Disclaimer: I don't own Lucifer, any of its characters

Author's Notes: 1. How about that season finale?

2. This is meant to be a one-off

Summary: How did Lucifer get into the desert?

Title: The Truth

Lucifer opened one eye, closed it again. He opened the other, closed it against the sunlight. How did he get here? Where was here? He opened both eyes. Sand, check. Hard ground, check. He got to his knees, noticing tears in his pants. His feet moved underneath him and he stood.

The shadow of the Las Vegas skyline glimmered in the heat. "It's not hell," he muttered. The only one with the power to pull him back was his mum. He remembered saying his farewells to her on the beach, earlier… it was yesterday? It had to have been; the evening's events came back to him too.

He visited Linda in hospital. He'd taken her hand, said a few words. She made him understand she didn't blame him. It was her choice to be involved with him, and she accepted him without question. It triggered something in him; if she willingly chose to accept him, then why couldn't Chloe? He chewed on the thought a few moments before leaving Linda.

"I have to…" Linda nodded her permission, and he left. He remembered leaving her a voicemail message on the way to his car. "I'm ready to tell you everything; why I've been so strange… Why Maze is so…" He rambled, which was unusual for him. He hoped she understood the gist of it was that he was ready to be straight with her. Show her the real him. He was so distracted by his thoughts he didn't notice anyone following him until it was too late.

He continued the mental checks of his body. Legs worked, he could still walk; Vegas wasn't that far. He started across the sandy landscape. It was at that point he realized that he was barefoot. The heat would burn this skin, but he couldn't change. 'Risk frightening the mortals. No thanks,' he thought.

He wiped sweat from his face as walked, at one point licking his finger to try and get the fluid. "Hard to believe Moses spent 40 years trudging along like this," he muttered. Civilization appeared no closer. He looked behind him; his footsteps led back to the point where he'd landed. He was surprised at how little distance he'd covered. "Maybe I am in hell," he said.

"What's this?" His shadow was bulkier somehow, as if he carried a backpack or… He ran his hands over his back. The scars were gone. He flexed his arms, stretching his shoulder blades together. The shadow shifted. He held his arms out from his sides flapping them a little. Yup…

"You bastard…" He shouted to the empty desert. He had his wings back. It opened up another avenue of escape. He could be back at Lux in a half hour. A flying man would draw too much comment. He could get away with them in Vegas, and to extent in LA. In Vegas he could pass for a male dancer, in L.A., a method actor. He would not use them to fly.

"I'm still not coming back to hell," he shouted shaking his fist. He examined it closer. The knuckles were scraped, blood dried in scabs. He flexed the fingers against stiffness. He didn't remember being in a fight. 'That doesn't mean anything,' he thought. His ring winked at him in the sunlight. It wasn't a robbery, otherwise it would be gone. He rubbed at the sore hand. Shouts of a crowd started to echo through him. Another man weaving, and bobbing. He put his hands to his nose; whatever injury was done had healed.

Healed. Does that mean he changed after all? It might explain the torn pants, and lack of shirt. He noticed a paved road steps away and quickened his speed. The pavement was a little smoother under his feet. There was one person who would know for sure, and he was once married to her.

Chloe played the message again. It was rambling for him, but there was also… joy? Contentment? Happiness? She was a little confused as to why he hadn't shown up. She waited, the worry gnawing away at her. It was uncharacteristic of him to leave after something like that; he'd always kept his word where she was concerned.

This morning she started a case, tracing his whereabouts.

"I don't know where he is," Maze said. She didn't stay long after Lucifer left. Linda insisted she leave. She returned to Lux to open the place for the evening. Lucifer wasn't there, and she figured he'd come to Chloe's.

"The phone, and car have been taken for evidence. Dan is looking after this one himself," she said, mostly to reassure herself. When Lucifer leaves, it was of his own will.

Maze reached across the breakfast bar and took her hand. "He's going to come back," she was as sure of that, as of her name. Chloe nodded. She couldn't stand the idea of something unfinished.

"He didn't leave on his own. He was forced." She'd gotten a good look at the security cameras. There was someone with a bat. They swung, and Lucifer was down. They couldn't get a plate ID, but they could tell it was from Nevada.

"Nevada state police have their eyes open for him, if he turns up" Chloe answered. They hadn't had a missing person matching his description, but they were looking into a fighting ring in the Vegas area.

Lucifer opened the door stepping into a cool, dark space. He took a moment to hide his wings before he sat down. "We don't open until 2 o'clock. You're a little scruffy looking for the dancer's position," the hostess said.

"He's here to see me," Candy's voice echoed from an office behind the front desk. The other woman moved aside for him. Candy held the door open as Lucifer brushed past. He sat in the chair opposite the desk and waited until the door had closed.

"You really do look rough. Tough night?"

He took his cue from her, and dispensed with small talk.

"Yes it seems that way. You wouldn't happen to know, or have heard anything?" He inquired. His eyes fixed on her face, alert for any sign she was lying.

"No. But some customers came in last night, and got too drunk to walk home. We called them cabs. A couple of them left their cell phone. There's some interesting footage of a fight on there, some pictures." She slid the offending objects across the desk to him. He picked one up, and touched play.

"It's an unsanctioned fight. Takes place at a parking lot near an abandoned hotel. The locals do it as simply something else to gamble on." He watched fixated on himself. He was sluggish at first, as if drugged. The other combatant had his way with him. He was on the ground, and felt the finishing blow when he saw his body change.

He threw the other man into the air, watching as he landed in tactfully placed pile of mattresses. The crowd roared their support and another fighter approached. This one Lucifer lifted up by his collar. "No more, he growled. He let the other man go, and he collapsed into a pile of jello.

Candy pulled the phone back, and rewound the footage. "That's you, isn't it?" she tapped him in his less than human form.

"Yes." He relaxed against the back of the chair shifting his face.

"I thought it was a joke. I thought you were lying. Nobody believes there actually is a devil. It's a figure of speech as old as time itself." She replied.

"I'm real. Angel cast out of heaven, forced to rule over hell, administer punishment to wrongdoers. Tempt mortals to pleasure" he explained ogling her before bringing his human face back. He thought for a moment. Someone knew about their relationship outside Chloe, and the L.A. crew.

"How did they find out about me?" Candy found herself looking everywhere but at the man in front of her.

"I know when you're lying too. The heartbeat gives it away. The refusal to look at me doesn't help. Of course you might be repulsed by my other half. It's how most mortals react when they're not screaming." He changed a third time. She gulped as he leaned over the desk.

"I grew up with these guys. When they were in one night, I told them about our breakup. I might have made it sound a little more than it was. They were upset on my behalf. Mentioned something about revenge. And that's all I know. I didn't think they would carry it that far." Human Lucifer was back on display as he sunk back into the chair. He drummed his fingers on the arms trying to come up with a solution.

Candy's voice filled the silence. "Legally, I have to give this to the authorities. But it's up to me, when, and how much. I can probably edit bits of it out." Lucifer tented his fingers coming up with a solution.

"How about I don't press charges for kidnapping, in exchange you edit my presence there completely out of it." He had her there. She stuck out a hand.

"Deal."

Lucifer rose from his seat. The meeting was over. "I'll be on my way then." She followed him out to the lobby.

"How do you plan to get back to LA?"

He grinned; the playboy look that attracted Candy. "Fly," he answered. Her lips twitched;

"Really?" You're the devil and you can fly. She raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

He laughed at her response. "You mortals are so fickle. You believe in the Easter Bunny, Santa Claus. But the thought of the devil being real leaves you quaking in your boots."

On impulse she took his hand. "I'll keep your secrets." He placed a chaste kiss on her forehead. "Counting on it." He started walking.

"Good luck with your detective," she called. He blew her a kiss from where he stood, and walked away.

Her ringing phone woke Maze. She glanced at the display: It was Lux.

"Lucifer?" She asked.

"Mazikeen," he drew out her name as he always did when they were in hell.

"Are you okay? She… We've been worried sick about you all day."

"I need you. Don't bring Chloe, I'm not ready to face her yet." She took a breath as if to object.

"Lucifer what's going on? Are you?"

"Maze, I need you." He was pleading again.

"What's wrong?"

"I'll show you when you get here."

"Okay I'm on my way." She ended the call. She moved to pull on clothes, and grab her keys before as she made it to their living room. Chloe was there already dressed.

"He called you. Maze I need to see him. I need to settle whatever is between us. Close it off, continue it, whatever." she stated. Maze didn't have time to argue. Besides, it was high time the pair of them talked.

"If you're coming with me no arguing. When we get to the penthouse you are not to say a word. Do not tell him how worried you are. Do not run to him. I need to do the talking. Agreed?" Chloe shrugged. "Agreed." At some point she needed a leap of faith.

Neither said a word until they entered Lux.

"Remember, not a word." Maze cautioned as they threaded their way through the dancers. She led them to a back hallway where a private elevator waited. She used her pass card allowing access to the penthouse. She wondered if she shouldn't prepare the other woman.

"He's different."

"I know." She couldn't deny it now. He mind kept replaying the events of their first case. Visiting the perp in the insane asylum. His face flashed in the glass. She shivered in revulsion at the image. Then the feats of strength; pushing people through glass walls, the healing. It all wasn't normal. She searched, refused to believe in him despite his own repetitive assurances he was the devil.

The doors chimed open, and they entered. "You've brought the detective," Lucifer's voice floated through the apartment.

"Yes she did. We need to talk," Chloe spoke for herself. He was suddenly standing in front of her wrapped in a black robe, his breath hot on her neck. Her mother instincts took over and she felt his forehead. He was burning up. He took her hand leading her to a couch and seating her. Maze joined her other placing a glass on the end table.

"You can't forget what I'm about to show you. It burns itself in the brains of countless mortals. People kill because of it." She sipped her drink. She let a dimple show at the melodrama.

"I'm sure it can't be that bad." Lucifer backed up to the windows. She locked eyes with him as his face changed. His features flattened against a skull covered in red, blistered skin. His eyes narrowed, Chloe could thought she saw flames in his gaze. She blinked and looked at the rest of the body that remained human.

He untied the robe and let it pool around him. He closed his eyes a moment.

"Your wings," Maze spotted it right away. The purest white wings appeared to either side of his body. Chloe found herself rising from the couch, and approaching Lucifer. He tensed as she touched a finger to his face, rubbing it back and forth a few times. The skin was surprisingly smooth, cool to touch. He grumbled as she touched a sore spot. She withdrew the finger and circled around to his back.

He felt gentle pressure as she probed his back. "A part of you. These are the wings from our second case?"

"Yes," he answered. She resumed her seat on the couch. It was all falling into place. A club owner meant he could enjoy all the temptation, and debauchery he could handle

"Do they hurt?"

"No." His face returned to the one she knew.

"I tried telling you so many times." She was silent. "I'll be downstairs," Maze sensed her cue to exit, retreating to the elevator. Lucifer poured himself a drink, thinking it best to let Chloe be silent. It was a step up from running, screaming from the room. He perched on a bar stool facing the windows. The wings he flattened into his body.

"People don't believe these days. Whether it's in dad, or Santa Claus, or the Easter Bunny, everything is so cold, materialistic. The world is tragically cynical nowadays. It wasn't only you."

She blinked; the first sign of awareness: "You should've made me believe. You could've made me listen. She walked towards him, and he stood prepared to retreat behind the bar. She leaned against it, watching him.

His eyes held a weariness. "I can't make people believe. Faith is something people are best to discover on their own,"

He watched her eyes as she considered what he said. She accepted the truth of it. When they met she was freshly separated, she didn't believe in mankind much less the divine.

"How did you get the wings back? He smiled a typical Lucifer smile. "One my own mysteries I guess."

"And Maze?" The smile stretched into a grin. The same old Chloe, allowing her curiosity to take precedence.

"My bodyguard, sworn to obey me. She initially cut the wings off. I'm tempted to get her to do so again." Of course her roommate was a demon from hell.

"She actually likes you, and the tiny human."

"Trixie likes her too," Chloe replied. He forced himself to still as closed the distance. Chloe made a second circuit around him. She touched him again where the scars should be. He looked like a stone statue standing there; perfect.

"There's another side to you, I never knew about. That's going to take some getting used to." He nodded.

"I understand if you want nothing more to do with me. If you fear what I'd do to you, or to Trixie. Half the time I'm afraid…" She stretched on tiptoes to put a finger to his lips.

"Shhshh. I'm not finished. I don't scare that easily. I want to stay. I want to see what lies between us." He picked her up and swung her around the living room. She laughed.

"I'll take it as a victory." Lucifer said setting her down. She raised kissed him on impulse.

"I need to leave. Dan's dropping Trixie off in the morning. I'll still see you at work?"

He nodded. "Solving cases with you is the most fun I've had as a mortal." She smiled. "Until tomorrow then," she said. The elevator doors closed. He let the humanity drop away from him and gazed at his reflection. The flames in his eyes glowed back at him. He felt his wings spread to either side, white in harsh relief to his puckered red skin. He spread his lips in an approximate smile, missing teeth. He raised a gnarled hand towards the doors.

"If she can accept the truth, then so can I." He told it, and walked away. The devil was back.