now realised that he had done nothing but hurt her since they had come to Earth, and she him. 

They both missed the simplicity of their relationship before any of this happened – Maze had been his most trusted, and was even in on his and Michael's relationship (i.e. that they even had one, and didn't hate each other's guts). She was truly his friend, and they had each done a poor job of showing that they valued each other recently. Lucifer had disregarded her and her feelings several times, and Maze had betrayed him...also several times.

Eh. They were working on it.

Maze shrugged, trying to school her features. Damn it, she should have waited to talk to Lucifer until after she had spoken to Linda! Now she wanted to punch something. Maybe Lucifer would oblige... "I just stopped by the apartment. Decker's back."

Lucifer's face clouded, and he nodded pensively. Huh. Not the reaction she was expecting. 

He gestured her into the club with him, and spoke as she followed. "Indeed. How did she seem?"

Maze pondered that for a moment, not entirely sure. "She...well, she said she was fine. Said she knows I would never hurt her," She smiled brightly at that, before her brow furrowed again, her troubles coming back to her.

"But...?"

"But apparently the Little Human is still mad at me," Maze muttered, looking down at the ground and scuffing her feet a little as she sloped down the stairs after her king. The club hadn't been open long, but already there was a sizeable crowd. Neither had to strain to hear the other over the noise – perks of supernatural senses. 

Approaching the bar, Lucifer signalled Patrick for a bottle of whiskey, and looked at Maze sympathetically. "I'm sorry," Wow, that hadn't even sounded too awkward! He hesitated, before continuing. "Have you spoken to the urchin at all?"

Maze shook her head, following as he approached his usual booth, sitting and accepting the glass of whiskey he passed to her. "No – apparently she's staying with Dan, but Chloe said she didn't think it was a good idea if I went to see her..."

Lucifer opened his mouth to reply to that, looking decidedly awkward, but this was not what Maze had come to talk to him about, and she quickly changed the subject – though they were trying to be more understanding of each other and their needs, feelings were not their thing. 

"What was this about your prick Dad anyway? I remember you saying something different about Him, but I was, uh..."

"Preoccupied?" Lucifer supplied with a wry grin, smirking as she fired a punch into his shoulder in retaliation. Ah violence – it felt good. "No matter. I suppose I should have done a better job of ensuring you knew," He shrugged, but knew that she had had her own problems to deal with – and, truthfully, he was hoping to keep her away from his Father for as long as possible. He didn't trust the deity, and he certainly didn't trust that He would do nothing to harm Maze, demon that she was.

Maze arched an eyebrow, unimpressed. "Knew what."

Lucifer sighed, throwing back his glass of whiskey and pouring himself another to stall for time. Seeing her unimpressed glower, he sighed again and admitted the truth. "He showed up not long after I killed Cain."

" WHAT?!" Hell, she had been hoping she had heard him wrong the first time...

"Mm," Lucifer frowned pensively into his whiskey glass, watching the light distort through the dark liquid. "Yes, it was something of a shock."

Understatement, Maze snorted in her mind. 

"Anyway, He's been by a few times – I'm surprised Linda hasn't mentioned it. She's sat in with us a couple of times – volunteered for it, seems to think it'll help."

"And has it?" She was not impressed her friend was putting herself in danger – but especially not that Lucifer was putting her in danger, the bastard – but she told herself not to eviscerate him – yet. She needed information first. 

"Well, neither of us has attempted to destroy the other yet, and we have remained relatively civil, so I'd have to say yes," Lucifer admitted, and Maze felt reluctantly impressed with her human friend. For such a tiny human, she sure hid a lot of strength. "We haven't really talked about anything important yet, but he just kind of...shows up in the penthouse. From time to time."

Maze snorted, chugging her whiskey and holding her glass out for a refill. Lucifer obliged, ignoring the couple who sidled up beside him, desperate for some attention. Usually he'd greet them at least, pay them a compliment, but right now he wanted to direct all his focus onto Maze. 

"There is another thing," Lucifer added with a frown, wondering how his demon would take this. "Watch yourself around the Detective."

Maze's jaw dropped open. "Huh?" Not her usual reaction but she was...surprised. Lucifer would never speak ill of Chloe, not usually, and this sounded dangerously close to such territory.

Lucifer sighed once more – and boy, was he doing a lot of that in this conversation – and slumped back into his seat. "She didn't seem scared at all to you?"

"Well...maybe a little?" There had been a distinct smell of fear, now that he mentioned it, but Maze had been telling herself that that was because she had startled the human woman – sitting in the dark and waiting for the creepiest moment to speak, and all that.

Lucifer nodded, unsurprised. "Yes, I rather got that impression as well. She claims to be fine, but her acting skills are...well, a tad rusty." He settled on, rather diplomatically he thought. 

Maze frowned, not really liking where this was going. "How so? And how do you know?"

"I had hoped she would be fine, as she claimed. However...well, Arianwen called me." That surprised Maze. What the hell did the mother of Lucifer's secret niece have to do with any of this? "Apparently, she saw the Detective in Rome – the Vatican, to be precise,"

Maze groaned, and Lucifer shared a wry, commiserating smile with her, completely understanding her sentiment. He supposed it wasn't too surprising – the detective had been an atheist, and had learned that the devil was real. He did wish she had chosen some other religious denomination – any religious denomination – to run to rather than the Catholics, but he supposed he could see the logic. They were particularly loud in proclaiming their so-called 'fight' against him and his influence, after all. Also, hard to ignore that they had an entire bloody country as their head office, no matter how small a country it was. 

"Indeed. Apparently, the detective met with a priest – one of those idiots from – oh, what is it? The International Confederation of Exorcists? Them."

Maze's snort was of disgust this time, another sentiment Lucifer agreed with whole heartedly. He had banned demonic possession millennia ago, and what exactly chanting some Latin, of all things, at any of them was supposed to do he really didn't know. Foolish humans. Whatever helped them sleep at night, he supposed...

"And what did this priest ," Maze spat the word like it was a curse, "Want with her?" 

"Her help."

"With...?" 

"He gave her some holy water, apparently. Showed her a bunch of so-called 'evidence' of my trips to earth in the past – murder and mayhem and the usual such hysterical nonsense, no doubt – and got her to agree to roofie me. After that, an exorcism – how predictable." He rolled his eyes at this, mildly disgusted at the lack of creativity and same old, same old. How quaint. 

Maze's jaw nearly hit the floor. "She wants to send you back to hell?!" Because really, what else could the humans be thinking with such a ridiculously clichéd plan.

Lucifer grunted, nodding. "Apparently – that's what Ari overheard anyway. But she only tailed them for a day – and she didn't hear anything in that time about you. No doubt they will have realised you are a demon though – so, Mazey darling, please, be careful. I know you are a force to be reckoned with," He gave her a fond smile at this, meeting her sharp grin at the acknowledgement of her skills, "But we don't know what they may try. And unlike me, you won't turn up in Hell should you die."

Maze was silent for a moment, allowing the potential betrayal to sink in. Feelings sucked... had she still been in Hell, she would have eviscerated the woman before she even had a chance to try anything. Now, however, she did not like this pain in her chest that the thought of Chloe plotting against them caused. "We don't know she'll actually do it though!"

"No," Her king agreed grimly. "We don't. We only have the one day Arianwen followed them to go on, as well as the Detective's actions since her return and her absence. Which is why I haven't said anything to her. I admit I'm curious whether she will go through with it or not – it's not like holy water will do anything to me, even if she does manage to slip me it. And plotting to commit murder and actually going through with it are two very different things, so I'm led to believe..."

***

Lucifer was still frowning pensively as he stepped out of his penthouse not long later, slinging his jacket off his shoulder and moving towards his bar. Maze had decided to stay in the club after they had agreed to wait, and watch the detective to see what she would do. She had also decided to stay at Lux in one of the spare rooms – whether in Lucifer's penthouse or in one of the spare apartments he kept in the building, she hadn't decided yet. All she knew was she was not going back to her apartment. No, Decker clearly wanted space, and she could admit to herself that she didn't particularly want to see the potential back-stabber right now either – she wasn't sure what she'd do. 

His dad wasn't here, thankfully, but Lucifer felt a familiar celestial presence approaching nevertheless before he heard the tell-tale thumping of wings and smirked as he poured a second glass of whiskey.

"Alright, go on," He called as his brother entered from his balcony. "Get it out of your system." He turned with the hint of his smirk still on his lips, holding out the glass to Amenadiel as the big loon strode forwards with a dopey, yet somehow still self-satisfied grin.

"What?"

"Well we both know why you're really here. To gloat ."

"Luci, I'm here to make sure that you know the truth. That we angels do in fact have control over ourselves like I thought." He preached. "Also to gloat," He couldn't help adding with a smirk, reaching out for the proffered glass as Lucifer chucked.

"I figured it out when you flew up to Heaven with Charlotte," He admitted, sobering. "Nice touch on that, by the way. First class ticket to the Silver City. She deserved it."

"I agree." They clinked glasses, briefly mourning the woman they had both cared about – as herself, and left over feelings from when her body had been inhabited by their mother.

"You know, I'm actually going to miss you, brother" Lucifer admitted after they had both taken a drink, smiling slightly.

" Miss me? What do you mean?"

"Well, your wings are back!" Lucifer replied, as if it was obvious – and it was, to him. Why stay on Earth when he could return home: "You can finally go home for good, as you've been whining about all this time!"

"I suppose that has been my ultimate goal, right..." Amenadiel admitted absentmindedly, letting the whining comment slip. Just this once, you understand. But why did the thought of returning home for good – as he had, in fact, wanted since coming to earth three years ago – feel so...well, not good? Where was the joy he should be feeling? The elation? The vindication?

"Honestly, I'm surprised you returned at all!" Lucifer continued, getting himself a refill. "What, the Silver City not what you remember?" He had long since shoved aside his own good memories of his birth place, and Hell had twisted his perspective, but...well, even he could admit – though not out loud and hardly ever even to himself – that occasionally, just occasionally, he too felt...well, home-sick he supposed. It wasn't his home, had been hell to him, but...well, there had been good moments, he supposed.

But Amenadiel – as far as he knew, Amenadiel loved the place. Thrived there, with his faithful little followers and basking in the 'love' of their father... Yeah, he should maybe bring up that the Almighty had stopped by...

Though maybe now was not the time.

"I suppose that has been my ultimate goal..." So why wasn't he happy about it?! Why did the thought of returning to Heaven, of leaving earth, and all the people he had got close to in his time here, had come to care for...why did that thought fill him with dread? A sort of...achy, hollow feeling in the pit of his stomach.

He didn't like it.

"Well, I'm happy for you brother!" And, surprisingly, Lucifer found he actually was. Sure he'd miss the newly-re-feathered pillock, but...well, they had actually become sort of close in all their trials the past couple of years. Like...brothers. Yes, he would miss that. "You're finally getting what you want," He turned with a smile, noting curiously how his brother didn't seem nearly as pleased as he had expected. Perhaps he was already reverting to the stoic automaton he had been before. Oh dear Dad, please no. The horror! 

He shrugged it off. His brother had got what he had wanted for so long, and, frankly, Lucifer had bigger problems.

"Well, regardless," Amenadiel spoke up, "What's been happening here? Did you catch who killed Charlotte?" He hadn't seen who it was, too preoccupied with the dying woman in his arms to check. All he knew was that the shot had come from within the bushes to the side of them, and that Charlotte had jumped in front of a bullet that otherwise would have hit him – in his mortal state, she had saved his life. 

Lucifer nodded, becoming pensive once more, but with a feral grin lighting up his features momentarily, eyes flashing red to his brothers shock. "Indeed we did. It was Cain."

Amenadiel gaped. " Cain?"

"Mm. Wanted his curse back, apparently. Mortality terrified him. Thought that by killing you, God's favourite son, he would gain it back. It didn't work. And he was outed as the Sinnerman, finally, so at least everyone now believes that. Though it has been hushed up." He rolled his eyes at that, unimpressed but vaguely understanding where the humans were coming from – how embarrassing for the law enforcement of America, to have let a criminal overlord go on as one of their own for so long and not even notice. "He's in hell now – I made sure of it." His voice dropped to a subsonic growl at this, and Amenadiel arched an eyebrow. 

"And I see you got your eyes back,"

Lucifer grunted. "And my face, yes. Bloody inconvenient timing, that," He muttered, before returning to a more normal volume. "After ensuring Cain knew he was guilty and that he was in no uncertain terms headed for hell – the fool thought he was heading to Heaven, feeling no guilt for any of his actions before killing dear Charlotte – it seems I realised that I, too, can never escape my past actions. I am, and always will be, the Devil." 

He didn't say monster. He wanted to, but...well, was he? A good portion of him screamed YES, but a small part whispered no. Truthfully, he didn't really know anymore. He was both an angel and the Devil... He was pretty sure none of Linda's other clients had identity issues quite like his. Maybe he should increase his payments to her... Poor woman, she really did put up with a lot .

Amenadiel wanted to address that, but felt supremely uncomfortable doing so. He had told his little brother he was irredeemably evil for so long, had believed it... To find out he had been wrong all this time, to have been lying to himself...well, he didn't want to address that, he could admit. Also...feelings. Not really their thing... 

So he didn't. "What do you mean, 'inconvenient time'?"

"Ah yes, that!" Lucifer brightened, but in that overly cheerful way he had when things weren't actually copacetic. "Well, my nastier side reappeared just as the Detective returned to the scene after I had gotten her to safety and returned to deal with Pierce and his minions. She got there in time to see the Devil himself standing over the dead body of her ex-fiancee." 

Amenadiel felt his heart go out to his little brother. "Oh Luci," He murmured, taking a step towards him. "So she knows?"

Lucifer nodded, heading past him with his glass – and the bottle – to take a seat on his Italian leather sofa. "Indeed."

"Are you alright?"

He shrugged. "Fine. She left for a while – ran to Rome, so I've heard, and returned to work today. Apparently, she's fine. Or so she claims, anyway."

"Do you need me to stay? Because Luci, I will stay as long as you need me to." 

Lucifer offered his brother a rare, real smile at that, though still tinged with heartache and bitterness he couldn't quite shake off. "Brother. Go home." He was fully earnest in this, only wanting the best for his brother. And if that was returning to the Silver City...Well, to each his own, he supposed. "Go back to where you want to be." 

"Right..." Amenadiel muttered. "But...well, how does Chloe seem? She's working with you again?"

"Yes," Lucifer sighed, settling back into his chair and frowning slightly. "Yes, she says she's fine. That she needed time to process, took a vacation with her spawn in Europe, and just wants to get back to work. That it's not like I haven't told her the truth this whole time."

"Well, that is true." Amenadiel chuckled, and Lucifer treated him to a rueful grin as his older brother made himself comfortable on the sofa opposite him. 

"Still," Lucifer shrugged. He wouldn't mention Chloe's potential betrayal – his brother didn't need anything to worry about if he was returning home. And besides – the Host, as far as he knew, didn't know about Arianwen, and they certainly didn't know about Muirean (nor that he and Michael didn't hate each other, to be fair) and he certainly wasn't about to be the one to tell them. 

He knew Michael hadn't been keen on Amenadiel in particular knowing: they didn't exactly like each other... 

His twin hadn't been around their brother much lately, and hadn't even interacted with him since the older angel had come to earth. Lucifer was actually quite impressed by his slippery twin's dodging, to be honest. Though he understood completely why his other half had steadfastly avoided LA while their mother was around... Truthfully, he had thought about it himself, but he had thought it was a task from Dad to find her and continue her punishment, and he never broke a deal. 

Also, he had been convinced she was after him anyway, so running wouldn't exactly have done much good.

"We'll see. She says she's fine, and perhaps she is, but I'm not fully convinced."

"Why not?" Amenadiel asked gently, and received a scornful look in return.

" No-one is fine after seeing that face Amenadiel. And the Detective was an atheist – it wasn't just realising I've been telling the truth the whole time that she learned."

Well, OK, there was that... Amenadiel supposed it was a pretty big deal for humans. And this was why humanity shouldn't mix with the Divine... At least Linda was alright.

Linda! Yes, he would have to stop by and see her.

"Well, if you're sure you're fine...?" He half rose, reluctant to leave but also realising he would not find a reason to stay here because his brother would not ask him to. And why was he even looking for a reason to stay? Was he looking?! 

Lucifer nodded, seeming vaguely troubled but shoving it off and hiding it under a grin. "I am. I'll work this case with her, and see how things go."

Amenadiel was surprised how well his brother seemed to be handling this as he bid the Devil goodbye and made his way to the balcony, taking off into the night sky once more and revelling in the feel of flight once more. Yes, he had missed this... But, if he was honest, he expected Lucifer to be more worried about the Detective. Historically, he had acted a bit of a fool around her, if they were being perfectly honest.

Perhaps he was just making a big deal out of nothing, and everything truly was fine as they apparently claimed. Chloe had known Lucifer a long time – she knew him for the good man that he was, and she was a sensible, honest, good woman. If anyone could handle finding out their crime-solving partner was the actual Devil, it was her. 

Yes, everything would be fine. Maybe he should check in on Chloe though. He didn't want to step on his brothers toes – or Maze's, and he wondered how she was doing with this, because surely if Chloe now knew Lucifer was the devil then she would also know Mazikeen was a demon – so he would wait for now. When things settled down... Yes, he would go then.

And the fact that waiting for a while before seeking out the surely mildly overwhelmed human woman had nothing to do with prolonging his stay on earth. Nope, not in the slightest, not a single thing.

***

Arianwen hadn't meant to take so long returning to LA, but it had happened nevertheless. She and her little girl had been having fun on their trip, and they had had even more fun after Michael (finally) showed up too. They had started heading in that direction soon after Arianwen had filled her partner in on what she had overheard, and she knew he was worried, but they both also knew that the human woman would not be heading straight back to LA herself. And she had already filled Lucifer in, so they could afford to take their time.

Now, however, the three of them were sitting in an Uber, heading to the Devil's nightclub. Muireann was asleep against her father's side, and Arianwen was gazing out the window, lost in thought. She had to admit, transport these days was far quicker than it had been in her younger days, but she did find traffic – especially in this city – a complete bore. Why did the roads have to be so congested nowadays anyway? Humans. What was that phrase? Ah yes: they multiplied like rabbits. (As if rabbits had anything on them...) 

Pulling up in the early morning hours, Arianwen paid their driver while Michael carefully stepped out of the car, Muireann now securely held in his arms. Together they made their way round to the side, where they knew Lucifer had a lift in the parking lot where they could avoid the worst of the noise of his club. 

"You think the apartment's set up?" Michael asked, keeping his voice low to avoid waking their sleeping daughter. 

His partner shrugged. "I told him we'd be by in the near future – well, not you, but you could have easily told him we were coming," He could have, but he hadn't. Telepathy was a wonderful twin thing they had going on, but they didn't often use it if they weren't in the same place. Lucifer could probably feel their arrival anyway. "And Lucifer promised we'd have a place to stay."

Arianwen particularly liked the house he owned near the sea, and they often stayed there when they were in town. She supposed either she or Michael could buy their own place, but, to be honest, neither could be bothered. The sea-house was pretty much theirs anyway, Lucifer let them use it whenever they wanted, and they had more personal belongings there than he did. 

This time, however, she felt better being close to her pretty-much-brother, what with the potential betrayal of his crime solving partner and the woman he had apparently been developing feelings for for a while looming over them all...

They'd go speak to Lucifer in the morning. Michael sent him a quick mental greeting, saying hi and that they were headed to bed as Muireann was out like a light, and that they'd come up tomorrow morning if convenient. 

Getting a snarky but welcoming reply, they entered 'their' apartment in the building a couple below Lucifers, unsurprised to find that the beds were indeed made and that the place felt aired out and fresh. They both turned in quickly – while neither really needed sleep, per say, certainly  not to the extent that a human did, they did still enjoy the activity. Also, it passed the time, and, after some more enjoyable bedroom activities kept quiet so as not to wake the sleeping child in the next room, the pair were quick to enter dreamland. 

Morning came far too quickly in Michaels opinion (who would have been content to laze around in bed for several additional hours with his wonderful love) and with it an energetic six year old leaping onto their bed with far more glee than should be allowed right after waking up. 

Yeah, Michael was not much of a morning person when he had a choice.

He did not have a choice now, apparently, and begrudgingly dragged himself out of bed to help his daughter dress as Arianwen stole the shower first.

Taming his curls as Muireann bounced excitedly round his feet – she knew where they were and who lived at the top of the building, and was eager to see her favourite uncle – Michael quickly pulled on some smart trousers and a dress shirt from the collection of clothes he kept here (the twins often dressed similarly, both through taste but mostly through the desire to screw with people when Michael was in town, if they were being honest – well, it was mostly Michael who instigated the screwing with, as Lucifer dressed to the nines at any given time unlike himself). 

Hair tamed, he called out a farewell to his still-showering partner, then took his little girl's hand and led her to the elevator. 

She bounced along happily, confounding him slightly as to exactly how she could have so much energy in such a tiny body, and happily pushed the button she knew led to the penthouse apartment when they were inside. 

Michael idly wondered if she needed to pee, as she bounced up and down, doing a strange kind of dance that was similar to what he had seen her do when she really needed to go. Eh. She was a strange child. (Not that he had much to compare her with – and, honestly, he wouldn't change her for anything.)

"UNCLE SATAAAAN !" Michael wasn't surprised by the exuberant greeting as his daughter shot out of the lift like a mini torpedo, and heard the answering grunt from his twin as she – predictably – slammed into him.

"Hello, Hellspawn," He smiled fondly down at her, grimacing slightly at the thought of her wrinkling his suit, but she was quick to let go and grin up at him.