Lucifer lifted Pierce up by the throat with one hand, as if the other man were nothing more than a rag doll. Pierce stared at him in horror, clearly not having anticipated this display of brute strength.

"You killed her." Lucifer's voice was pure venom. The hatred and disgust in it were almost palpable. "Why? What did she ever do to you? She was just trying to be a better person. Something you wouldn't understand."

Pierce tried to pry Lucifer's hands from his throat, but the devil's grip was like iron. Pierce started kicking at the other man, but Lucifer didn't even seem to notice.

"agh- accident", he managed to get out, in spite of being chocked.

Lucifer's eyes flamed red. "An accident? You are honestly trying to tell me that you ACCIDENTALLY aimed a gun at her and shot her?"

Pierce's eyes widened. The man in front of him had vanished, replaced by a creature from hell. Its skin was red and burned, the eyes alight with an inner flame. Two massive wings had appeared out of nowhere, pulsating with a terrifying red glow. In spite of everything, he couldn't help but be awed by their beauty. The top parts of the wings were shaded in a red so deep it was almost black, while the ends of the bottom feathers were only light red, almost white. They were truly magnificent.

He realized that they would be the last thing he would ever see before dying, as consciousness slowly left him.

"Freeze."

Both men turned to the side, seeing Chloe, gun raised, hands trembling. The pressure on his throat vanished suddenly, as Lucifer let go of him and took a step back. He slid down the wall and landed on the floor with a thud.

Chloe refused to believe what her own eyes were telling her. This wasn't happening. This couldn't be happening.

"Chloe", Pierce croaked, "Shoot him. He's a monster. He tried to kill me. Quick, before he attacks you too."

She looked back and forth between Lucifer and Pierce, the point of her gun moving with her gaze. Lucifer just stood there, unmoving, his wings twitching nervously, his arms hanging by his side. He looked defeated, hopeless.

"Shoot him!", Pierce cried out, his voice still rough, "What are you waiting for?"

Chloe's gaze swept to Lucifer, her breathing quick, her hands trembling. She saw Lucifer close his eyes, and take a deep breath. Waiting for the bullet, she realized. He's waiting for me to shoot him. He thinks I'm going to shoot him.

"Did you kill Charlotte?", she asked Pierce, surprised by the steadiness of her own voice. Lucifer's eyes shot open when she spoke, a look of confusion crossing his features.

"What? Look at him! Can't you see him?"

"Did you shoot Charlotte Richards?"

Pierce lifted up his hands, then pointed his right index finger at Lucifer. "No. He did! He's the monster." Pierce got up slowly, using the wall behind him for support.

Chloe aimed the gun at Pierce once more, her hands suddenly steady. Eliminate the threat first. Freak out later. "You're lying. He was with me when Charlotte died."

Out of nowhere, Pierce's face turned into a grimace of fury. "How can you trust that thing over me? How can you choose that thing over me? Can't you see what he is? He isn't even human."

"Lieutenant Marcus Pierce, you are under arrest for the murder of Charlotte Richards. You have the right to remain si-"

"No." Pierce threw his hands up, his face a grimace of anger. Chloe wondered how she had ever been attracted to him. "I'm not going to prison." He turned around and walked away, completely uncaring of the fact that she had a gun aimed at him.

"Stop. Marcus. Please. I don't want to shoot you, but I will."

He didn't even stop walking away. Chloe trained the gun on his leg, and fired. He went down, his hand going to his leg, coming back bloody. He looked at her as if she were to blame for all of this somehow.

Chloe's gaze was drawn to Lucifer once more. He was back to the man she had always known, perfect, smooth skin, no trace of wings. The only thing which betrayed what had just happened was the expression on his face, which was one of utter hopelessness. It was the expression of a man who had experienced rejection all his life and was expecting to experience it again.

Chloe was drawn out of her thoughts by the sound of sirens. The backup she had called when she'd first heard Lucifer and Marcus arguing, before she had seen everything, was already on the scene. One of the officers tried to handcuff Pierce, but he attacked him, starting to scream and fight with all his might. Chloe paid him no mind. She turned to Lucifer.

She tried to wrap her head around what she'd seen and failed. All those times he'd told her, yet she'd never believed him. Or maybe there had always been a part of her which had known the truth. The instinctual part which made decisions based on gut feeling. The part which made her a great detective. But the intellectual part of her had refused to even consider the possibility, until now.

Lucifer looked at her with such sadness that it almost broke her heart. There were things she needed to tell him, things he needed to hear, but right now she wasn't able to put them into words. Instead, she stepped forward and drew her arms around him, hugging him close. Lucifer stayed frozen in place. Through his thin dress shirt, she heard his heart thundering in his chest. He was trembling slightly against her. Chloe realized with a start that he was terrified. She wondered distractedly about how calm she felt in his arms. Shouldn't it have been her who was terrified? After what she had just witnessed?

She pulled back slightly to look at him. He hadn't returned the embrace, instead standing unmoving in place. His face was a turmoil of emotions. Fear, panic, self-loathing, regret, and possibly, if she looked very closely, a glimmer of something else. Hope. There was a rational, terrified part of her brain that kept screaming at her. He's the devil. He's the devil. He's always been the devil. What the hell are you doing? She ignored it, leaned up on her tiptoes, and kissed him. It was a soft, chaste kiss, much like the other two they had shared so far. After a moment she pulled back, to see the most amazing thing. The glimmer of hope she hadn't been sure was there had now engulfed him completely. He was staring at her with wonder and awe, his brow furrowed in confusion.

"Not to me", she repeated her earlier assurance.

His expression changed again and she thought for a second that he might cry, but then he suddenly dived in for another kiss, his right hand coming up to draw along her cheek, his left arm sneaking around her. This kiss was longer, deeper than the other. And when they finally broke apart, they leaned their foreheads together, catching their breaths. Chloe brought her hand up to stroke with her thumb along his cheek, and realized that it was wet. He was indeed crying. She drew her arms around him tightly, intending to never let go, heaven and hell be damned.