A/N: My dear readers.

I'm so very, very sorry that this chapter took almost two years. I don't want to give you a page-long explanation what happened and why it took so long in particular. Let's just say: Sometimes, it's just not what RL has 'planned' for you. I hope you can forgive me and that you still like the next chapter.

Special thanks to my beta Daemon. You're awesome! Have always and will always be. I couldn't do without you :D

Enjoy!

Ready to Fight

o ~ o

It had been a lonely time. For the past two weeks, she had been trapped in this unfamiliar room, with the only company being the empty bed next to her and the always-closed curtains in front of the window. Her body was still too exhausted from everything she'd endured, including her treatments, to maintain a normal day-night rhythm, and so she found herself dozing off several times throughout the day. Whenever she was falling asleep or waking up, flashbacks flooded her mind, taking her back to her worst nightmare. In the beginning, she had panicked and screamed her head off. Later, she stopped herself from doing so, pressed a pillow over her face instead and screamed into it until the memories were over, while telling the medical staff that everything was fine whenever they asked. But it wasn't! It would never be fine again! Still, she wanted out of that hospital prison as soon as possible. She had to leave! She needed her home. She needed her daughter. Probably more than her daughter needed her right now. Then, whenever these flashbacks appeared, she pushed them down, didn't let herself be overpowered again. No! She was stronger! She had to be! She pushed these memories down so hard that she couldn't even allow herself to think about it, not even for a split second. She buried them deep down inside of her, didn't let them come to the surface, and thus, not out of her system. Mentally and emotionally trapped in the gloom, she pretended that it hadn't been her this vicious crime had been done to, but someone else; someone who was standing right in front of her, and she couldn't leave or even look away from that person. There was no glimmer, nothing for her to see through the darkness with which she'd surrounded herself, no light shone to guide her out, and unwittingly, she made certain that it was kept this way.

In the beginning, the nurses who came in to check on her drew the curtains to let the sun in. But she kept telling them to pull them back close immediately. She couldn't tolerate the brightness of the world outside yet; all those people who went on with their normal lives, unaffected by it all, and unscarred... she couldn't bear the thought of them. She didn't even allow her daughter to visit her, although her heart broke every time she heard Trixie's cries on the phone, begging her to change her mind, longing for her mother's warm embrace. She couldn't. She feared that, although her face had already healed, her daughter would instantly see the scars on her; that they would become visible again as soon as she caught sight of her, letting her know that she'd been weak, and it ashamed her to no end. She wanted her child to still believe in this world as a good place and to trust that no matter what happened, she was there to protect her. She wanted her daughter to feel safe. She owed it to her.

"If they'd let me get this scumbag, he'd have been in prison a long time ago! And this woman would still be alive," she suddenly heard Maze say, pulling her out of her thoughts. "Heck, he wouldn't even breathe earthly air anymore!" the demon added and shoved a big spoon full of chocolate pudding into her mouth. Chloe stole a glance at the now half-empty lunch table from which she'd allowed her friend to eat as soon as she'd spotted her gazing at it with hungry eyes.

Today was the first day she was given solid food, but she wasn't hungry at all. Maybe it was because of the strictly liquid diet she'd been on for the last 13 days that her stomach forgot how it felt to be filled, but she also knew she had to start eating soon. Her body was weak. And that was the very thing she never wanted to allow herself to be ever again. With Maze's words still in her head, she felt the need to respond and looked over at her, half lying and half sitting in the bed beside her. Her mind was searching for a fitting answer, but there was nothing, only emptiness. And so, it drifted off and her blank eyes followed her friend's gaze up to the TV in the corner. It showed a news reporter speaking in front of the huge concrete building where the perpetrator was inside, captured a day after a fourth victim was found dead.

When footage of the man, the monster, entering the building was shown, a cold shiver went down Chloe's spine and she hastily turned away in disgust and fright. But quickly her feelings were replaced by another, more dominant emotion: Anger. She'd used all her strength to describe this man to the police artist, and still, they weren't able to catch that scum until another woman fell victim to him. It frustrated her, it outraged her, that she'd allowed this to happen. The pain her body still was in was the only way she could punish herself with; for being so sloppy in the first place. But that wasn't the only reason she didn't allow her system to get soothed by painkillers; it was also the only way she could feel alive. When the nurses had come in to give her a dose for sleep, she still felt numb for hours afterwards. And on top of that, she felt a strange detachment to her body, as if it was no longer hers. And she hated it! Fortunately, this treatment was stopped today as well. She'd healed enough that the doctors decided to put her on self-medication. This morning, they even removed the catheter through which she had peed for the last two weeks and told her to call someone if necessary. But that wouldn't happen! The weakness of her body, the dependence on the help of other people in her daily routine, had already embarrassed her enough. She wouldn't allow anyone else to see her in another one of her frail moments.

She shouldn't have thought about it, Chloe silently scolded herself, as just in that moment, she felt the need to relieve herself. Deciding that it was best to not ignore nature's call and better get it over with as fast as possible, she sat up.

Soft rustling noises reached Maze's ear. She stole a glance at Chloe and saw her trying to get out of bed. "Wait, let me help you," she commented quickly, her voice wrapped in a hint of concern, and hurried to her side, grabbing her by the arm and lifting her in support before Chloe could even start to protest or tell her why she wanted to leave her place anyway.

"I'm fine," Chloe hastily assured and tried to pull her arm away, but her friend wouldn't let go. "Really, I can do it alone," she insisted more confidently this time, and eventually Maze let go of her, but only so far that she could catch her immediately in case she skidded or collapsed.

With Maze on her heels, Chloe made her way to the bathroom. The floor felt slippery under her bare feet and her muscles began to tremble from the unusual use. She tried her best to remain upright, but before she could even reach the handle of the door, her body was about to drop down. However, the feared fall didn't happen. It took Chloe a moment to realize that Maze had not only caught her fall, but had also picked her up as if she weighed no more than a doll, and was carrying her into the bathroom.

"Where to now?" Maze asked, still not having figured it out.

Reluctantly and with a deep red face, Chloe pointed forward and mumbled, "To the toilet, please." When Maze sat her down on it, a gentle "thank you" left her lips and she quickly took a breath to gather some strength to say more clearly, "You can go now."

"Nope," the demon replied, firmly shaking her head once, and folded her arms in front of her chest to underline her refusal.

"Maze, really, I'm fine," Chloe urged her, adding a quiet, "I don't need you to watch me pee."

Again, her friend just shook her head. "I've seen worse in hell, Decker," she replied with a shrug. "Believe me, with everything your body's been through, you want me next to you in case the pain gets too much."

The pain! Right! The nurses had told her this morning that she would probably feel a slight burn when relieving herself for the next couple of times, that it was something she didn't need to be concerned about because it was normal after having had a foreign object in her body for so long. Then, she'd quickly dismissed the info, having felt confident that she could handle a slight burn after all that had happened, but right now, she wasn't so sure anymore. In fact, she was a bit afraid of how it would feel. Still, this wasn't enough to embarrass herself even more so she urged her once again, "Maze, please."

But the other woman only looked at her with her eyebrows raised, slightly shook her head again and replied, "I'm not leaving you alone in here."

Hesitantly, Chloe finally nodded her approval. The pressure inside of her was too much to keep talking about it, anyway. Besides, half the precinct already knew by now what she looked like naked and maltreated. 'So what was one more?' she told herself, also to calm down. She relaxed a little and then, she felt it: Little drops of urine burning their way out of her and suddenly it was as if all the nerves inside her body remembered at once how they had been tortured. They simultaneously fired off all the pain they had stored, and sensations sharp as razor blades cut through her, making their way to her brain in the split of a second, where they were intensified and then turned around, racing back down again like a thunderous roar that dragged everything along its path like a tsunami, as if they had waited for her to be alert enough to endure all this once again. She took a sharp breath and cramped her muscles, trying to hold back again but she couldn't. Tears welled up in her eyes and rolled down her cheeks when a muffled cry left her lips, and she wished herself back to how it had been for the past two weeks, when it had felt as if that part of her body had been dead or replaced by a copy.

Maze quickly grabbed her hand and gently squeezed it, holding back her own anger at seeing her friend so hurt. "If only I'd gotten my hands on that scumbag and not the police. He would have gotten his fair share by now, instead of sitting in a nice, cosy cell with cable TV."

"Next time, Maze," Chloe pressed through her lips, trying to concentrate on anything other than the pain. It lasted another agonisingly long moment, but eventually the pain began to subside and a relieved sigh left her lips. At least now it was all over.

Maze nodded firmly and gave her another squeeze. "I'll take you up on that, Decker." She waited until the human was done and then carried her back to bed. "Don't worry, Decker. From now on, I'll be your shadow. No one will ever hurt you again," she promised her when she, rather poorly, tucked her in.

Chloe only shook her head. "No, Maze," she disagreed with certainty and a soft spark glowed in her eyes, "If you really want to help me, teach me how to fight!"

Maze's head shot up and she stared at her in disbelief. "You know how to fight, Decker."

"Not how to fight like you," she declared matter-of-factly. "I want to become as strong as you."

"That's impossible," Maze countered nonchalantly. "I'm a demon, remember? Humans can't attain our strength no matter how hard they train."

Chloe rolled her eyes over her friend's delusion, but she couldn't care less about that now. Maze was strong, stronger than anyone she'd ever known, and if she could become just a fraction of her, she knew, she'd be safe again. "There's still a lot you can teach me, right?" she replied with conviction.

Maze nodded, and after a short thought she promised her she'd be her teacher.

o ~ o

"Great!" Chloe thought when she glanced at the clock on her bedside table and let her face drop back onto the pillow, pressing her head further in to stifle the frustrated groan that left her throat, followed by an even more frustrated "damn it!"

It was already past noon! She'd slept for almost three hours! Something she hadn't even intended to do in the first place! That she was too exhausted to talk had only been an excuse to keep Maze from probing further into the reason why they practically had to flee LUX. And her going up to her room had just been another cover. But then she saw her bed. So soft and cosy and inviting. It basically called out to her and she figured that all the thinking about what to do next could also be done lying down, maybe even with her eyes closed since her lids had suddenly felt as heavy as stones... and then, the second she hit the pillow, she was out.

And now, she was feeling too tired to even get up! But she had to! Forcing herself, she first sat up and then placed her feet on the ground. After a little moment and with one final push, she finally stood.

Somehow the room began to spin and her legs gave way, and she landed right back on her bed, her eyes falling shut again as a slight burning started. "Damn it!" she growled. Her whole body screamed to go back to sleep, but she couldn't! She shouldn't! Lately, she'd been sleeping so much, it felt as if she was doing nothing but that. She swore that she also began to lose her sense of time. A luxury she couldn't afford just yet. They almost had him! Yesterday, this monster twin was within reach and then she let him get away! She'd let him lock her in that stupid elevator! 'Dan was right!' it shot through her head. If he gets another victim, it'll be her fault! Stupid, stupid brain of hers. She should have known it was a trap! It was too perfect to be true, but still she walked right into it. And to top it all, she'd let herself get trapped with Lucifer, of all people.

Lucifer!

The thought of him made her turn around and groan into the pillow again, but for a different reason this time.

Damn it, Lucifer! Why did he have to complicate things so much? Why couldn't she simply hate him for leaving her and then coming back – married! Why did he have to explain it to her, so she, once again, felt sympathy for him? The only one she should feel sympathy for was herself! But no! There he was. Trapped with her. Getting to experience her darkest moments first-hand! Even comforting her. Making her feel safe in his arms! So soft and yet so strong... a perfect fit to protect her... and then those words she heard him say… yelled at Candy… the meaning of them…

"Damn it!" Chloe hissed and her frustration slowly turned into despair. "Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!" And now, she sounded like a broken record, too! Turning in her bed, she stared at the ceiling with wide open eyes, her mind now fully awake. "I need to talk to him!" she exclaimed, pushed herself up and left the room.

She had to walk carefully, though. Her sleep-drenched limbs were still too wobbly to carry her steadily across the floor, and when she reached the stairs, she gripped the handrail extra firmly so as not to skid and fall down, and it didn't help at all that her mind decided to go, once again, back to the words she'd heard up there in Lucifer's Penthouse instead of concentrating on the task that was lying ahead.

Even Maze had recognised that something was off with her on the way home. She could tell by the looks she'd thrown at her from time to time. At least she didn't mention anything or asked her about it. Thank God! Because even if she wanted to tell her, she didn't know how. The words he'd spoken… they sounded like… Chloe quickly shook her head and almost tripped in the process. They didn't just sound like it, she corrected herself. They felt like it, deep in her heart! She had to speak with him about them, and not only to make certain that they were not something her mind had made up to make her happy. She was already too attached to him than she'd liked to, and she couldn't deny that any longer. So she really had to make sure that what he'd said was meant for her. The way he described the meaning of love… she needed to know he truly felt it… for her. That it was her, he was talking about... before her heart would break again.

Her thoughts came to an abrupt end when she reached the last step. She swiftly pushed them to the back of her head and put on a nonchalant expression before she headed to Maze, who, as so often, was sitting in front of the TV.

"Finally awake, huh?" the demon commented dryly when she heard her approaching, her mouth still filled with the remains of cereal as she shoved another spoonful into it, while her eyes were firmly fixed on the brightly coloured cartoon figures, scurrying across the screen, shouting at each other in a high-pitched voice.

Chloe nodded groggily, and when she realised her friend couldn't see her, she added an exhausted "yes". 'Would it be too obvious to ask her to drive me to LUX again?' it ran through her head, and, agreeing with herself, she decided that instead it was best to secretly call him to bring her the car. This would also be the perfect excuse for her to have him alone… to talk of course… at least without Candy… 'Well, maybe I could also bring Maze to leave the sitting area,' Chloe thought, and absent-mindedly her gaze went around, looking for her phone. She was startled when her sight suddenly landed on two piercing eyes, staring at her from behind the couch.

"Lucifer already brought your car… about an hour ago, maybe two," Maze revealed to her as if she was reading her mind, her arm was lying casually on the backrest of the couch while she'd twisted her upper body towards the Detective before turning back to the TV, untangling the seemingly uncomfortable position.

Chloe was startled anew. Not only by her words, which had turned her cheeks into a light shade of pink, but much more by the meaning of them. "What?" it quietly left her lips and her eyes searched the room for the person she now wanted the most, wishing he'd be here somewhere. But apart from Maze, the room was empty. When the surprise faded and disappointment took its place, her heart sank in her chest and she turned back to her roommate. "Why didn't you wake me?" she wanted to know, leaving unspoken the real question 'why didn't he?' and once again her eyes searched the room as if he would appear through the sheer willpower of her heart… but he didn't.

Maze only shrugged her shoulders. "He didn't want me to wake you," she answered matter-of-factly. Putting another load of cereal in her mouth, she continued with a loud crunching noise, "Said you needed the sleep." She didn't get a response from Chloe and peeked towards her, seeing an unusual expression on her face that suddenly made her very uncomfortable. As if she'd just told her that her pet hamster had died, or as if she'd used her as target for archery. This crushed face of hers, which she desperately tried to hide beneath a nonchalant gaze, was so awkward to look at, that she felt the need to distract her and informed her further, "By the way, your ex called, said he'd get Trixie from school and bring her over later."

"Damn it!" thought Chloe and cursed herself. She totally forgot about her daughter! Why wasn't she the first one on her mind when she'd woken up? Why did it always have to be Lucifer? She shook her head slightly, trying to get rid of the thought of him that filled her mind again. Her daughter was more important! Maybe she was worried sick that her mother hadn't taken her to school or called her to tell her everything was okay? She must feel abandoned and lonely, Chloe told herself over and over again, and over again the little voice in the back of her head replied with a whispered 'But Trixie is fine. She's safe right now. She's taken care of.' At first, she felt even worse that she couldn't bring herself to put her daughter first, but eventually she agreed with that voice. Right now, her daughter was in the safest place she could be. At school. And Dan would take her home. He wouldn't put her in danger. Never! So what was it that she actually tried not to think about?

Once again, Chloe went over all the thoughts she had since waking up. And then it finally hit her! Lucifer wouldn't have let her sleep when everything had been alright! Well, on a second guess, he would've, but he also would've stayed here, right beside her, to protect her. Since this morning, he'd been acting weird. Like something big was bothering him. She'd even noticed it herself after they were rescued by Dan, but his rebuke at her made her completely forget to worry about Lucifer. But not now! Something was wrong with him! Had it been the words he used when he yelled at Candy that put her off? The way they sounded like when he was talking about... her... maybe. Chloe quickly shook her head to get rid of this idea that had sneaked in again. Once and for all, she told herself, he had no feelings for her! Period! He couldn't have! Even if he only married Candy as a cover, as he'd called it. If he really had a thing for her, if he truly… loved... her, wouldn't he at least... tell her? After all, he was upfront with everything else on his mind, wasn't he? That little voice inside her head firmly disagreed and her heart grew within her chest, nourished by the feeling of hope these thoughts raised, but when her head spun further, a soft sigh left her lips. Maybe that's exactly why he didn't want to wake her. Perhaps it was only at that moment that he realised what he'd felt for her all along, and now he didn't know how to react towards her? It would be typical of him as well, wouldn't it?… She groaned quietly when she realised that, once again, her mind had spun into that vicious Lucifer-cycle that filled her thoughts with hopes and wishes instead of going through the hard facts. It was almost futile to think of something else, as if he was a magnet and no matter what she tried, she couldn't pull away from him. Her cheeks blushed as she caught herself wishing he was here to wrap his arms back around her and soothe her nerves, and they turned another shade brighter when again, she found her roommate's eyes pinned on her. She quickly shook her head and tried to think of something else to not give away anything. It was useless, though. Unintentionally, the corners of her lips curled upwards. She pressed them together, putting on a casual look, and turned around. She had to do something about it! Walking up to the kitchen counter to get her phone, she picked it up and selected his contact. There was only one way to find out the truth.

A picture of him popped up with the little green button for 'call' right below and Chloe instantly recalled the moment Lucifer had snatched her cell phone and took that photo of himself. So that whenever he called, she had something to look at, was his excuse of doing so. She stared at the bold, cheeky grin and his warm brown eyes, staring right back at her as if he could look right into her soul. This picture was telling her 'everything's fine,' and Chloe tried to remember the last time she'd seen him so carefree. Her heart sank in her chest when she remembered the real reason she felt something was off with him. The way he'd acted after they were rescued. He was so silent and wanted to leave instantly. He didn't even make sure she was alright... And then later, those words he'd yelled at Candy... when she for once ignored what he'd said and only listened to the emotions they'd carried, then they were filled with despair and anger and sorrow. Those weren't the feelings you had when you just found out who your heart was beating for. Those were feelings you had when you were crushed or broken… by someone… or something you just realised... And then he brought her car without staying; as if he wanted to make sure she had no reason to see him. Had it been her breakdown? Had she scared him off? For good? Her heart became even heavier when she imagined him full of sorrow, and the need to be with him grew stronger. She wanted to rush out that door, drive to him and make sure he was fine, but something inside her kept her from moving a single muscle. Should she give him space? Maybe he was just overwhelmed and needed some time… She surely should wait until he calls her… but what if he wouldn't do it?… And she really had to know if he was all right… Well, there was another way to find out at least that… She turned around and headed over to Maze, sat down on the left corner of the couch and watched her with big eyes. "How did he look?" she inquired.

"Who?" Maze only counter-questioned, her voice blurred from the stuffed sweets.

"Lucifer!" she answered and immediately made her impatience clear. "What did he look like to you?" she repeated more insistently.

Maze peered at her, her eyebrows arched in confusion. "Like... Lucifer?" she replied slowly, her voice had turned a little high at the end, giving away that she had absolutely no idea what this human had meant by that question.

A moment of silence fell between them. Chloe had her eyes still locked on her friend, not knowing how to express her thoughts without giving away too much. Dan hadn't told Maze about what Lucifer and she had found out so far. That was for sure. Otherwise she wouldn't be sitting here, watching cartoons so relaxedly. But shouldn't she know to properly recognise his mood? Should she tell Maze about Galant's twin? Part of her wanted Maze to know. She was damn sure her friend would instantly jump up, rush out, find that prick like she'd done with Warden Smith, and beat the hell out of him before she would take him to the precinct; if at all. But the other part didn't want her to know for that very reason. After she was released from hospital, back then, Dan had told her in confidence that he had to lock Maze up for a couple of days after they had found her at the brink of death in Lucifer's apartment. Maze had been so furious that no one could reason with her, not even Linda. She'd wanted to find whoever had done this to 'tear him apart and give him his rightful punishment in hell', as she'd called it.

"What's wrong with you?"

Maze's question brought Chloe right back into the present. She was slightly startled, feeling caught again since her mind had managed to drift off while she was right in the middle of a talk with her. "No-Nothing," she stammered, just to give her friend a reason to stop staring at her so suspiciously, but it caused the exact opposite.

Maze didn't know how to handle her. Since Dan had brought her back, the Detective acted weirder and weirder. And, putting two and two together, being trapped with Lucifer in a lift couldn't have been the only reason for her behaviour. She was keeping something from her. Normally, she didn't care about other people's business, but this human had grown on her. "Answer my question!" she demanded impatiently, incapable of holding back all the tension and suspense any longer. She even added a "Please!" and this emphasis, coming from her, was usually reason enough for any human to comply.

"Promise me you won't do anything without my permission," Chloe replied quickly.

First the strange behaviour, now she starts demanding? That was too much for the demon to bear. "Whatever!" She shrugged off, pissed, and with a loud thud put the bowl of cereal on the coffee table. Standing up, she commented sharply, "I'll find out myself," and turned to leave, when suddenly four uttered words let her freeze.

"Galant has a twin," Chloe blurted out. She hadn't intended to tell her that way, but she couldn't risk Maze doing her own research. She was good at what she was doing, too good; and sooner or later she would have found out everything.

"He has what?" the demon blared, getting louder with every spoken word. She wheeled back around, her face depicting every emotion she felt at that moment: Surprise, disbelief and anger; huge, almost untameable anger. "How long have you known?" she growled with her fists clenched, holding inside that tiny drop that kept her from exploding in the middle of the living room.

There was no turning back now, Chloe realised. She had to come out with the whole truth, and nothing but that. So, she made herself internally ready for another fit and confessed meekly, "Since... well… It was Galant we'd visited in prison." When she saw her rearing up even more in front of her, she quickly ducked her head and added to justify her secret, "I didn't want to tell you precisely because of how you are acting now."

"How I act?!" Maze repeated and went ballistic. She retrieved a dagger from behind her back and threw it with all force that was in her against the opposite wall, letting it bore into the concrete almost up to its shaft.

Chloe still stared at her in astonishment at how she could hide that weapon in her tight pants when Maze jumped over the couch, suddenly holding a second dagger she'd taken out of nowhere, and with a thundering roar she rammed it into Trixie's door, bursting open the solid wood and leaving a huge hole. Chloe instantly sprang up, instinctively wanting to hold Maze back, but when she reminded herself who was in front of her, she stopped at a safety distance and yelled at her instead, hoping this would bring sense into her, "Hey! That's my daughter's room in there!" Apparently it worked, when the demon stopped stabbing the door and turned to her.

"You lied to me!" Maze accused her, still furious, but now that some of it was out of her system, she was able to keep the remaining anger at bay.

"No," Chloe countered, reflexively shaking her head, and held up her hands in surrender when she admitted ruefully, "I just didn't correct you, when you assumed I needed all this for the church-murder case."

"No, stupid!" The demon countered harshly. "You should have told me the moment you knew there is a twin!" When she saw the puzzled look on Chloe's face, she shook her head in disappointment and reminded her, "You promised me I could have him!"

"What!?" the Detective exclaimed in a high-pitched voice and looked at her in utter disbelief. "No!" she denied, not remembering such an act. "I never promised-"

"That day at the hospital! You said I can have the next one!" Maze shouted, cutting her off mid-sentence.

Slowly, those memories crawled back into her mind: The day they'd watched him on the news. When they had that talk in the bathroom. Chloe squinted her eyes to push them away again and then took a low breath to collect her thoughts before she cautiously informed her, "I didn't know there were two at that time." Seeing her friend about to lose it again, she begged her, "Maze, please, calm down."

"I won't calm down!" Maze barked. "I'm gonna hunt that piece of shit."

"Please, let the police handle it," Chloe tried again, but it was as if Maze didn't even listen to her any longer.

"The police already had their chance to find one killer! I'm gonna make sure the second one gets punished accordingly this time, before he goes down there," she stated and pointed to the ground. She turned around and grabbed her jacket, ignoring the pleading "Maze, stop," from the human and brushing off the hands from her arm that were trying to keep her from leaving, when suddenly a thought crossed her mind and made her stop outright. Turning back, she inquired, her voice as normal as before, blocking the emotions, "Does Lucifer know?" Chloe didn't need to answer her. It was written all over her face and it made Maze feel a new wave of fury. "So he didn't do anything about it?" she went on, raging. "All this time he's gone berserk when someone just tapped you with their finger, and now he's not doing anything about him? He allows this piece of shit to freely walk the earth?"

"Because he respects my wish to go after him myself," Chloe declared with a raised voice, slowly starting to lose it herself. "I know damn well that if I just said 'yes', he wouldn't rest a single second until he had presented me that man's head on a silver plate, decorated with his balls and dick in his mouth, but that's not how it works. This man must be handed over to justice and I will make sure of it. I'm the detective here!" she clarified strongly and nodded briefly, internally proud of herself; it was about time she finally took back all the things that this man, this monster, had robbed her of.

Maze snorted and shook her head."Yeah," she uttered with a bored voice that turned to slight curiosity as she added, "Just like dozens of your colleagues. So, why don't you let them do that?" Still holding the door in her hand, she started swinging it a little, making it look like she was torn between walking and staying while waiting for the answer.

Chloe refused to let her gesture unsettle her. With a serious voice and a steady look, she made clear, "I've gotten closer to him in the last 24 hours than my colleagues in the past two months! Do you really think I'm gonna let some incompetent cop screw up that case?"

"Are you talking about yourself now?" Maze countered mockingly. "Because, after all, you were the one who had to be freed from an elevator this morning, right?"

"That won't happen again!" she asserted, and her gaze became even more determined.

The demon grinned as if she knew how much she had gotten under Chloe's skin with her statement. "Well, then let me catch him and you can gain the laurels," she suggested in such a casual tone that one might have thought she had long forgotten her rage, but she was only channelling it in a different, more productive way. "We both know anyway that I am much better at hunting people than you are," she scoffed.

"Not alone, Maze," Chloe declined in such a threateningly calm voice that any man's hair would have stood on end, if one had been present. "I will be there and make sure he gets his just punishment," she insisted dead-serious. Only to be laughed at loudly by her friend.

"And what does that look like, huh? Cable TV and three meals a day?" Maze called out sneeringly.

Chloe's eyes narrowed and almost appeared black with hatred. "Not this time!" she whispered so quietly that the demon almost missed it.

But only almost...

For a moment, she stared at her in silence, slightly bobbing her head while she scrutinised her attentively. Then her gaze turned briefly towards the door. She breathed in, huffed out the air again and then slammed the door shut with a loud bang. "Fine!" she suddenly gave in and turned to face her friend. "But I'm at your side for all the time," she clarified. "I'll make sure you don't get stuck in another elevator."

To have her close was actually quite a good idea, Chloe considered. This would definitely keep her from thinking about the one she didn't want to think about right now, and, this way, she would also have her under control. "Alright," she agreed, making clear, "but I call the shots. You do as I say. Understood?"

Maze nodded vigorously and folded her arms in front of her chest, already feeling the energy; she was more than ready for this hunt. "So, what are your plans?" she asked eagerly.

Blowing the air out of her lungs to buy herself some time, Chloe thought intensively about it, but couldn't even come up with the simplest idea. "Don't know," it left her lips and she shrugged.

"How can you call the shots when you don't even have a plan?" Maze criticised her uncomprehendingly.

"It's not that simple, Maze," Chloe defended herself. "I'm suspended at the moment, and if I go out there now, I'm gonna get Dan in trouble. I don't want him to lose his badge because of me. First, we have to wait until he's done examining the scene before we can go back there and find out if there are any traces of where he would go next."

"We don't have to go back there," Maze countered, slightly shaking her head as the idea formed in her head. "We can ping his phone again, maybe he hasn't gotten rid of it yet. Then we can track him down. And when we're done with him, the police can have what's left."

Chloe folded her arms and tilted her head, making clear that this wasn't what was going to happen. Her brain was working on full speed and a plan of how to trap that twin was almost graspable, when suddenly the picture in her mind presented someone completely different. Someone familiar. Someone she felt like betraying if she didn't tell him they were after that twin again… Damn it! She couldn't just ignore him and wait till he comes to her. That wasn't what she wanted! He was more important! He... "First, I have to make sure Lucifer's okay," she announced loudly, and without another word spent at her roommate, she took out her phone and dialled his number.

"Why?" Maze asked blankly, but got no answer as Chloe had already pressed the device against her ear.

Several rings sounded before the call went to voicemail and Chloe pressed the end button. Concern nestled down in her stomach again. He'd never not taken her call; only when he'd stood her up or had left town, she remembered, and suddenly fear mixed with her worries. She called him again, and again several rings went by without him picking up. Was he avoiding her? The very thought tore her heart to pieces, even if she still denied herself that honesty. She faced Maze again, asking, "Could you go over to him and see if he's alright?"

Maze only huffed in disagreement. "He's a big boy, Decker. He can take care of himself."

"Not this time, Maze," Chloe objected gravely and slightly shook her head. Deciding to tell her a little bit more, she explained, "When we were trapped, we had some time to talk; to properly talk to each other, and now… I'm worried about him, Maze. I'm afraid he's going to do something stupid. I just need to know he's okay." When she didn't hear an answer from her, she added a gentle "please," and received a second huff from her friend. She waited, stifling down the rumbling in her stomach that had come up at the thought of him leaving her again.

'Shit!' Maze thought when she saw little watery lines at the lower lids of Chloe's eyes.'Don't break down and cry in front of me!' She quickly changed her mind and decided it was in her own best interest to keep the human happy, so she agreed with a loud "Alright!" She rolled her eyes and groaned silently when the Detective instantly beamed all over her face and wrapped her in a quick, tight embrace, before she practically shoved her out of the door.

/-/

Lucifer stared at the name of the lost call, seeing the image of her forming before his inner eye; her beautiful eyes and her smile, that drew small laughter lines at their sides. This time, her image didn't lift his mood, it lowered it even more. The phone went black again. He sighed with sadness and then put it on the side of the washbasin, placing it upside down so he wouldn't have to see her name flash up if she called again. Then he grabbed the next bottle of whisky, poured it into the basin and threw the empty one into the bin to the others, regretting that he couldn't do the same with himself. His thoughts went back to that night. The glimpse he'd gotten from what she'd gone through, the words she'd told him.

He knew there was nothing he could do about it now. He had to continue with his plan, or even worse things would happen to her. There was only one week left to find the gemstones he needed, and so far he only had one. He was way behind schedule, and with already two prophecies being fulfilled, Chloe would be more and more in danger if he remained close to her.

The little voice in his head reappeared when he was finished with disposing his liquor, disagreeing with him and holding onto the doubt. He pushed the voice to the back of his head, grabbed the bin, left the bathroom and went directly to his dressing room, placed the container in front of the cupboard where he'd kept his cigarettes, opened it and threw them away as well. The voice piped up again: If he was going to avoid her from now on, why did he throw away his stuff? Pressing his eyes close and shaking his head, he turned around and went to his suits, took another sniff at one of them and immediately wrinkled his nose. It still smelled of him. They all did. He'd searched his clothes for almost ten minutes before he found a suit that didn't carry the odour of bourbon and smoke. He couldn't stand that smell any longer. The very thought of wearing something that could cause Chloe such tremendous pain filled him with nausea, and so he threw everything on the floor.

Going back to the bathroom, he grabbed his cell phone and texted his cleaner to come over and get everything washed. Then he stowed it away and left the apartment, intent on continuing with his plan.

He needed those gemstones!

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It was the Carnelian, Lucifer decided to go for first; a warrior stone and that was exactly what he needed right now. The energy and willpower to execute his plan, even though the voice in his head wanted him to leave everything behind and hide under a rock. He wouldn't. He was determined to carry this through. He only had to keep his head occupied...

As he walked down the streets, one foot in front of the other, his mind began to torment him again with the past events. He tried to push them away, to block them out, but they only came back with more force, and soon he even forgot that he had fought them in the first place and his mind was carried far away. Reality only got its hold on him again, when he slowly felt something tugging at his sleeve. He turned his head and spotted a young man of stout form who'd followed him, persistently trying to talk to him.

"You seem so wrapped up in time, you could certainly use a new watch, sir", the man remarked with delight when he finally got his attention.

Lucifer, who still didn't know what was going on, only brushed off these earthly fingers and muttered an annoyed "No need!"

"Then maybe a new bracelet for your love?" the other offered and opened the left side of his coat, revealing several jewels as precious as hot."

Slowly, Lucifer realised what this man was trying to do and his initial blankness was quickly replaced by a whiff of anger. "You've got nothing I need!" He replied with gnashing teeth, keeping his temper down to avoid attracting unnecessary attention.

A cheeky smile settled on the man's face and he retorted, keen on the challenge, "Try me!"

Now his anger was mixed with a good dose of impatience. He had better things to do for crying out loud! Hoping to get rid of him quickest with the truth, he replied disgruntled, "Do you have a Carnelian?!"

Two big, blank eyes suddenly stared at him, and the mouth on the man's face uttered a baffled, "A what?"

"A gem," Lucifer explained and immediately wondered why he bothered to talk to this guy instead of simply punching him down to get his peace. But he also couldn't deny that this man had somehow quipped his interest. Sceptically, he fully turned to the other and stared at him, silently waiting and watching the confused expression on his face turn into a pensive one.

"Well," the man murmured, as he thought for a moment and it seemed as if Lucifer had become genuinely interested in the other's answer. "I don't trade such stones," he finally replied, but before the disappointed 'I knew that already'-look could fully settle down on Lucifer's face, he went on, "But I know that Madam Ripper has some." He raised his outstretched arm to show him the direction.

Lucifer followed the finger pointing to a place hidden behind a large crowd of people, who were running errands and doing their daily chores. He stared at the spot, not seeing anything out of the ordinary. "What do you mean?" he questioned suspiciously when he turned his head back.

The question was so low that the other man only understood the first word, but he still knew what the rest could mean. "Just go straight ahead," he replied with a friendly nod, "you can't miss her shop."

Lucifer turned his head back and stared a moment longer towards the direction, then he began to walk ahead, doing what he was told; his mind too feeble to think whether this was just a trick or some divine clue. "Tell her I sent you," he heard him call after him, but he didn't care to turn back again as his feet were already taking him forward.

The dealer grinned smugly, knowing that whenever he sent someone over to 'Madam Ripper' he'd get a fair share of the money she earned. He turned around, the broad grin still on his lips when he spotted his next potential customer. "Hello, gorgeous, I bet you love diamonds!" He couldn't even open his jacket wide enough to show them when a right hook landed right on his cheek, sending him roughly to the ground.

/-/

Lucifer stopped in front of the shop that showed up, but highly doubted that the man had meant that bakery. For a moment, he considered going in the opposite direction, but then he thought: What did he have to lose? Although the lines for the Carnelian rather sounded like a battlefield, with bloodstained and torn off body parts lying around, it had already taken him a couple of hours to search through shop after shop, and somehow his stomach began to remind him that he hadn't eaten yet. So he entered the place.

"Hello, Sir, what can I do for you?" A young woman greeted him friendly. Her smile was as bright as the shop's decoration and her lips sparkled in the same colour as the pink toppings of all these cakes and pastries, making her look like she was part of the decoration.

Lucifer would have lasciviously licked his own lips and imagined where on his body these full and inviting folds would have come in very handy hadn't his mind been completely occupied by his quest. "Are you Madam Ripper?" he asked right away, still doubting he really was in the right place.

The friendly smile on the woman's face changed a bit to that of a knowing one and her head slightly nodded the answer. "What do you need?"

Despite the fact that he was a little surprised at why this pretty lady had such a nasty name, he went on to say, "You don't happen to have a gem called Carnelian?" He winced innerly and briefly narrowed his eyes at the hopelessness echoing in his voice, but quickly composed himself to not further dwell on his mood.

The woman's smile instantly dropped and made room for a doubtful frown. "You're Lucifer," she replied after giving him a quick once over.

He didn't know whether it was a question or a statement, but the fact that she knew his name brought a light smile to his face. "Well, yes, of course!" he answered, but then he reminded himself that he was right in between an impending celestial war and the smile was quickly replaced by a suspicious frown. "How do you know?" he questioned and his eyes narrowed further to small slits as he tilted his head to take a second look around the shop before he turned his attention back to her, waiting for an attack at any moment...

The woman's mood dropped further. "Damn!" she uttered disappointed. "I thought you'd be… more... scary," she eventually replied, ignoring his baffled face with the low appalled huff, and turned around. "Follow me!" she ordered without another look at him, her finger curled as if she tried to lure him away. "Uriel already told me you were coming."

An instant, sharp sting pierced his chest at the sound of this name, inflicting another, greater load of surprise and suspicion as to why this woman knew of his brother? Then a more important question crossed his mind: Why did Uriel tell her about him? Wanting to find out the answers to his questions, he followed her into a back room without hesitation and was immediately stunned at the site presented to him: He found himself looking at a scenery the lines for the gemstone could have been written for, if it hadn't been in a bakery. There were liquids that looked like blood standing filled up in bottles on a counter on the left side. In the middle was a huge table, on which some things looked like cakes, but others rather like cut open organs or torn out entrails; on the other side were several nice little boxes, these 'organs' were neatly stowed away in.

He watched her with caution as she walked up to a small cabinet, retrieved a little box from it, and then turned back around to him, a smirk stretching her lips when she saw his bewildered face.

"What? You really thought Ripper was my real name?" She saw his head go up and down to answer her and couldn't suppress the chuckle leaving her throat. "Nope! That's just what they call me for my speciality. Friends call me Nancy, by the way," she added after a brief pause and watched him for a moment as he stood there with his mouth slightly open in astonishment while his eyes followed her hand pointing to the stuff behind her on the table. "Yes, it's really just cake, even if it doesn't look like it," she answered his unspoken question. "I'm a baker's artist, if you like to call it that," she added, grinning, as she held out the little box to him.

Lucifer looked down at her outstretched hand, then at her, and then back down, not quite knowing what to do now.

"Go on, take it," she encouraged him and her hand shook a little when she straightened her elbow.

Slowly Lucifer reached for the box, took it in his hand and carefully opened it with the other. Inside was a Carnelian half the size of his palm and its colour as red as the liquid representing the blood that was standing in the back. There were delicate veins running through it, making it look as if he was holding something that had once been alive. He moved the box a little to get a better view, and the gem sparkled as it captured the light from the ceiling, making the dark-red spots almost appear black inside, as if they were the entrance to a deep and dark cave. A smile flashed over his face, which he quickly bit back with a chuckle. "How?" was all he could voice before the words were lost in translation from his brain to his tongue.

"He was here," Nancy began to explain, "your brother, I mean." Thinking back at the moment she'd met him, a warm smile settled down on her lips, stretching them across half of her cheeks. "He was the one who told me to pursue my dream and create this special kind of bakery. He even told me that I would win many customers and become quite known for it. Don't know how he knew that, maybe he could see into the future," she guessed and shrugged her shoulders. "After all, he was right about you showing up in the store as well."

Uriel had never been very fond of humans. He only saw them as a pastime with which their dad had to distract himself from his true family. 'Why then did he even bother to go to this young woman and help her accomplish her dream?' Lucifer wondered. This was so atypical of him! But then again, he thought, this whole notebook of him was atypical. Maybe he'd gone out of his way! But for what reason? "He couldn't predict the future," Lucifer corrected her before the pause became too obvious. "He was just… really good at calculating the odds," he added further, his mind already drifting off, bringing him back to the last moment between them where Uriel had said he could do so, and that memory painted a painful smile on his lips. "Guess you could call it that," it softly left his lips as he silently admitted the truth. Lucifer had never listened to him. Not when they were still children and not when he told him to hand over mum. Was this all Uriel's last attempt to make him listen? Lucifer also remembered the moment he was down in hell, tortured by his very own Uriel-punishment, who had also reminded him that the 'piece was here', and he wondered what else his brother had known about him, about his plans, and about Chloe. He sighed and searched with his eyes for an invisible spot on the ground while he collected his thoughts. "To be honest, he left me notes of where to find this jewel,… well, he didn't use an address," he quickly clarified, "he described its whereabouts quite..." Lucifer halted briefly as he looked for a fitting word. "Graphically," he eventually used. "At least in your case," he ended, and the lines of the whereabouts of the other gems began to form before his inner eye. Some were quite funny and he suppressed a small chuckle. Then suddenly the lines where torn in two and in the middle appeared the five prophecies his brother had also written down, weighing on Lucifer's heart again and reminding him once more of the agony of his current situation. "All this wouldn't be so problematic if he'd left me actual clues instead of some enigmatic hints," he spat quietly and gritted his teeth to suppress the new rage that rose in him. "Otherwise I wouldn't have looked through half of the butcheries and slaughterhouses of L.A.," he quipped to make it sound nonchalant, but the expression on his face revealed the betrayal he felt by his brother.

"Yeah, he could speak in riddles if he wanted," Nancy jokingly confirmed in an attempt to brighten the mood that had suddenly dropped to the ground like the temperature would do through a block of ice. "Especially when he talked about you," she added, and the immediate shooting up of Lucifer's head, combined with wide, piercing eyes, made her realise that this was something he hadn't known before.

"You two talked?" he asked, completely baffled. "What did he say?" it shot out of him and he swallowed and took a small step back to signal her that he hadn't meant it to sound so harshly.

"Not much, actually," she replied with a warm smile and shrugged a little while she remembered. "He came over maybe three or four times. He didn't have much time, but he wanted to tell me about you... and make sure I remember correctly what he told me to tell you."

'That was it!' it screamed in his head, 'the real reason why he'd written all these assumptions and vague descriptions into the notebook. To lead me to her! Not without having a final laugh at my expense, of course!', it went further through his head. Lucifer swallowed and made himself ready for whatever important event his brother had predicted. Nodding to her, he signalled that he was eager to know, hoping that this might be the solution to end all this in his favour.

"Well…," she began, but stopped again to remind him, "Those were his words, not mine."

"Yes, yes, I understood that. Tell them!" he urged her, completely ignoring her uneasiness.

Nancy nodded, took a deep breath, and then started again. "'Damn you, brother! Can't you listen to me just this once?'" She cleared her throat and, visibly uncomfortable, she went on, "'Go back to hell and take mom with you. Don't come home. Never! And don't, under any circumstances, let mom come home or we all will die.'" She swallowed, and nodded again to signal she was done.

"That's it?" Lucifer asked sceptically. That was nothing! Was this all just a joke? Slowly disappointment spread through him, mixed with frustration, and he clenched his fists and stifled the growl that rolled up his throat.

"Oh yeah!" It suddenly shot out of her mouth as she remembered the last part. "He also said, 'Burn the book if you know what's good for you.'"

With her words, the spark of hope that had flared up within him at her interjection was beaten up by the other emotions, but it still didn't give up and so Lucifer waited a little longer, counting on her remembering something more. Something that would help him to know how to save Chloe and continue his plans. But when she remained standing there, all silent, that little hope finally died and the anger took over the throne inside his heart. "That won't help at all!" he growled frustratedly.

Nancy nodded sympathetically. She felt awkward about what she had to tell him and hoped he wouldn't take out his anger on her. "I was shocked as well when I heard him say those words," it blurted out of her and like a gate opened to the floods, she rambled on, "Well, he described you differently, more angry, not so … normal … and I actually thought you would freak out to hear that he doesn't want anything to do with you any more. But you don't seem angry at all," it suddenly struck her, "rather disappointed… and… hurt," she commented in a low voice as she looked at him closely.

Bloody emotions! 'Can everyone read me like an open book now?' he silently screamed to heaven. He swallowed the rage, relieved that at least he had himself under control. Then he shook his head and turned away. Getting told how he felt, especially by a stranger, was something he definitely didn't need right now. "Thanks for the stone, anyway," he mumbled and walked back to the front of the shop. Before he left, however, he slightly turned his head back to her and asked without looking her in the eyes, "You don't happen to know where to find the others?"

Nancy felt extremely bad for him. She could clearly see how crushed he was. Apologetically, she shook her head and felt some tears welling up in her eyes. She quickly bit them back down and answered, "He just gave me this one. He said that this was the only one you wouldn't find here and if you don't have all, you would bring havoc. Whatever that means." Sighing, she added, "And that he doesn't want to come down and clean up your mess again."

A hate-filled chuckle left Lucifer's lips before he could hold it back. 'Damn you, brother!' he swore under his breath. Uriel didn't want to help him at all, it was clear to him now. He only wanted to make sure he would go back to hell with mum. That's why he'd given him the prophecies. To show him that no matter what he did or tried, he wouldn't be able to save the Detective! Callus words, wrapped up in nice little rhymes to give him the illusion he had the tiniest chance of changing them! His heart broke even further and he was about to collapse and wallow in self-pity when suddenly the anger in him took over and ignited a flame of hope. 'No, brother!' it suddenly shot through his head. These words weren't final! He, Lucifer, had saved the Detective once by doing something unpredictable to Uriel, and he would do it again! The future wasn't written down yet! There still was a chance!

Filled with a new wave of confidence, he nodded his goodbye to Nancy and stepped out of the shop, his mind fully occupied with ways of how to save her: One idea could be to tell his mother about the plan, find the gemstones together and then drag her down to hell before the gate to heaven would open up. But he didn't have his wings any longer. Going back to hell would be final. And now that he'd met Chloe… Yes, keeping her safe was his top priority, but if he had the slightest bit of chance to remain here on earth with her, he would take it. The time with her, no matter how short it may be, was better than an eternity without her. An exhausted sigh escaped him. 'Damn you, dad!' he thought and sighed again. Why did he have to make her? Why did he have to show him how it would feel to… Lucifer halted himself abruptly, and pushed the thought to the back of his head. No! He wouldn't admit it! He wouldn't bring her in danger! Taking note of his surroundings, he recognised that his feet had already started to carry him in one direction of the street, and he halted and looked around. Realising that it was the wrong direction, he turned and walk back.

That's when he saw him! At the far end of the street. Looking right at him. "You!" he mumbled, his teeth gritted, his fists clenched, and he started to run towards the man who startled with fright and then ran sideways into a back alley.

"You're not getting away this time!" Lucifer yelled as he chased after him through narrow streets, jumping over old piles of trash. Finally, the man had fled into a deadlock. Lucifer reared up once more as he watched the man frantically trying to open a locked door. "It's time to pay for what you did to her!" he barked gravely and slowly moved closer.

"What are you talking about?" the man cried, his voice quivering with fear. He saw Lucifer's eyes flare up with a bright red colour, almost looking as if fire burned within him. "Leave me alone," he screamed in horror, grabbing some rubble from the ground and throwing it at him.

Lucifer dodged the rubble with ease and grinned evilly. "Guess my mum didn't tell you that part about me, huh," he quipped as he walked over to the man, who stumbled and fell to the ground. He watched him some more to savour this elongated agony, something he really missed from hell; when the culprits knew they were finished and still tried to escape their fate. Like the man now, trying to get up again, while Lucifer kicked against his legs. But with only one functioning arm, it was almost impossible. Lucifer bent down, grabbed the man by the neck, pulling him close, and mumbled in a deathly dark voice, "You shouldn't have hurt her!"

"Who are you talking 'bout?" The man cried. His body began to tremble when Lucifer let go of him again, sweat running across his forehead, down his cheeks and dripping onto his clothes.

"You already forgot?" Lucifer snarled and the anger built up inside of him, determined to give him a quick reminder. He moved his right foot back and then with all force that was in him, he kicked in the other's stomach, making the man cry out in pain. "Remember now?" He yelled as he repeated the kick.

The man tried to block the blow with his already hurt arm, only to get hit in the elbow. He yelled out again and a loud crack was heard as the bone broke at the impact.

Lucifer bent down again, grabbing the man by his neck, pulling him up and watching the agonising pain grimacing his face. "You'll never hurt her again!" he told him with a deep, threatening voice and then pushed him back, his head hitting the hard ground.

"I didn't mean to hurt your girl," the man cried out in a hopeless try to make him go easy on him, his arm in a sling tightly pressed against his chest while with his free hand he reached to the back of his head, trying to ward off the second hit on the ground as Lucifer pulled him up and then rammed him back down again.

"So, now you remember?" he screamed, the confession only triggering the rage within him to run free. He reared up and continued to kick the man in the side of his body with his foot. "Tell mum to leave her alone!" He kicked some more, bending down again to punch him in the face and then yelled, "Leave us alone!"

He wanted to strike out again to set some more blows to the man's head, when suddenly he was being pulled backwards.

"I think he understands now!" Maze commented dryly while she dragged him further away.

Lucifer fought her off as good as he could. Eventually, he freed himself and tried to lunge back at the man, but it was too late, the man had used the distraction to get up and flee. "You know nothing about that! Leave me alone!" Lucifer yelled in frustration and tried to run after him, but this time as well, Maze got hold of him and thwarted his plan.

"I know nothing?" Maze repeated with a tad of mockery, "One good hit to his head and you're gonna kill this prick! You wanna go down for such a stupid thing?" she yelled back at him, her own rage building up about how he could lose his temper over someone so insignificant. She'd been following him and waited, watching as he started kicking and punching this man, and couldn't believe that he didn't, even once, let loose this anger on the real culprit.

"He hurt Chloe!" Lucifer yelled at her, breaking away from her with one final pull. Turning around, he barked, "You should've helped me instead of that monster!"

"He isn't the one you should be after!" Maze yelled back at the top of her voice. "Or have you already forgotten who really hurt Chloe?" she added, this time in a normal tone. Huffing, she folded her arms in front of her chest, narrowing her eyes at him, as she went on, "How can you beat this man almost to death, while you're doing nothing about the true monster out there?"

Lucifer swallowed, perplexed. "You know?" he wondered, trying to make sure she really talked about who he thought she was.

"What? That there's a twin of this asshole?" she hissed, huffing out some air. "Yeah, Chloe told me just now. Something you apparently knew for a couple of days by now! And you? You choose to do nothing about it!" she blared. Taking a second to get herself back in order, she muttered, "And you claim to love her!"

"I didn't..." he yelled on impulse, but quickly contained himself and brushed off his anger. "… say anything about love," he completed in a normal voice that was accompanied by a grumble. "And most of all, I don't choose to do nothing," he continued, hoping that the other part was thereby off the table. "I promised the Detective," he declared in self defence. Her words had hit right the mark. He fully agreed with her, and he felt terrible for just idly standing by. But no matter how much he wanted to punish those who were responsible for Chloe's pain, it wasn't his decision to make. She needed to understand that.

Maze huffed, and this time it was in disdain. "The old Lucifer would have-"

"There is no old me anymore," he countered harshly, cutting her off. "I promised Chloe we will hunt that scumbag together. So, this is exactly what I'm going to do. Not alone. But with her! This is something she needs! And I'm more than willing to give it to her."

"Is this also the reason you didn't want to wake her?" she inquired and now she sounded genuinely curious about his answer. "And the reason you went into who knows how many butcher's shops today?" she added, suspicion welling up.

"Where you following me?" Lucifer counter-questioned warily and once more narrowed his eyes at her. When he didn't get an answer from her, he briefly explained, "This was something private I had to do!"

"What? You're planning a barbecue or something?" The mockery in her tone was almost graspable and the grin on her face grew. One could assume, that she was ecstatic by the thought, if they hadn't noticed that her eyes were still painted in the same hate-filled darkness from before.

Lucifer couldn't be tricked by her displayed lightness. He knew her too well for that. She still was on the verge of lunging forward and attempting to break his neck. She wouldn't succeed, though. He was much too strong for her. But he also didn't want to widen the rift that had started to build up between them, one in which he wasn't so innocent of its formation. He still needed her. And he needed her by his side. Taking a step back, he took a deep breath to get himself back under control and then replied, brusquely shrugging it off, "That's none of your business, Mazikeen."

How she hated it when he used her full name; as if she still was his minion and he wanted to put her in place or reprimand her for some wrong-doing. But that was long gone. "Yeah, you letting your anger out on anyone is none of my business!" she spat viciously, adding an even more scornful, "Until you call me to clean up your mess!"

"Just so you know, this man had kicked Chloe, because she was after him for breaking into my apartment and trying to steal my book!"

He still wondered where this sudden urge to justify his actions towards her had come from, that he completely missed what he'd just revealed to her and only got reminded about his faux pas when Maze asked with wary interest, "What book?" while her mind already brought her back to the moment she'd secretly watched him locking something in the safe at LUX, wondering if it had been that of which he spoke.

Silently cursing at himself for not having guarded his mouth properly, Lucifer only looked at her with narrowed eyes, slightly shaking his head in refusal. He wouldn't disclose to her any more of what she wasn't supposed to know.

"Oh, that's also none of my business now?" Maze retorted sardonically. Still, no words came from him and she got really angry. "I don't care, I'm gonna tell Decker. You're her problem, not mine!"

"Don't you dare mentioning anything of this to her!" he warned her gravely and stepped very close, towering over her.

"Or what?" Maze provoked him, her arms folded in front of her chest.

Lucifer growled at her in anger. But he quickly realised that she wasn't intimidated by him in the slightest. And to tell the truth, he didn't have anything to threaten her with. He could do nothing than to glare at her one more time and then, without another word, he left.

Maze watched him disappear behind the corner, commenting his departure with a disgruntled huff. She turned her head back to the spot where Lucifer had been punching that man, scanning it for any hints of celestial doing just like she was used to. On the ground, she spotted a little plastic card and bent down to pick it up. Giving it a closer look, she recognised it to be a key-card for one of the cheap motels nearby, and decided that it was time for her to do some research on her own.

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The sun had already gone down when Maze arrived at the house again. Entering, she stated loudly with a voice dripping with indifference, "Don't know what you're worried about." She closed the door and tossed her keys on the counter. Then she'd lowered the backpack that was hanging over one of her shoulders, slightly hiding it behind her without making it appear obvious.

Chloe looked up from the couch she'd been sitting on the whole time, anxiously awaiting the news, and turned to her, full of concern, "Is he alright?"

"Yeah," she assured her with a dismissive wave of her hand. She turned around, ready to leave, but then stopped as if she'd forgotten something, turned back to her and then added nonchalantly, "Well, if you call him beating up a guy 'alright'." She squinted her eyes when she spotted the instant shock followed by a deep, worried frown on the Detective's forehead.

"He did what?" Chloe asked, baffled, and gaped at her. "When? Who?" she inquired and sprang up from the couch, adding, "Tell from the start!"

Maze shrugged her shoulders again. She decided that it was best not to tell her what exactly Lucifer did while she'd observed him. She still didn't fully understand what he was up to, she only came more and more to the conclusion that it must be something big, when he's that uptight. Otherwise she would have been the first one to know… well the second, since Decker existed. Therefore, she started shortly before the incident. "He saw someone and chased him into an alley. When he got hold of him, he mumbled something about 'payback for daring to hurt you' and then he started beating him up. The other guy tried to defend himself, but since one of his arms was obviously broken, this was rather useless. I interfered, figured it wouldn't be that good if he killed that guy." Pausing briefly, she added, "You owe me for that, by the way." She saw her nod, her eyes still widely open, and Maze continued, "Well, I pulled Lucifer back. The guy got up and ran away. Lucifer only yelled at me for letting this 'prick' get away, and then moved into the other direction, back to his car." She ended, deciding again, that Chloe didn't need to know about what else they had talked about. And she also decided, that, at least for now, Chloe didn't need to know what she'd found in that guy's motel room.

"So he seemed… fine?" Chloe heard herself ask and silently rebuked herself for her poor choice of words. Beating someone up was anything but 'fine', and if it really was that man who'd stalked Candy, then she had to have another serious conversation with him about how to appropriately handle suspects, but at least, he still was in L.A. and he wasn't after the twin on his own. That was more than she could ask for, at least for the moment.

Maze rolled her eyes and folded her arms. "Decker, I assure you. Lucifer's fine! Just give him some time. He'll get over it. Now, stop worrying your pretty head." It took her a moment to realise that Chloe wasn't listening to her any longer. She had that look on her face that told her, she'd long zoomed out of reality and was wrapped up in her own mind again. 'Good for me,' she thought, grabbed the backpack and went to her room, decisive to find out what was on the video recorder she'd found inside that room, together with several pictures of Lucifer, Candy and Chloe, and a USB stick.

Chloe realised only now that Maze had gone and that she completely missed what else her roommate had told her. She was so relieved that Lucifer still was there, that for a moment she didn't even mind. Nodding to herself, she turned back around and snuggled back on the couch, pulling the blanket tighter around herself. Her thoughts were with Lucifer again, and she sighed. His recent actions worried her. She tried to block that emotion out, telling herself that Lucifer would call if he wanted to speak to her, but then her gaze fell on the phone that lay on the coffee table and she couldn't help herself and grabbed it, speed-dialling his number once again. This time, the phone rang only twice before it stopped and the disconnect sign showed up. She instantly knew that he'd actively declined the call, and figured he truly didn't want to speak with her. This only added up to the lonely feeling that spread out inside of her and the inner wish to be close to him increased. And she hated herself for that; for becoming so depended on him again, so… vulnerable.

/-/

Lucifer looked at Chloe's name on the display of his phone that weighed unusually heavy in his hand. The vibration its buzzing had caused, was still vividly felt by the cells of his fingers while his eyes were fixed on the device as if it had cast a spell on him after coming to life. A cool breeze blew across his neck, bringing him out of his trance and reminding him that he stood on his balcony.

He sighed.

When it had started to buzz, he was startled for a second and at once her voice began to speak in his mind, scolding him for the things he'd done today. Maze had most probably told her already, and for a moment, he considered to call her back, to tell her that everything was alright and she shouldn't worry, but he couldn't. In his eyes, this was a lie. Nothing would ever be alright again. Especially now that he knew that not only did he cause her suffering by not being there to protect her, but that it was actually his fault this whole attack had happened to her. How could he talk to her? How could he ever dare to look her in the eyes, now that he knew?

He raised his hand, holding his cigarette to his lips, and took a drag, exhaling the smoke from his lungs with a deep sigh while he put the phone in his trousers' pocket. He placed his arm on the railing, slightly bending forward and supporting his weight, and stared at the sight beneath. He couldn't glance up at the sky above. He felt his dad's all-knowing presence looking down at him, reprimanding him for what he'd done. Or was it just his bad consciousness?

He took a last drag and then flicked the butt away, watching it fall down until all he could make out in the dark night was the glimmer that slowly faded and eventually disappeared completely. He silently said farewell to this old habit of his, as he swore himself that this one was his last, once and for all. Sighing again, he took a deep breath, filling his lungs with fresh air and throwing out the last remains of this toxic fume. He closed his eyes, his mind instantly going back to Las Vegas, and he wished he'd never found that book in the first place.

/-/

Sleep didn't find her that night. She was tossing and turning in bed, and she wished she could be trapped in the lift again with Lucifer at her side, holding her close and watching her as she nestles her head in the crook of his neck to find some rest. This feeling, this yearning for his touch blocked out everything else until soft rays of light made their way through the little gap beneath her curtains, announcing the beginning of a new day, and she groaned in frustration. This thwarting was just like when he'd disappeared after she'd been poisoned by that maniac Carlisle, Chloe thought but then firmly shook her head, disagreeing with herself with a muttered "No!" She huffed the air from her lungs and tossed the blanket aside, her heart pounded loudly beneath her ribcage and the rapid breaths raised and lowered her chest in quick succession. 'No!' she told herself once again and pressed her eyes close. This time was way worse than back then! This time, he was right here but still out of reach.

Sighing deeply, she eventually decided that it was useless to keep on brooding about her partner and got up, going straight to the bathroom to cool off her head with a long shower.

It took seven seconds for her mind to drift off again as the water was pelting down on her. She shook her head forcefully when she caught herself, but the worries didn't want to leave her. It was as if they were plastered on the back of her head, and after ten minutes of useless trying, she turned off the water, stepped out and made herself ready to leave. Yesterday it worked perfectly to keep herself from thinking about her partner when Dan had scolded her. He could be of use now, too, she thought and went downstairs to get her keys.

On tiptoes.

To not alert Maze who'd locked herself in her room yesterday and hadn't made a noise yet. This way she could also find out if Dan had found something new and was willing to share with her. After all, this monster was still out there, and now that he knew they were on his heels, they couldn't lose any more time.

/-/

She still was suspended. So, when she entered the police station, she kept a low profile to not be seen by any colleagues who might tell her boss. Not that there were many, she recognised, when she headed down the stairs. The precinct looked almost deserted. Only some officers here and there were present, and Dan, whom she spotted standing in the break room, preparing a coffee. Still, she didn't want to alert anyone by simply walking straight over and so she took a circuit with her head covered and soft-footedly until she was finally in the room and then asked in a hushed voice, "Did you find out anything new in the area, yesterday?"

The sudden question, whispered directly next to his ear, startled Dan to the core. He'd almost dropped his coffee as his body jerked, spilling the top of the freshly brewed drink over his hand. He hissed and quickly shook off the liquid, blowing some air on the lightly burnt skin before he dried off the rest on the side of his trousers. "Don't you ever sneak up on me like that!" he then grumbled and turned his head to give her a dark glare. "What do you want here, anyway?" he asked her with a warning tone and gripped her by the arm, pulling her further into the room, while he suspiciously looked around the area for any noisy colleagues.

"Like I just said, I want to know if you found anything new yesterday?" Chloe repeated in a low voice.

Dan sighed audibly, "Look, Chloe, you're not even supposed to be here. You really think, I'm gonna tell you what we found? After you went for him alone?"

Chloe narrowed her eyes at him, but quickly reminded herself, that she deserved this, and moreover, had come here for exactly this type of reaction. She bit the grumble back down, and replied in a soothing manner, "Please?"

"Alright," he gave in, way too fast for his liking, but since he was at it, he went on, "If you really need to know, we haven't found anything new. Only that this… twin, was definitely there, and he must have been watching you. His fingerprints were on the power switch. We are now certain that he was the one who had trapped you there." Pausing a moment to put more meaning to his following words, he continued with a stern look, "You should be really glad that he'd done only that! He could have killed you. Or worse."

"I know, Dan. I know I screwed this up," she interposed, hanging her head.

"You did more than just screw up, Chloe!" he reproached her earnestly, "This man knows now that we're after him. We don't know how he will act now. Will he be extra careful, even flee the country, or will he do something completely unexpected? I'm used to Lucifer making rash decisions, but that you went against everything we've learned in the academy, Chloe..."

"I wanted to get him off the streets!" she cut him off, barely able to hold herself back. "To get justice," she added through gritted teeth.

"You wanted revenge! Nothing else!" he countered coldly.

"No, Dan! I didn't do it to get revenge!" she objected, but the words tasted sour on her tongue. Deep inside of her, she had to agree with him, that a part of her had wanted exactly that. She hastily shook her head to suppress that thought, and added, more to hear it herself than for him, "I'm still a Detective! I want him to never hurt anyone else again! He is dangerous!"

"And that's why you should have called me the minute you found out he existed! But the fact that you didn't do it, but instead went after him yourself speaks volumes. And not in your favours!" This situation reminded him of the time right after the Palmetto case. Back then, it was Chloe who gave him reproach after reproach for what he'd done, giving him a hard time for way too long. But this way he'd understood how much he'd actually had risked. In his mind, he had all the right to give her one now. Still, it felt wrong. He heaved a heavy sigh. There was so much for her on the line. Thinking of all the consequences, he couldn't help his thoughts becoming alive and he mumbled, "When he gets another victim, this will be your fault."

"Don't you think I already know that?" Chloe spat at the reminder, glaring at him in hurt and anger, but also felt the guilt back within herself.

He hadn't wanted to hurt her! He could understand her actions to the fullest. Heck, he'd done the same! But he didn't want her to suffer any more than she already did... and losing her job would be another major part. "Look, I'm just trying to protect you. He's dangerous. You can't protect yourself. And when he's after you, you're in danger. In great danger. And anyone who's near you as well." The words he'd tried to calm her with, came out in the completely wrong way and he cringed at the look on her face.

"So that's the reason you didn't want my daughter to stay with me, yesterday!" she accused him, and her eyes glared in a new shade of darkness. Right now, she doubted it had been the right decision to come here, even though she needed the information and the rebuke as well, but they also stirred the anger within her, anger that quickly turned into rage and she had to use all her strength and self-control to keep that down and prevent herself from exploding in the middle of the room.

A moment went by without either of them speaking a word. There were plenty of them inside Chloe's head, but nothing she wanted to voice, knowing with certainty that she would only regret them later. Dan, on the other hand, didn't dare to say anything. He not only feared he would make it worse with the wrong response, right now, she also looked as if she was shortly before battering him to death. The darkness in her eyes that he saw clearly just by peering at her, would have even clouded the sun. Knowing out of experience that with the right choice of words it was possible to get her emotions back on track, at least that's what Linda had always managed, he rummaged in his brain for some appeasing phrases. But nothing wanted to jump on his tongue, and the stares he got from her only made it more uncomfortable the longer this moment lasted. Then, when the pressure of this situation went too high, he decided to try his luck with the next best thing that had just popped up in his head. He was about to raise his voice, when they were suddenly interrupted by Ella, unknowingly saving him from what otherwise would have become the worst regret of his life.

"The photos from the roll-film are done," she informed them in a hushed voice.

"Roll-film?" Chloe repeated, puzzled but grateful for the distraction, and she fully turned her attention to the technician.

Dan, who had looked at Ella as she stated the information, turned his head back to his ex-wife. Already knowing that she wouldn't deign to look at him now, he was a little more at ease and disclosed in a whisper, "We found it up there."

'So much for 'we hadn't found anything!' Chloe thought but bit her tongue to not say it aloud. Fortunately, Ella once again provided her with a reason to not make conversation with Dan.

"We had to get someone from the old school to help us develop it," she added, unaware of the icy atmosphere between them.

Already knowing that Chloe would insist on seeing them as well and as a peace offer, Dan turned to Ella and suggested, "Could you bring them to us?"

With a quick nod, Ella affirmed and went to get them.

"Who still uses roll-film?" Chloe wondered in a hushed voice and only now, she had herself under control again so far that she could take a brief glance at him again.

"They did," Dan only replied and shrugged his shoulders.

It didn't take long for Ella to return with the photos and after she'd handed them over to Dan, he turned to Chloe and together they looked through them.

They both gaped in surprise when they mainly found Chloe on them, from the time after she'd been discharged from the hospital until when Lucifer was already back.

"He is watching you!" Dan stated the obvious.

Chloe narrowed her eyes, feeling furious at the new insight and that, once again, she didn't even realise the danger she'd been in.

"That's it, you're getting police protection!" he went on, shaking his head as to say, he won't accept backtalk. "I'm driving you home, and you're gonna stay there until we've found that prick."

"He still knows where I live!" Chloe flatly pointed out and demonstratively held up a picture of her sitting on the couch, that was taken from outside the window, to remind him.

Dan swallowed and inhaled sharply to give himself some time to think. Then he sighed audibly and replied, "Alright, you stay here. I'm gonna call Maze to get Trixie from school and then the both of you are coming home with me."

"No, Dan!" Chloe contradicted right away, forcing herself to keep her voice low, she added, "Then he'll know that we know. This is our advantage. We can't give that away."

"Geez, Chloe, this lunatic is on your heels! I'm not leaving you out there unprotected!" he hissed and practically ripped the photos from out of her hands.

That she managed to stay so calm in that moment was something beyond her understanding; it almost felt as if she didn't have the strength to fight any longer, or the patience. "I'm not! He already knows that I spend my time either at the precinct or with Lucifer chasing after him," she explained in a relatively relaxed tone.

"I won't-," Dan began to interrupt her, but Chloe simply raised her finger, stopping him right then and there.

"Without the chasing," she went on with the same smooth voice she'd use when talking to dependants, still making clear, "But I'm not blowing this cover!"

"And what are you gonna do now?" he grumbled, being at his wits' end, and already saw himself standing at her funeral in front of his inner eye.

"What I normally do," she answered indifferently, shrugging. With a slight smirk around the corners of her lips that she wasn't able to suppress, she elucidated further as her ex gave her a puzzled look, "I'll go to Lucifer."

He wanted to burst right there in the precinct, yelling at her if she was out of her mind. She wanted to stay at that very place this man had attacked her? And she still demanded to be treated as a sane person? But the anger inside of him vanished as quickly as it had welled up at the realisation that she hadn't said 'LUX', she said 'Lucifer', and with him, he knew, she'd be safe. "Alright," he eventually agreed. "But you'll stay with him all the time and you call me as soon as you're there, OK?"

"Yeah, fine," Chloe complied, already looking forward to having this excuse to show up at Lucifer's doorsteps. When the thought entered her consciousness, her heart sank in her chest. Since when did she need an excuse to see her partner?

Dan accompanied her out of the police station and when Chloe was finally in her car by herself, she took her phone out to call Lucifer and inform him, but, unsurprisingly, he didn't pick up. Filled with frustration, she hit the steering wheel. "Damn it, Lucifer!" she hissed, feeling, once again, left alone by him.

Teeth-gnashingly, she started the car and drove into the direction of LUX. Even if he wasn't there, through the newly installed security system, she'd be safe up there. At least for the moment.

/-/

Worry crept up on her the closer she came to his penthouse. What if he didn't just ignore her? What if he couldn't answer her phone because he was in danger, maybe even hurt by Galant's brother? She parked the car next to the building and firmly shook her head to get rid of that thought. This was too unrealistic! She'd seen Lucifer's strength. No one was able to overpower him, except for Maze, she concluded and stepped through the door, heading for the elevator, whose doors opened as soon as she pressed the button. Still, the queasy feeling didn't want to leave her. It even increased, the higher the elevator went. Then, when the number for his apartment finally appeared, she swore her heart stopped beating until the doors slid open and she stepped into the living area.

Soft tunes of an unknown melody reached her ear even before she spotted him at the piano, but only at the sight of him, she exhaled a silent breath of relief she didn't know she'd been holding. Unintentionally the corners of her lips began to curl upwards. She pressed them together as she took a step towards him, and was about to say something silly to match her facial expression in case he looked up, when she recognised his body starting to tense. She froze in her track, and the smile hastily fled her face, leaving it in worry and confusion as she quickly recognised: This small yet immense reaction of him was completely because of her.

But why?

An angry, almost scornful huff left his lips, announcing to her right away that he would answer this unspoken question, right before his low but powerful voice broke the silence, "Do you still not understand it? I don't want to talk to you, Detective!"

The way he pronounced her title sent shivers down her spine and she balled her fists to keep herself from rubbing her hands up and down her arms to get some warmth back into her body. She didn't move a single muscle. Because if she would, she hadn't been able to keep up her stark posture and he would have seen how much these words of him had actually hurt her.

Now that Galant's twin was after her, she knew she could tell him that she'd come to him because here was the only safe place for her to be, and she also knew, his behaviour would instantly change. He would show caring and protection, and she would never get to know the real reason for this peculiar rejection of her. It was definitely nothing she'd done, she was certain. So, what had caused his change in behaviour?

"Since you still don't seem to understand," Lucifer suddenly started, interrupting her inner monologue, and stopped his play. His fingers were too shaky to properly hit the keys any longer, and he concentrated all his strength on what he was about to say. "I don't want you here! Leave me alone! Now! And don't come back!" With every word, a piece of his heart broke off, falling into a black hole that had emerged within him, but he couldn't go back now. It was dangerous for her to be near him. She had to stay away. She had to be safe, by any means. A soft but confidently countered "No" welled up the anger inside of him, one he felt against himself, and he channelled it towards her when all of a sudden, he slammed the fall board shut and, standing up, sent the bench he was sitting on, several inches backwards. "I said: Go!" he roared so loudly, it echoed through the room like a roll of thunder, and he whirled around, facing her.

The look he gave her made her blood freeze in her veins. She was genuinely scared now, and under any other circumstances, she would have fled the apartment within an instant. But not now. She wanted to know the reason for this hostility, and she wouldn't back down, regardless of how frightening he appeared. "I'm not leaving!" she countered headstrong and narrowed her eyes at him to make clear she meant it. Tensing up every muscle she possessed, she made herself internally ready to fight as she saw his foot rise to approach her, but then his facial expression suddenly changed from a hateful to a simply grumpy one, and with a last snort into her direction he turned to his liquor shelf. She did a double take when she found it completely empty. Only a bottle of what seemed to be table water stood on the counter, and she watched him pouring its content into a glass before downing it in one go. Her mouth slightly gaped in disbelief when he refilled the glass and, with it in hand, went several steps to the further back of the room.

She must have mistaken, Chloe thought to herself. It couldn't be just water. It surely was vodka he'd just drank, she assured herself, but somehow it didn't sound very convincing. She hastily searched through her memories, trying to recall a time he'd drank something other than alcohol, but couldn't find anything. Her brows furrowed with worry and she asked, confused, "What's wrong with you?"

"Did my dear Detective stumble upon something she can't understand?" Lucifer quipped but the tone of his voice remained enraged.

Chloe stared at him, his completely stiff back, the arm that was hovering in mid-air not moving an inch, and she repeated her question, "What's-"

"I said leave!" he roared again, turned around and smashed the glass to the ground, sending it's pieces scattering across the floor.

Chloe jumped in fright and instinctively wrapped her arms around herself in protection. She needed a moment for the shock to subside so she could move her muscles again, and she watched him kneeling down and collecting the shards of glass with utter diligence. Tears welled up in her eyes and before she lost control of the rest of herself, she apologised, "I'm sorry. Whatever I must've done to you, I'm sorry, Lucifer." She quickly held her breath to suppress the sob that had piggybacked onto her words and kept it hidden in her throat. On shaky ground, she shifted her weight, about to lift her foot to turn around, but halted right in the middle of her doing when new words reached her ears.

"Please, leave Chloe. You're not safe here any longer," he whispered and hastily swallowed the tremble in his voice. "You're not safe with me," he added, not knowing that his last words would be the very reason she'd disobey him.

His words were soft and instantly soothed her heart, but also increased her confusion and concern for him. Taking a deep breath, Chloe halted the air, before she blew it out through her nose, making a soft sighing noise. For a brief moment, she closed her eyes, collected her thoughts and gathered her strength. Then she opened her eyes again, stared at her partner and replied calmly and steadily, "I'm not leaving you. Not before you tell me why you think that I am not safe with you." She watched him stop his doing and close his hand that still had all the shards encompassed.

Her first instinct was to jump forward and shout at him to be careful not to cut himself, but she contained herself when she heard him whisper something too low for her ear to understand, feeling that it was of utter importance. "What did you say?" she asked, taking a few small steps closer, but then quickly backed off when he suddenly screamed at her.

"It's my fault!" Lucifer panted heavily from the truth that had freed itself from his lungs. He had his sight firmly fixed to the ground beneath that was still covered in tiny pieces of broken glass, some of them were coated with small red drops, coming from his hands. He opened them both and placed them on the floor, not only to support his body that was prone and about to keel over, also to get as much sharp glass into his hands as possible, to make them bore into the flesh of his palms and numb out a bit of the pain coming from his heart.

"I don't understand you!" Chloe retorted, the despair she felt about his words and behaviour had turned her voice into a defiant riposte. "What the heck is your fault?"

"Leave!" he screamed in a last attempt to get her away from him before he would lose it all in this room. His body trembled from the tension he tried to contain and he didn't know how long he would be able to keep it back or what would happen if he lost control.

"I'm not leaving here!" Chloe shouted back, making it clear once and for all, and the worry kept shouting out of her, "I want to know what's going on with you! Now! So you better explain yourself and tell me what the hell you think you've done now!"

"Everything!" He screamed back, spurred on even more by the anger in her tone. Didn't she want to understand? "It's my fault that you got hurt and the closer you are to me the more you're in danger, so leave me alone!"

"What the hell is your problem?" it shot out of her before she could even register what she was saying, and thinking quickly, she sent the answer right after. "Do you mean the night in the elevator? Look, I know I've probably scared the hell out of you with my breakdown in there. Believe me, I didn't intend to do that. But I'm fine again now and if you can-"

"I don't mean that night!" he cut her off, slowly getting frustrated at her reluctance to understand.

"Then which night do you mean?" she threw back at him, furious herself. She didn't understand it at all and feared that this, whatever it was so suddenly, would bring them so far apart from each other that there was no way back. She wouldn't be able to take this. Not again.

"The night you were-" he shouted but then suddenly halted as if an invisible power kept him from continuing, and he whispered as he forced the word out of his mouth, "raped!" He swallowed down the shock, and suddenly the words kept pouring out and he was unable to stop them, "I used the book to get back at my parents and it's punishing you. It's all my fault what's happened to you. I can't make it undone. I can't stop it. I wish I could. It's all my fault and that's why you have to stay away from me. It will get back at you and I can't let that happen. I'm dangerous to you," he ended loud and clear, adding a quiet plea, "I don't want you getting hurt any more."

Chloe couldn't understand a word he was saying and all she could do was staring blankly at him while silently recalling his words and trying to make any sense of them, but she couldn't. She was completely at a loss. How should she best respond now? She really wanted to know why he behaved like that, but what could she say or should she leave to avoid getting into more quarrels with him? It was overwhelming not to know. But, did she actually want that? A soft voice whispered in the back of her head. After all, fighting brought the two forward, in one way or another, she had to admit, and so she pushed aside her fears, folded her arms in front of her chest and repeated bluntly, "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Didn't you listen to me?" he barked in frustration and balled his fists again. Not even realising the shards boring deeper into his hands as he clenched them together. "You got hurt because of me!" he shouted again, only to continue the rest in a hushed voice, "The lady warned me to use the book, but I didn't listen. I just wanted my revenge, and now you have the price to pay. And I can't take it back."

Chloe had walked some little steps forward to better hear him and waited for him to stop talking. It angered her. She knew she shouldn't but she couldn't push the thought away that again, he made everything about himself. "You really think that this man had attacked me, because of some stupid book of yours?" she asked, and this time she didn't even try to hide the scorn in her voice she had from this absurd idea.

"Yes!" he confirmed, determined. "I know you don't believe me. You don't want to believe, but it's true. That's why you're even more in danger the closer you are to me." He sighed, hoping whole-heartedly that she would listen and leave. "I'm dangerous to you, Chloe. I hurt you!"

"You didn't hurt me!" she yelled at him, objecting throughout. "You weren't the one who pinned me down on that bed! You weren't the one who forced himself inside of me! And you definitely weren't the one who beat me half to death and left me here to die!"

He vigorously shook his head in contradiction and declared again, "This all wouldn't have happened, if it weren't for me! Don't you get it? I'm responsible for your pain!"

"By reading a stupid book?" she countered and shook her head again. These words sounded even more lunatic when they came out of her.

"Exactly!"

The conviction with which he said that wrapped itself like a veil around her thoughts, preventing herself from holding onto her own logic. For a brief moment she was even ready to believe him, but luckily, she quickly banished this idea from her mind. Shaking her head firmly to get the remains of his words out of her, she was about to contradict him again, when suddenly he began talking again. And the tremble in his voice, the pain in his words, made her throat tie up.

"All I wanted was to get free from my parents. So I could stay here, with you. I would never have used the book if I'd known that it would harm you. I never intended to hurt you. I only wanted to protect you."

She barely understood the last words of him as they were swallowed by a low sob. She was shocked, confused and taken aback when further sobs followed. Was Lucifer… crying? She didn't know what to do at that moment. One foot instantly moved a step forward while the other remained glued to the spot she was currently standing on, matching the fight that had emerged inside of her between her head and her heart. She wanted to run to him, to wrap him in her arms and soothe his pain away, but at the same time, this sudden situation was so overwhelming that she wanted to yell at him to get a grip on himself; not because she was angry or frustrated. It was simply because the only time she'd seen him like that was when he'd tried to get himself killed by a sniper, to punish himself for something he'd refused to tell her. She didn't want to get reminded at that situation, when she felt completely helpless and the immense fear of losing him. And it hurt her to see him like that now: so vulnerable and in pain. It frightened her. And she wanted him to turn back to his old self, just so she could have it back, this sense of normality… and safety.

Eventually, her heart outweighed her fears and so she cautiously walked up to him. She stopped when she saw him gripping the shards of glass firmer the closer she came but decided to ignore it for the moment. When she was right above him, she knelt down and gently laid a hand on his back. The instant flinch he made at her touch startled her, but she kept her hand on his back and with an accompanied, hushed "come here", she moved with her other hand to the back of his head, gently pulling him close while running her fingers through his hair. Soon she felt his tensed-up muscles relax and she started to gently rub his back. Her heart pounded loudly in her chest, sending her blood rushing through her veins, and for a while that was all she could hear. She was nervous, insecure about what to do next, but because of this light touch that connected her with him, she slowly calmed down herself. Feeling the strength back in her bones, she raised her voice, just to assure herself, "You really think that Galant's twin had only attacked me because you read your book?"

"Yes!" he answered as loud as he could manage, but the word only came out in a trembling whisper. He knew he didn't deserve her caress right now, that he should stop her and make her leave so he could continue with punishing himself, but he was too weak, and her close presence felt too good. Right now, she was like a rock of pure strength. He felt it through the spot where his head leaned against her chest. He felt her heartbeat, and the vibrations oscillated through his body as if they were one and her heart gave his its rhythm. He couldn't help but lean further into her, even so the voice inside his head, his reason, forbade him to do so. That wasn't right! He had to protect her. And above all, he had to be punished for what he'd done to her. "You have to hate me!" his conscience demanded, and he hoped and feared as well, that this blissful moment was now over.

Her lips stretched into the beginning of a small smile and Chloe pulled him a little closer. She felt his head resting firmly against her chest and lowered her own head until her lips reached the hairline on the back of his neck. She placed a kiss there; so light that the hairs barely bent under the pressure, and then whispered softly, "Who I hate or not is my decision, not yours!" The audible exhale from him affirmed her that he'd listened. She waited a moment for his reply that promptly came in him tensing up again and convulsing with further silent sobs, and she continued caressing his back, running circles over it while her fingers ran through his hair, gently scratching his scalp. His body relaxed again, and she smiled, relieved, closed her eyes, and rested her chin on the back of his head as she felt his sobs subside and him finally calming down as well. She didn't want this closeness with him to end, still she knew she had to talk to him. She couldn't let him continue believing something so absurd just so she got advantage from it. Relishing the moment with him only for a bit longer, she eventually broke the silence, and voiced the question she had in mind since the beginning, "When did you read that book?"

"What?" Lucifer asked, perplexed, his mind not fully working yet. He tensed again, getting reminded again by his conscience that he had to be punished and not rewarded with her gentleness. He wanted to break free from her embrace but felt her grip on him tighten the moment he tried to pull back. He quickly gave in to her touch, willingly, and let his heart getting further soothed by her care.

Chloe moved her head closer to his ear, and she continued talking while her fingers buried themselves deeper into the soft curls of his hair. "That's why you wanted to know when it had happened to me, right? Back then, in the elevator," she added to remind him. "You wanted to know what day he'd attacked me."

He'd hoped she'd forgotten. She'd been so distraught and exhausted, he genuinely had expected that her consciousness hadn't written it down into her memory. That was one thing more to blame himself for! That she had to go through all this again just because of him. "Yes," he whispered in response, simply out of the need to answer her, to finally make her see that he was evil. At the reminder of that night, the bad feelings welled up inside of him again. They crawled into his heart like a thick film of oil, opened up the gates to the other emotions he'd locked inside of there and let them free. He hoped they would crush his heart and erase his feelings, and give him the strength to free himself from her embrace. Instead, a simple stroke of her hand over his back was enough to push them back, chased away by her soothing caresses. He narrowed his eyes tightly and pressed his lips firmly together to keep himself from voicing how heavenly her touches felt.

"So, if you're truly right," Chloe went on, determined to prove him wrong. "And this is a huge, theoretical if," she interposed to make it clear, "then everything that happened to me must have occurred after you've read the book. Am I correct?"

"Yes," he whispered again, more clearly this time. If he hadn't the power to resist her caress, she certainly did. And he was glad that she finally started to see sense, that she started to believe him. But he also knew that she, being the Detective, needed proof to believe. So when she prompted him again with her question "And when did you read that book?" he answered right out, "That Sunday night. The ninth minute of the ninth hour."

He felt her stopping her movements at once, and thought that finally she had understood; that now she had evidence that it was him who'd caused all this. She didn't say anything at first, and fear crept up on him that she was angry and would hate him as much as it was deserved. But then her one hand tightly gripped the fabric of his shirt while her other hand held onto his hair as if it was a lifeline, and he realised that his answer had only triggered some memories back into her mind.

"The sun had already gone down when I arrived at LUX," he heard her say in a hushed voice with the hint of shaking, and her grip on him loosened when the shaking of her hands increased. Acting on instinct, he instantly let go of the shards and moved his arms around her, not caring in the slightest about the blood he'd leave on her clothes. With one quick move, he pulled her into his lap. A soft, surprised gasp filled the air, but he didn't stop. She needed him right now. That was all he knew. That was all he cared about, and therefore he gripped firmer around her, pulling her as close as manageable. Her legs rested on both sides of him and he nestled his head into the crook of her neck, giving her the possibility to speak while he fully listened to her.

There was silence around them, and for a moment he feared that he'd misinterpreted and only further scared her, but then he felt her relaxing against his body. Her arms found their way back around his neck and one held tightly onto him while the other buried its fingers back in his hair. He sighed against the soft skin in that spot on her neck, and while one of his arms remained wrapped around her waist, holding her securely in position, he moved his other hand up to the back of her neck and with his thumb began to gently stroke the area right above the neckline of her shirt.

It felt weird to have changed so quickly from the giving to the receiving end of caress, and it was a welcoming distraction for her mind before she further recalled her memories. She'd sworn to herself to never talk about it, to not even think about what had happened that night. But she had to, now. She needed him to understand. And if this meant she had to face her greatest, darkest moment again, then she would do so. For him! "It's been shortly after eight o'clock," she continued and gripped him firmer as she felt her hands starting to shake again. He hugged her tighter in response, and the gentle strokes he gave her on her neck made her relax so much that she continued with a steady voice, "I know this exactly because I just got a message from the babysitter, asking when I was coming home." She halted again and took a deep breath. Then, she lowered her head onto his shoulder. Halfway snuggled into him, she confessed with a low voice, "I had told her I'd be home by eight. She needed to leave, and I texted her to wait for Maze because I was still at work, but that was a lie. Truth is, I couldn't go straight home since you left… I needed some time for myself and it became a routine to go to yours." Her voice trembled at the end, caused by her revelation, and she began tensing up again.

She heard him inhale and then felt his hot breath against her throat while he moved his hand down, holding her close as he rested his chin on her shoulder, and then he started caressing her all over her back. It felt as if he wanted to silently tell her that it was OK. Still, she felt as if she'd done something wrong. As if she'd invaded his privacy, and her guilt reminded her that she would have been fine now, if she'd just gone home that night. She pressed her eyes shut and swallowed, forcing that voice out of her head, and then concentrated strictly on what happened next. "It was dark inside your penthouse when I reached it, but I could easily find my way around without having to switch on the light. Don't know if that was because I know every inch of your place by now or because of the lights from outside. I liked the darkness, back then. It was… calming," she then disclosed so nonchalantly it surprised herself. "I just came from another crime scene, a robbery gone wrong, and there still was this killer loose who'd attacked two women already and I didn't care to switch on the light and have a look around," the guilt suddenly spoke out of her. She shook her head over herself. "What was I thinking?!" she scolded herself. "If I had switched on the lights, I might have seen him. How could I be so careless?!"

"Shush," Lucifer interrupted her self-blame, caressing her and hugging her closer. "You felt safe here. You have every right to feel safe within these walls," he assured her soothingly. It was hard for him to listen, to hear her suffering, but he knew she needed it, and he needed it as well, if he was honest. He needed to know what really had happened to her.

"I think it was more because all I wanted to do was to sleep," she chuckled sadly, and tears welled up in her eyes when she mentioned, "I couldn't even do that." She halted again and took a deep breath. His arms around her felt really good: calming, comforting, safe. And for a moment, she considered to just keep on sitting there, hugging him, but then she reminded herself that this wasn't the reason she forced herself down memory lane, and with another deep breath she went on, "I was so exhausted, I fell asleep almost instantly. It wasn't a deep sleep, though, more like a dozing, and it wasn't for long. Ten minutes, maybe twenty, at most," she made clear. "Then he was suddenly there," she remembered and stopped, gripping tightly whatever her fingers just held onto when the memory washed over her. She squinted her eyes and panted heavily while it all played out in front of her inner eye: the fight, the struggle, her fear, her pain. "It all happened so fast," she uttered and her body began to tremble. When the next memory came, it hit her that hard, she abruptly jerked back, and only didn't fall because he was still holding onto her.

Lucifer hugged her again as tightly as he could, starting to gently rock them back and forth. He didn't know what else to do to ease her pain. He didn't want to hear it any more; not when that meant she had to go through it again so vividly. That wasn't worth it. "It's OK. You don't have to tell me," he hastily assured her.

"No!" Chloe disagreed decidedly and shook her head. She straightened herself and when she leaned back a little, their eyes met. It was easy to get lost in the warm brown colour of his irises. She could have stared into those gentle eyes for forever, or lean forward and let herself get soothed by a tender kiss. She was sure, he wouldn't have minded right now. But it was too important what she had to tell him. She shook her head once more, wiped away the tears that had fallen down her cheeks and repeated, "No! Lucifer. I have to tell you. Because I know what happened. And I know that you're wrong!" She saw him about to raise his voice to disagree, and she quickly spoke on, "After he was done, I felt a slight bounce of the bed. He'd stood up, and I thought he would leave now, but he didn't. He walked around the room. I heard him rummaging in something, then he came back to me… and then I heard-"

As if on clue, a sudden sound echoed through the room, coming from the little clock that stood on the shelf at the far back, between his books, when it struck the full hour, startling them and getting both their attention, and Chloe vigorously nodded her head when she turned her focus back to Lucifer, confirming him, "That's what I heard."

Lucifer shook his head to contradict her. "You must be mistaken," he countered and shook his head once more.

"I know what I heard, Lucifer," Chloe retorted. "The clock struck nine! It happened before you read your book!"

"No!" he contradicted again. "You must be wrong. You surely slept longer and it was ten."

"No!" she objected, anger starting to built up inside of her that he didn't believe her. "He said it himself!"

"Who?" Lucifer asked before his brain offered him the answer itself.

"Who do you think I mean?" Chloe hissed, pissed, barely holding it back. It nearly outraged her, not only that he was desperately looking for a reason to blame himself for everything, but also that their tender moment once again seemed to have been ruined by a frigging fight. She pushed her upper body away from his embrace so that she could look at him more clearly and stated fiercely, "Galant's twin halted as well when the clock struck its hour and I heard him mumble, 'Already nine. I have to hurry!'"

"Hurry? Why?" he interjected, angry at himself that he, once again, hadn't kept his damn mouth shut and let her talk, tightly snuggled into the crook of his neck, but that instead his tongue always got the better of him.

"I don't know!" she answered, clueless. How was she supposed to? "But I know what I heard," she went on. "His words were "already nine!" So tell me, Lucifer, how can it be your fault, when it all happened before you even read your book?" she asked and stared at him demandingly.

"I don't know!" he re-used her words, shrugging. "This doesn't make any sense," he murmured with a slight shake of his head, and involuntarily Chloe had to chuckle.

'Right!' it shot through her head. 'He is dead serious about having a book that can harm people just by reading it, but my facts don't make any sense!' She shook her head as well at this dead-end situation. Fresh tears rolled down her cheeks; tears that didn't arise from the memories of her mind, but from the ache in her heart. And once again, she cursed at herself for having wanted to tell him. She wished she could just go back to the moment when they held each other and tell herself to simply let it be; to let him believe whatever he wants as long as he would hold her. This thought hurt even more, and the urge to be away from him to cry her eyes out grew.

She pushed herself away some more, wanted to get up, but his grip around her waist didn't ease. "Let me go!" she demanded, struggling to free herself. Completely ignoring his hushed "No", she ordered again, "I'm leaving. Let go!"

His conscience screamed at him that he should let her go to bring her out of harm's way. That she still wasn't safe with him. That he was risking it all. And he knew he should have listened, but… to hell with reason! It felt too good to have her in his arms. It felt natural! It felt right! "I won't let go," Lucifer replied softly but determined, and tightened the grip again.

Chloe halted abruptly in her struggles and stared at him, surprised and curious at once. "You told me yourself, you want me to leave," she reminded him in a whisper and saw his head shaking firmly.

Once again, the little voice inside his head spoke out, telling him, that he'd left her for a reason. That he had to finish his business with his parents first, and that he should let her go, and the internal fight forced little watery drops into the corners of his eyes. He quickly blinked them away and swallowed them down, and thereby, pushed the thoughts out of his head. "I changed my mind," he confessed quietly and added, begging, "Don't leave." He moved one of his arms up her back again, pulling her close again, and as he buried his head back in the crook of her neck, he whispered softly, "Detective."

Her heart screamed at her, 'That's all you wanted. Just give in and hug him back,' but the stubbornness inside of her made her push him away from her again, and when she could fix her eyes back on his, she asked sceptically, "So you believe me now?"

He shook his head. "No," he gently denied. "It must be something else," he added and wanted to crawl back to her soft skin to surrender to his exhaustion, but she wouldn't let him. She stared darkly at him, silently demanding an explanation and he replied calmly, "I bought that book way earlier. Maybe it already knew when I would read the spell."

"It already knew?" Chloe repeated snidely, and silently declared him nuts. "Lucifer, Galant and his twin, they are predators. They watched their victims long before they decide to attack them. So they knew when they were alone, when they were most vulnerable and they could do to them whatever they wanted without getting disturbed."

"It can't be a coincidence that they chose you," he only answered.

"You've seen the pictures on the wall, didn't you?" she countered, trying to speak to his reason… if there was any left of it.

The reminder painted his heart black. Of course he'd seen them! Pictures of her: at a crime scene when she directly stood above a body that was covered with a blanket, when she'd taken her daughter to school, in front of the precinct, at home, even in front of LUX. And while his mind presented him with all this visual evidence, her soft voice reached his ear.

"They stalked their victims for more than two weeks. They already knew who to kill next before they had even finished their current victim."

As if to make only his words a truth, he declared once again, "Like I told you, I had that book long before."

"Did you have it before the 21st of March?" she hissed sharply, challenging him, and when he didn't answer right away, she went on, "Because that's the day we found the second victim! It was a Tuesday and she was a college student who wanted to become a doctor. She was right in the middle of her final exams and had already booked a flight ticket for when this was all over." To make sure he wouldn't come up with his sentence again, she added another, "Or did you have the book before the eighth of March? Because that's when the first victim was found. By her parents! Who had just come back from their silver wedding anniversary holiday. She'd stayed over at their house, because she didn't want to see her groom-to-be, whom she was supposed to marry a week later. I was the one who had to tell him, and I was with him, trying to comfort him while he broke down. That was almost four weeks before he attacked me!"

Lucifer was baffled. He tried to remember when he'd entered that shop, but truth be told he could barely recall anything from that time. He'd drunk himself as close to unconsciousness as possible, going from bar to bar, and only accidentally stumbled upon that little shop. But he was sober when he'd translated the book and, knowing that it nearly took him two weeks to do so, that would still be after the second murder. And thus, they already had her chosen as their next… He hastily shook his head and squinted his eyes, not wanting to believe it. "There must be a-"

"No!" she interrupted him, firmly shaking her head once, and when he looked at her, she declared decidedly, "It wasn't your fault!"

"But what if-" he started and again, was stopped by her almost angry sounding "No!"

"It can't-"

"No!" she cut him off again, and before he had the chance to speak up once more, she cupped his cheeks, forced him to look at her, and repeated strongly, "No!" She saw the struggle in his eyes, the inner war between her truth and his belief and when it finally settled down and a flame of sorrow began to lit his eyes, she embraced him tightly and whispered close to his ear, "It wasn't your fault!"

She felt him relax and hugging her back, and she tightened the grip around him, wanting to erase as much space between them as possible. It felt so good to have him back around her. To feel him. "I missed you so much," it accidentally left her lips and she buried her head in the crook of his neck, half out of shame and half out of the sheer need to take him in with all her senses.

"I missed you, too," he confessed as well, his eyes firmly closed as he relished the softness of her body and the warmth that radiated from her. "You have no idea how much I've missed you," he added and let out a long, relieving sigh.

He slightly moved his head and took a deep, calming breath, commenting as he exhaled, "You smell so good!"

"You, too!" she answered out of reflex and the meaning of it dawned on her while she spoke. She was astounded and surprised that, while they were so tightly hugged together, there had been no flashbacks, no haunting memories flooding her mind, nothing that she didn't call in intentionally, and she was taken aback. She turned her head to the side, burying her nose in his hair, and took a deep breath just to confirm herself. Nothing came up. "Actually," she began and lowered her head to take further sniffs. He smelled really good, but nothing like himself any longer. "What is that smell?"

"A new aftershave," he answered right out, unable to hide his slight insecurity about whether she'd approve. He would change it though, if she didn't like that scent. There had been plenty of bottles in the perfumery.

Chloe straightened herself and stared at him sceptically, not wanting to believe what her heart was telling her. "Since when do you have a new aftershave?" she asked, desperately needing proof to not fuel that hope unnecessarily.

"I needed to change it," he simply replied.

"Your aftershave? The one you're wearing since I've first met you. The one you paid an exorbitant fee for to get shipped over from Europe because they wouldn't sell it here any longer?" Not giving him time to answer, she added, "And what about your liquor? The bottles that cost more than my yearly income. Where are they?… And when-", she halted herself, swallowed, and then asked, "When was your last cigarette?"

He only stared at her, silently waiting until she was done listing the things, and then he shrugged his shoulders and calmly confessed, "I threw them out. Anything that reminded you of that night. I didn't want-" he stopped, feeling the lump forming in his throat as he ended, "-you to have to relive it over and over again."

"And that's why you changed everything?" She didn't want to believe it; that her heart was right.

"I'd do anything for you," he answered, and quickly added to soften the meaning of his words, "So you can feel safe again."

Chloe swallowed hard. She didn't know what to say or do. A warmth she hadn't felt in a long time spread out within her and she hastily wrapped her arms back around him, burying her head into his neck again as tears welled up in her eyes. She pressed them shut, not wanting to release them, the evidence of what she felt: lightness, relief and hurt, all at once.

"I actually thought you'd be happy about it," Lucifer quipped with a tad disappointment sounding through.

Chloe chuckled, sending her tears right across her cheeks, and she quickly sniffled to keep the rest inside, drying herself with the back of one hand while the other gripped Lucifer's neck even tighter. "I am," she assured him with a sob. Another sob escaped her, and she repeated quickly, "I am happy," hoping to make her emotions stop betraying her, but they didn't listen. Further sobs followed and she hastily pressed the palms of both her hands over her eyes to keep the tears inside at least.

"Shush," Lucifer soothed her and took her in a tight embrace, his hand reaching further up until he'd encompassed the back of her head. He pulled her closer, their faces a mere inch apart from each other, and he hushed, "I didn't mean to make you cry."

They were so close she could feel his lips move, the warm breath blowing directly against her senses, and she wondered why he hadn't closed that tiny gap already and had kissed her. She wanted him to! She wished he'd do it! But she couldn't just go forward and initiate it herself. His words from before were still vividly in her mind. They still hurt, even though she knew he only said them because of his belief, but yet she couldn't erase them. She moved her hands to his face, caressing his cheeks, feeling the stubbles of his beard, and hoped he would decide for himself that a simple touch wasn't enough any more.

He wanted to kiss her; right there and now. Oh, how badly he wanted to press his lips down onto hers, let them both soothe their sorrow by the other so they could heal together. But it wasn't in his hands. It wasn't his right to sit here and play 'I want you, I want you not' with her, and so he let her make the decision. She would close the gap if she felt the time's right, he told himself. No matter how hard it was, he was satisfied with her embrace, and he didn't want to let anything get in between them, neither air nor that frigging buzzing phone that had just started off, slowly vexing him.

"Is that your phone?" Chloe asked, silently relieved that she had a reasonable explanation to shift a little away from him. One moment longer so tightly embraced with him and she knew, she wouldn't have been able to keep herself from doing something that he apparently didn't want.

Lucifer rolled his eyes, already miffed that their moment was gone, disrupted by technology and the wish to do exactly the same with whoever had dared to disturb them. "Ignore it," he told her when he recognised she tried to reach for it. Hoping to bring back the mood, he moved both his arms back around her and hugged her again.

"No! What if it's important?" Chloe disagreed and struggled herself free again.

"No one would call me except for Candy, and I don't want to deal with her right now!"

'Yep, that was it. Mood's dead,' it shot through her head and fortunately, the cop in her took over, "Then give me the phone, she might be in danger again."

'The only danger to her is me when she comes home,' he thought and groaned in frustration, once again trying to distract her by running his hands up and down her back. It was futile, she shifted around in his lap until she could reach his trousers' pocket. "Leave it!" he tried his last attempt but she'd already managed to get it free.

"Nope!" she denied and stared at the caller ID, startled for a moment. "It's Dan's number," she commented and quickly pressed the accept-button. "Hey, it's me." Silencing Lucifer's protest of how the douche had his number, with her finger pressed on his lips, she attentively listened to the voice close to her ear. "Yeah, sorry. I forgot that I had put it in my jacket which I'd left in the car." She had to hold the little device away from herself to not become deaf by his outcry and followed reprimand, reflexively squinting her eyes. It went quiet and she held it closer again and apologized to him with a testily undertone, "I know. I'm sorry." Even if he was right, it bugged her that he treated her like a child. She was a grown-up, for crying out loud! "Relax!… Yes, of course I'm with Lucifer!" she replied with an eye-roll. Did he already forget whose phone he'd called? Before the anger in her could take over, she decided to end the call. "Yeah. Sorry again. I have to go. Bye." Before she removed the phone from her ear, however, spoken words held her back. "What?" she uttered baffled, her mood instantly changing to that of worry. "Are they out of their minds?" She didn't need an answer to that rhetorical question, but listened to Dan's reply nonetheless. "OK, where does she live? … No! We're coming… Because I want to make sure she's alright!… OK, fine. Yes, thanks!… Yeah, bye." She switched off the phone with a mouthed 'fuck' and when she looked up, she would have been frightened by the two completely black eyes that stared at her, if she hadn't already seen first-hand how frightening he could really look.

"What did he mean by 'I thought that maniac had you already?'" he asked with a dead-serious tone.

Chloe swallowed nervously. "Well," she elongated the word, buying herself some time to put her thoughts in order, and then disclosed to him, "They found out that the twin had watched me all the time, and that we didn't get stuck in that elevator by chance. He is after me."

Lucifer's expression rapidly changed between anger, worry, and rage and he burst out, outraged,"Why didn't you tell me right away?"

'For obvious reasons, mainly your behaviour', it shot through her head but she knew to better keep that locked away. "It just wasn't the right time to address this," she replied instead and instantly cringed at him.

To both their surprises, he neither exploded nor bolted to the door to start the manhunt himself, but it was very vividly written in his face that that was what he wanted to do right now. He still remained a calm posture, only briefly closed his eyes to call himself back to order, and Chloe didn't feel anything of the rage that seethed underneath his skin, apart from the grip around her that had noticeably tightened. "You're not leaving here!" he then made clear with an almost soothing voice.

"Yes, I do!" Chloe objected. "With you, if you don't mind. They'd just released his latest victim from the hospital. I can't leave her alone, knowing he's still out there," she added to explain it to him.

He wasn't having any of it. "You can, and you will!" he made clear. "Dan can keep her company. I tell Maze to sharpen her knives. Sorry, Detective, but playtime is over! You're in immediate danger and I will not risk your life! Maze can take care of him. Until then, you won't leave my side… or these walls," he added while making a circling movement with his finger.

"She needs my support," Chloe objected as if that would justify everything.

"That's exactly what he's hoping for! You said it yourself. He's a predator, and he's after you. And predators build traps to catch their prey if they can't hunt them down! I told you I'll keep you save, and I intend to do exactly that!" And he meant it, with all his heart and soul. There was no contradicting voice inside his head any longer, no thought spent at the book or the upcoming war or even the danger his mother could bring to him. Right now, every cell in his body was working for one task, each niche in his head was filled with only three words: Keep! Chloe! Safe!

She was about to disagree again, when his words had pushed the right wheels in her head and she mused on them before asking for confirmation, "You really think he'll use her to trap me?"

"Yes!" he affirmed and nodded determinedly. "I don't know how, but I'm dead certain that sooner or later he's on his way to that woman!"

Chloe's eyes widened when his reply provided her with further ideas and quickly formed a plan in her head. "Then better hope it's the latter," she commented and nodded at him decidedly.

/-/

Three had always been his favourite number.

He should have known the moment he saw her, that she was special. Her fierceness. Her strength. She was meant for him. He still remembered their first time as if it was yesterday.

He thought he'd finished her off, but she stirred the moment he took her hand to clean her nails. It startled him that she was still alive, but then the arousal came back almost instantly. He knew she wanted a second round. He'd seen it in her eyes. She wanted more. She was begging for him. He couldn't leave her like that. Unfinished. So, he placed himself above her again. At first, he laid his hands back around her throat, but she cheated him once. A pillow would be better, he decided, and he grabbed the nearest, and pressed it above her face while he had it off with her. And again, because three was his favourite number.

It had been risky though. Normally, this bloke would have come up there and take a look at her. But luckily, not that day. No! The gods were in his favour. They gave him enough time to relish his masterpiece.

He thought he'd succeeded after he was done. She looked dead; didn't stir a single muscle when he carved his painting into her canvas.

But then, later, he found out she was alive!

She played him. That little minx. He knew then, there would be another time for them. Another time for him to remember and tell his son, like his father had done with him.

He was one of a kind. Special. Just like him. And his father before him. He'd told him so, when they'd finally met for the first time, shortly after his 17th birthday. His mother hadn't approved of it. She still was mad at his father that he'd chosen her, and forbade him to call him dad. But that's what he was. His dad. His father. His mentor.

His mother still didn't approve. She threatened him, ordered him and even begged him, but he couldn't deny his descent. Neither could she! When he refused to listen to her, she'd told him to go. He didn't want to either. Instead, he decided she had to go, and then, she was gone.

His mother wasn't his first.

No!

But she was special. Just like her. His number three. She was blonde, just like his mum. That's why he picked her. That's why he picked all his numbers. Except for number five. She was a necessity. A requirement to get his favourite number out of her den.

She hid way too long for his liking. Weeks ago, he knew she was ready for him. She was strong. Fierce. She put up a real fight. Not like the others who only cried and begged for their lives. She'd challenged him and he knew she would challenge him again.

Only he didn't expect it to be so soon. All the time these midgets hid her away. Nowhere could he be alone with her. He'd even been back to her house, fully aware that bloke might be there, too. The one who'd almost messed everything up. Back then. He'd wanted to have his next number long before, but over again this moor kept showing up. He was everywhere she was. And when he was finally alone with her, he almost wanted to laugh in her face 'Hey, girl, did you know you got yourself a stalker?' He didn't want to ruin this perfect moment, though. Like a fly dragged to the sun, this bloke was drawn to her. But not that day! His heyday! And after that day, he couldn't blame him. Because he knew by then, how special she was. He'd tried the fruit, and he'd wanted more.

So he laid out his plan. His backup. The one his brother originally chose, but he couldn't use her any more. He couldn't use anything anymore, anyway. He'd liked him, his brother. To find someone who is just like you is rare these days. You have to hold onto them. But his brother was weak. His brother was too eager and, at the same time, too anxious. He didn't have the real practice. He'd only had kittens and puppies and sometimes a deer. But he himself, oh, he had real practice. On real girls. None of them was of interest to him, though. None was blonde. None of them deserved their sign. But he couldn't be picky. Back then. That's what his father had told him as well. When he'd shown him his hunting grounds. Back at home. No one cared about them. They didn't have the right colour. No matter how they were dressed, rags or suit. It was a culture shock when he came over here. Sure, he finally found the ones who were worthy of his carving, but also everyone watched. His doings were everywhere. And they were his doings only! He'd helped his brother with his first, so that was basically on his count. And his brother's second, he wasn't there, but he got caught, so she didn't count. He was the only one who did it right! They showed it everywhere! His works were on everyone's lips. Everyone talked about him! He almost couldn't handle the fame. And he also couldn't understand why they didn't appreciate what he was doing.

He wasn't a monster!

He was an artist!

And now that he finally had her… She was the perfect fit to serve his needs; to create the next generation with. Back home. How he'd missed it. There he could do whatever he wanted. No one would take interest in a woman's screams. You just had to know the right places. He already knew in which shed to keep her until she'd bear his children. It was much easier to do what he did in South Africa, anyway. There were always people who didn't belong to anyone, who weren't missed… He'd already prepared everything for the passage. All he now needed was her. And he needed her alone… But she almost never was. At the hospital, at work, at that stupid doctor's place. Everywhere she was, it was crowded. And he hated crowds. He hated audience. They don't acknowledge his work. They are only noisy and annoying. Once, he almost had the right moment. That time this black bloke didn't show up at hers. But then this other man was suddenly there, acted as if he'd belong. He could have managed with that little brat of hers. Children's necks snapped easily. But not with him! No! When he saw this man, he was furious. She really didn't make it easy for him. Just like he'd expected it from her. And he accepted the challenge.

How could he know that all he needed to do was to wait for her? It wasn't what he'd planned, though. He knew with setting out the bait, they would meet again, he just hadn't expected it so soon. She was standing there, almost in front of him, so suddenly, and he had to improvise. They nearly caught him. But he was faster. Better. And when he listened to her cries… it was music in his ears. He knew she wanted him, dreamed about him. Soon, Three, soon, you'll be mine again.

The plan had been perfect. They only had to be in that elevator for another day, or two, and they would have been too exhausted to put up a decent fight. He would have won, easily. But then this fucking police had shown up; had ruined everything, and he had to hide again. He couldn't wander the streets. It would've been too risky. People could have recognised him and he couldn't jeopardise that now that he had her so close.

So, back to plan B. At least, Five was released today. Once again he would use her as bait. She was of no other use anyway. So disgustingly weak. He had to use his full self-control to not kill her that day, to not break her too much. It was a strife! She was anything but worthy of his number, but he had to sign her! So she would know, his beloved Three…

Soon, you'll be mine.

It still was broad daylight, but no one cared about a decent looking guy walking down the streets. The two policemen sitting in their car in front of her house were a joke. They didn't observe nothing. And the building hadn't changed, either. That small window in the basement was still unlocked. No one heard him when he entered. No one saw him. And with the thick carpet around the entire house, he didn't even have to walk carefully. He already heard the TV from down here. Just like the first time. So he simply walked up the storey.

And there she was, sitting on the couch, with her back to him, her attention fully drawn to the black square box, and her neatly combed hair shimmered extra brightly today. A little appetizer before his real meal wasn't so bad after all!

The music welled up inside of him again, and he sang out loud as he walked up to her, "You are my dream come true!"

There was no fright. No scream. She just calmly stood up and turned around.

"No! I'm your biggest nightmare!" Chloe spat back as she took off the wig, her eyes were dark with hatred while her expression was dead-panned.

A/N: That's the end of the chapter. I hope you liked it. What are your current thoughts? Please let me know and leave a little comment.

Have a nice day!

:o)