Disclaimer: Lucifer is owned by DC comics and Fox.

AN: This is an idea I've had for a long time now. Took forever to write, but I'm finally done. The story is complete at twelve chapters (though still requires some editing in places, which I'll be doing as I post), and unless something happens, I'll be posting every weekend. Enjoy!

"So much for Quid Pro Quo."

Chloe tore her gaze from Lucifer, and her body followed suit as she turned and left, pace quickened, heels clunking hard and angrily across the floor of the auction room. Behind her she heard Lucifer's sarcastic "Oh!" and refrained from steering back to wallop him.

He was infuriating, but that was nothing new. The man breathed infuriating; it was in his nature. But most of the time it was – and she couldn't believe she was admitting it – the fun kind. The kind that made her smile on the inside while acting on the outside like it drove her up the wall.

This is different. She shook her head as she passed the FBI agents lining up the auction guests and staff. I thought he had my back. Even when he made a mistake and messed things up, he always made it up to me in the end. But now I finally have a lead, he ditches me, and over what? A pair of stupid angel wings.

She'd almost reached the door when a treacherous voice at the back of her mind, which unsettlingly sounded too much like her father's, said, They're not stupid to him.

Her feet paused their angry steps and she stood still in the doorway, half in, half out. She couldn't stop the flashes of memory that swept past her eyes; of Lucifer's many expressions over the past week. How determined and angry he'd been when confronting the biker, how he'd been obviously flippant when assuring Agent Fitzgerald that yes, there wasn't a problem with waiting thirty days for the wings to be returned (her first and only clue that he was definitely going to sneak into the auction himself), and then how dejected and almost lost he looked a minute ago, holding a handful of feathers in his hands, breathing deeply, trying his damn hardest to keep calm…

They were a gift from his father, she remembered. He hadn't been talking about the dolls when he'd told her that. Thinking about it some more, he hadn't given the dolls much of a glance once they'd uncovered them. They were a failsafe; an extra layer of protection to throw people off, hiding what was truly important to him…

And the wings were important to him, no matter how silly that sounded. Chloe felt her mind drift to the small box she had hidden away in her mother's home, filled with things – or junk, as Dan had christened them during one of their more nasty and heated arguments some months ago – that had once belonged to her father. Small bits and pieces which would be worthless to anyone else, but not to her.

Because each item had belonged to her father.

The same went for Lucifer's wings. To anyone else, they wouldn't be that important; part of a costume, or something that could be hung up on a wall like art. But to him, they were priceless; worth more than what anyone at the auction was willing to pay for them.

Guilt began to creep up on her, and she let out a sigh. "Shit." The wings were important to him, just like the Palmetto case was important to her. Quid Pro Quo went both ways – and in her desperation to find answers, she'd forgotten that.

If Lucifer had suddenly found a new lead on his wings and had tried to pull her away from Palmetto? She knew she would've reacted in the same way he had a minute ago.

"Detective?"

Chloe turned and found Lucifer standing behind her, frowning in surprise, though beneath that she could see a sense of desperation beginning to take hold. He wants to go find his wings. "Hi," she said back, and immediately felt silly for it. Hi? That's all I can say to him?

"Yes, hello, again." His frown deepened slightly for only a moment, before his eyebrows rose up and he stepped forwards, arms extended slightly as he attempted to move past her. "If you excuse me-"

"No, wait." Chloe reached out and placed her hands on his chest to stop him. Barely a moment passed before she realized how the man-whose-mind-was-permanently-in-the-gutter would react to her touch, and she quickly pulled away. Lucifer didn't say a word about it, however, which told her enough. He's really fixated. "I'm sorry. I overreacted back there."

He frowned again. "Detective?"

She sighed. "I tend to get a little…crazy when it comes to the Palmetto case. Dan's told me that plenty of times. And sometimes when I get too invested in it, I can be blinded by…single-mindedness, I guess. I act as though it's the only thing that matters – as you unfortunately saw back there."

"Yes, you definitely could have handled things better."

His words were spoken with his usual jest, and when she looked up at his face she saw that there were the beginnings of a smile gracing his lips. It was like an infection, and she found herself smiling a little bit, too. "Look… What I'm trying to say is… I can't pretend to understand why the wings mean so much to you. But if we're really…partners, or colleagues, or whatever the hell it is we are…"

"Nothing forged in Hell. That I'm certain of."

She laughed a little at his nonchalant Devil reference. "If we're really…whatever we are…it should be enough just knowing that they do. And it was selfish of me to act like my case was the only one that mattered."

Lucifer stared down at her for a moment, head tilted inquisitively like he was having a small revelation of his own. "If this is Quid Pro Quo, then it works both ways. We're equal partners; equal fresh pairs of eyes, so to speak. Our cases are equally as important. And I suppose…" He looked down at his feet, "…you weren't the only one acting out of line… I mean, you know, I…"

He was trying to apologize – something that was clearly a foreign concept for him – and Chloe let out a soft laugh. He's adorable when he babbles. And did I really just think that?

She noticed Lucifer giving her an almost boyish grin in response to her laugh, but it quickly disappeared and he clapped his hands together. "Right then! Quid Pro Quo, here we go!" He paused, frowning. "That sounded unbearably cheesy then, didn't it?"

The detective laughed again. "A little bit, yeah."

He shrugged. "No harm, no fowl. Can I borrow your phone?"

Chloe frowned at the sudden question. "Why?" And why in this day and age does he not have a phone?

"I have some favours to call in from people who'll know all about Carmen and his whereabouts," Lucifer explained. "I was originally going to go back to Lux and call them, but with you here now, it'll save us a trip. And the best part? It'll take them some time to get back to me, so while we wait, we can go chase your new lead at Palmetto street. How does that sound?"

Surprise filled her when she realized that Lucifer, of all people, was trying to compromise by working on both cases at the same time.

"That…actually sounds like a pretty solid plan." Looks like I've got my partner back.

Chloe had caught a lift with the FBI to get to the auction, so there was no other choice but to ride with Lucifer in his convertible – though to his credit, he didn't break any speed limits with her, like she'd half expected him to in order to annoy her.

As they drove she recounted every little detail about the case, while temporarily sliding in her new hypothesis to see if it made any sense. It does, crazy as it sounds. Lucifer was right; Audi wouldn't want Malcolm dead if he was the "golden goose". Someone else had to have been there, and they must have escaped somehow. Carmen proved tonight that secret escape routes aren't the stuff of movies.

When they parked up upon arriving, part of Chloe wished that they'd stopped by her home first so she could change into something more appropriate, because searching for a secret door in high heels wasn't her idea of fun. But there simply wasn't time; she was racing against the clock.

She took out her torch and led the way inside.

Lucifer was in the process of undoing his bowtie when he asked, "So what is this new lead you have found, Detective?"

Chloe only hesitated for a moment. This isn't Dan, or any other cop. This is Lucifer. He won't think I'm crazy, like everyone else does – like I was close to starting to believe myself. "You said that it made no sense for Audi to shoot his inside man, right?"

"Right."

"But no one else was there. No one could have shot Malcolm and fled without me seeing them – because there was no obvious exit." She turned to him and came to a halt, holding out a finger like she always did when trying to convince someone of an insane theory she had. "But maybe, just maybe, hear me out…there was a secret one."

It was a relief – and not a surprise – when Lucifer didn't scoff nor doubt her like Dan would have done. He actually smiled, his eyes lighting up like they did whenever she made a clever connection in a case. It was a constant reminder that despite his leers and sexual comments, he respected her and her skills. He liked that she was smart. "Oh, now that is a keen observation. When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."

She smirked at his Sherlock reference. "Exactly. There's gotta be an explanation for what I saw, and that's the only one I've got right now. And Palmetto street used to be the home base of a drug ring back in the late eighties, so it wouldn't be entirely unbelievable for a secret passageway to exist."

"It would make sense," said Lucifer. "Though I do wish you'd think the same when it comes to me, Detective. You've seen me do things that are impossible, and yet you still refuse to believe that I'm the Devil. I mean, what other explanation is there?"

"You're a mostly harmless insane-o with delusions and daddy issues?"

He rolled his eyes and stepped forwards, but while he opened his mouth to say something, no words came out – for another noise had distracted him.

A creek in the floor. And as he moved his foot up and down, the floorboard moved a little, as well.

"I'm not familiar with the buildings along this street, but I'm fairly certain that their floors should be just as sturdy as every other building in the city," said Lucifer.

Chloe brought her foot down hard, and underneath the floorboard it sounded…hollow. Like there was a gap.

"This could be it," she said, bending down while removing a pocket knife from her purse. When she found the right groove, she stuck the knife down and applied her strength, though Lucifer had to lend a hand before they could get the floorboard to pop up.

I was right. She shined her torch down the set of stairs they had discovered, and without hesitation Chloe descended down with Lucifer right behind her. A thought kept nudging itself forwards in her mind: How did no one discover this? The place was searched, and everyone was thorough. Granted no one had exactly been looking for a secret passage, but not one cop had noticed the floorboard?

Lights suddenly flickered on, and Chloe turned to see that Lucifer had found the switch. She still kept her torch switched on, as the light wasn't very bright and didn't reach all the dark corners. The sound of traffic lead them to a ladder and an opening above them.

"Looks like it leads up to the street," she mused aloud. She lowered her torch for only a moment, but it was enough for the light to hit something on the floor which reflected back, catching her eye. She swept the torch light back again until she saw what had caught her attention: a small, golden key. "Hey."

She took out a square of blue tissue and used it to pick the key up.

"What is it?" Lucifer asked. She could feel him hovering over her shoulder.

For a moment, she didn't answer. Shock gripped her as she held the key before her, the numbers engraved onto it telling her that there was far more to her case than she had initially thought. She never would've guessed, never would've thought it had the evidence not been staring her in the face.

"999 key, LAPD issued," she finally replied.

"So our comatose cop used this secret passage to meet with Audi?"

Chloe shook her head. "No. Malcolm had his key on him when he was shot."

She looked up to her partner, and watched as the realization slowly dawned across his face. "Wait…so that means…?"

"Another cop was here." She nodded over and over. "I was right." I'm not crazy, after all. "A cop knew this secret passageway existed – and whoever it was shot Malcolm."

For a flash of a moment, she swore she saw fiery red in Lucifer's eyes, but then she blinked and it was gone. Must've been a trick of the light, or a car passing by above us.

"So one of those officers back at the station who hates you and keeps glaring at you… One of them was responsible, and they've been making your life miserable? Knowingly?" He was angry on her behalf, and it made her smile just a little. "Why? Why shoot him?"

She shook her head, her gaze returning to the key in her hand. "That's what I've gotta figure out."

Lucifer place a hand on her shoulder, and she looked back up at him. The red she thought she saw before was gone, replaced with dark, chocolate brown which looked almost black in the dim light. Yet despite their dark colour, there was a warmth to them that set her heart at ease. "No, Detective. It's what we have to figure out."

The gratitude and, dare she think it, friendship she felt from his words alone was almost overwhelming, and it took her some effort to push her feelings – and the sudden urge to hug him – down and focus on the case. If I suddenly tackled him, he'll never let me live it down. I'll be doomed to cheesy sexual innuendos for the rest of my life.

Chloe took in a deep breath and let it out again. "Thanks." Thank you for having my back. Thank you for not thinking I'm crazy. Thank you for being probably the only friend I have right now.

"So what's our next move, Detective?" Lucifer asked as she tucked the key in her pocket. "Back to the station to announce your findings to everyone? Rub it in that you were right? I'm excellent at looking smug. I have to be since I'm always right." She raised an eyebrow at him. "Most of the time."

She shook her head. "No. If we show up and announce what we've found, whoever it is will either run or come after us. And I can't risk everyone around me, especially Trixie. She'll be their first target."

"Protect your offspring, of course."

Why does he call children 'offspring'? He's seriously weird. "Yeah. I'm her mother. That's what I'm supposed to do."

It looked as though he was about to comment, but apparently thought better of it and instead said, "So what's the plan, then?"

"We stop by the precinct," Chloe replied. "They're holding a wake for Malcolm. Everyone will be there."

"I thought you weren't going to announce your findings?"

"I'm not," she said. "If we're going to find a dirty cop, it's best that they don't think we're looking. So, I'm going to announce that I'm closing the case while I keep looking into it in secret."

He smirked. "Oh, you naughty girl."

She rolled her eyes. "It's not just that. If the case is open after he dies, then the benefits that go to his family will be effected. Even if it turns out that Malcolm was on the take, his family had nothing to do with that, and it wouldn't be fair on them."

"It's times like this when I realize that you're too good for this sinful Earth, Chloe Decker."

One minute he's an annoying jackass trying to get me into bed, and the next he says stuff like…that. She bit her lip and looked down, attempting to hide her blush. "It'll be harder to work in secret, but I've done it before. I could even ask Dan to look into some stuff for me."

And as always, the mention of her ex wiped the smile from Lucifer's face. "That might not be the best idea, Detective."

"Why not?"

"Because every single officer is a suspect," he explained. "And that unfortunately, whether you like to believe it or not, includes Detective Douche. You can't let your…feelings for him get in the way of the case, or…cloud your judgement, or whatever it is that feelings do to you humans. Nasty things. It's why I never had them."

Chloe ignored the last part and instead focussed on what he'd said about her ex. "Dan wouldn't do something like this."

"Can you say that for certain?" asked her partner. "I mean, you are divorcing him, so maybe you don't know him as well as you think you do. Can you say with complete certainty that you know he would never do such a thing, and he had an alibi for the night of the shooting?"

The irritation was back, but not because of Lucifer's typical 'let's pick on Dan' attitude. He's right. I can't say that for certain. But she wasn't about to admit it. "You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

"Since you didn't answer the question, that means you aren't certain."

"Lucifer."

His smile dropped. "Alright, fine. Yes, the possibility that it could be His Royal Douche-ness is exciting. But…I'm hoping, for only your sake, that he's not."

Her building anger died before it even came close to reaching critical. Whirlwind Lucifer strikes again. How does he do that? "I don't think he did it…but you're right. I can't tell anyone at the precinct that I'm working on this, and that includes Dan. And I doubt he'd help, anyway. He didn't admit it, but the only reason he tagged along today was to make me see that there's nothing here worth stabbing anymore."

"But on the contrary," Lucifer gestured to the secret passageway they were standing in, "there's plenty here to stab. Shows how much Detective Douche knows."

He passed her, and even though Chloe was shaking her head, she was smiling. He never quits.

Keeping herself amused was all she could do to ignore the worry that Lucifer had unintentionally set alight; the possibility of it being Dan all along. He was only a suspect, like all the other officers were, and was probably the least likely out of all of them to have done it…but the worry remained, and it stayed with her all the way to the precinct.

The announcement at the wake went better than Chloe had expected it to go. Anthony Paolucci showed hostility towards her, though that was old news, and she had to hold Lucifer back from hand-delivering a second punch. But that hostility was gone by the time she finished her announcement and raised her shot glass in Malcolm's memory.

Barely a moment had passed when she felt her phone buzzing in her pocket. One glance at the screen told her that it was for Lucifer, and she handed the phone over to him before he stepped aside and answered.

She felt herself tense up when Dan approached. "Hey. I think it's great that you showed up tonight."

"I wasn't about to let them scare me away," she said, attempting to sound casual. She felt terrible hiding the truth from him, and kept biting her lip to prevent the words from gliding over her tongue. We found something. A cop was there. A cop shot Malcolm, and that means you're a suspect, Dan.

His expression didn't change. "Didn't find anything, huh?"

"No." Chloe shook her head, relieved that he hadn't noticed anything wrong…but also disappointed. They'd once been happily married and in love. A small part of Chloe still loved him; the part of her who wanted to hold onto how innocent and wonderful it had felt, being in love.

It was amazing…and naïve. Being married was about more than just love; it took commitment, something Dan hadn't been able to do, and slowly she'd begun to realize that she didn't know him as well as she'd thought – and likewise, he didn't know her. That's why I can always lie to him…like now.

And it was why she couldn't exclude him from the suspect list. She just wasn't certain.

When she pulled herself out of her thoughts, she noticed that Dan's gaze was sweeping her body. He'd noticed how well-dressed she was. "You going out?" His eyes immediately sought out Lucifer behind her, who was of course still wearing his tux, and Chloe realized immediately what it looked like.

"It's not a date," she told him hurriedly. "We were busting a black-market auction. That's where the…angel wings were being sold."

Dan rolled his eyes. "Chloe, this is getting beyond ridiculous. You have a club-owner sidekick who's so buried in his own delusions that he thinks he's the actual Devil, and obviously, he likes to cosplay about it. You're dating a whack-job. Are you intentionally trying to get back at me for everything that happened between us?"

"I said it wasn't a date! We're not dating!" Chloe hissed, attempting not to draw attention from their co-workers. She already suspected that they all assumed she was sleeping with Lucifer. The looks of jealousy from the women and some of the men were enough of a give-away. And arriving at the precinct together dressed as we are will doubtlessly add more fuel to the fire. "He's my partner, and a helpful one. He's actually focussed on catching the people responsible instead of opening and shutting cases as quickly as possible, he doesn't call me crazy whenever I 'stab too hard' at something, and he never lies to me."

"So you believe his name is actually Lucifer Morningstar?"

It was her turn to roll her eyes. "His name doesn't matter. Yes, he may be weird and infuriating, and sometimes I just wanna rip my hair out, but you know what? That's just how he is, and I like him. I trust him."

"Ooh, Detective. I never knew you cared."

Of course he has to come back just when I'm inflating his ego. Chloe turned away from Dan and focussed on her partner. "You've got a lead?"

"Yes. Shall we go?"

She nodded, and shooting one last look of annoyance at her ex, Chloe followed Lucifer out of the precinct.

It took a while, but eventually they pulled up outside a large, secluded house on the outskirts of the city. On top of that, it looked expensive – just the kind of home that belonged to a black-market dealer.

"This Carmen was a very hard man to find," Lucifer said aloud. "No phone, no bank account, home listed under one of his many aliases…"

"Then how did you find him? Or how did your people find him?" Chloe asked. "The FBI have been after this guy for years, but he always evaded them."

"You should know by now that I have my ways, Detective," said Lucifer with a smirk.

Her eyebrow rose. "You mean that weird voodoo thing you do with your eyes that seems to make everyone tell you their deepest darkest secrets, and I can't for the life of me figure out how you do it?"

"I told you how I do it, darling. I'm the Devil. The real mystery is why it doesn't work on you. You're the one case I'd love to solve." He leered. "The research possibilities are endless."

"Has that pick-up line ever worked for you before?"

"I've never used it before, Detective. That's what makes you so special." His smirk just kept on growing, and she wondered how wide it could get before his entire face was just a grin. "There are many…different things I'd love to try with you."

"And this conversation is over." She took out her phone…

…which was immediately snatched away. "Hang on, Detective! What do you think you're doing?"

She gave him a look that screamed 'duh'. "I'm calling the FBI so they can arrest Carmen."

"Well, don't do it yet! I haven't gotten my wings back, and I don't want any of those snobby little agents getting their hands on what's mine! Do you not realize what could happen if humanity got even a glimpse of real divinity?"

"They'll have the strong desire to dress up as angels the next time they go to San Diego Comic-Con?"

Lucifer let out a frustrated sigh. "This is no time for joking around, Detective!"

"Welcome to my world every single time you join me on a case. Now give me back my phone."

He sighed again and tossed the phone into her lap. "There, happy now?"

"So if I can't call the FBI, what's the plan?"

"I didn't say you shouldn't call them at all, Detective," said Lucifer. "Just not yet. Once I have my wings, you can call them up and they can arrest Carmen for the crime of daring to steal from the Devil." He opened his door, but remained seated. "Now, I'm going to go inside and have a nice chat with our friend. It's best if you wait out here in case any of his…friends show up. And when I say "friends" I mean people who he pays to like him."

Chloe nodded. She had a feeling that Lucifer was about to do something she really wouldn't approve of, but had since learned to just let him get on with it instead of trying to stop him.

With a nod in return, Lucifer climbed out the car and slammed the door shut behind him. He stalked towards the house like a predator on the hunt, and Chloe was reminded of the black panthers she had seen on one of the more educational shows that Trixie liked to watch. Everything about him screamed 'danger', but Chloe knew better. She had seen glimpses beneath the exterior and knew there was a kind heart buried under the bravado and security walls he'd built around himself.

She only wished that he'd let them down more often.

It took her all of five minutes before she gave into her instincts and called Agent Fitzgerald. She reasoned that Lucifer would be in a hurry to retrieve his wings, so wouldn't take very long at all, and would be out with the wings long before the FBI even arrived. Her desire to get home to Trixie as soon as possible fuelled the call.

Explaining away why they'd gone after Carmen themselves was easy enough – she just took a page out of Lucifer's book and told the truth, but not all of it. When she hung up, she returned her gaze to the front door of the house and waited for Lucifer to return. He shouldn't be long now.

But as the minutes stretched by, she began to worry. Carmen's a wealthy man. I'd be more surprised if he didn't have some kind of security detail guarding his home. And while she'd seen Lucifer throw grown men through glass windows with only one had (she still couldn't understand how he'd been able to do that) she'd also seen what a bullet could do to him.

When she shot him, anyway. She couldn't understand what had happened with Jimmy.

Knowing that the FBI would be arriving shortly, Chloe climbed out of the car and hurried towards the front door. She found it left ajar, but there was no sign of a struggle. So far, so good. Drawing her gun, she pushed the door open further and slowly stepped inside. She dared not call out Lucifer's name, no matter how much she wanted to. I hope he's OK.

She couldn't hear a sound, which was strange; she expected to hear at least some talking. Unless they know I'm here and are waiting for me. But she decided to press on anyway.

Moving further into the house, she noticed a blue light coming from one of the larger rooms. The living room, maybe. It didn't look like anyone was in there, so she had to move on. And yet…

Something was drawing her into the room. Something she couldn't place. A…desire. (And she actually heard Lucifer's voice as she said the word in her head. She was officially going insane.)

She knew there was little time; she had to find Lucifer and get out, hopefully with the wings, before the FBI arrived. But her feet moved on their own accord, carrying her into the living room. There were artefacts dotted around the room, and a blue glow from several lights in the yard outside illuminated the room in a light that wasn't too bright, yet allowed the occupant to see everything.

The lights were directed at something, she noticed – something behind her.

She turned slowly.

Her eyes widened.

She gasped.

And stood frozen.

Wings. Beautiful, gorgeous, magnificent wings, each wingspan as tall as her.

They were white; the colour of purest starlight, though they glistened blue in the artificial light from outside.

They didn't deserve to be bathed in light that wasn't real and pure. They didn't deserve to be mounted on some collector's wall like a crude hunting trophy. They were Lucifer's, and they belonged on his back, right where his scars were…

His scars…

Chloe's eyes widened further as everything sunk in.

There was no way that the wings before her were fake. She just…knew, deep down.

They were real.

And they were Lucifer's.

Which meant only one thing.

Oh my God. Oh my God.

Lucifer Morningstar… His real name…

His records only go back five years…

He came out without a scratch from the hailstorm of bullets that killed Delilah…then he walked away from being shot six times…

He sent Jimmy into insanity…

He can draw out people's darkest desires…

He was right in front of me one moment, then I blinked, and he was directly behind me…and showed me a bullet he claimed to have plucked out of thin air…

He threw a man through a glass window with one hand…

He seemed shocked and confused when he started bleeding after I shot him…

There was a flash of fire in his reflection…

And the scars on his back…are from where he cut his wings off…the wings that I'm staring at right now…

Oh God, oh God, oh God…

She froze mid-thought. God. God…is real, too. Shit. Lucifer's the Devil, the Devil exists, Hell exists, Heaven exists, God exists…

Her heartrate began to pick up. Her entire body trembled. She sucked in several deep breaths.

Don't panic…don't panic…

She realized that her gun wasn't in her hand anymore, and looked down to find it lying on the floor. I didn't even realize I dropped it.

A door closed somewhere. She jumped with a gasp and spun around. There was no one, and yet, she had come looking for Lucifer and Carmen, and they had to still be in the house…

Lucifer. Still here. Her panic increased. Gotta get out of here. Gotta get away from him. Holy shit, my partner's the Devil. The freaking Devil. And I let him near my kid…

Trying not to make a sound, she walked fast towards the front door. She was in the hall when she realized that she'd left her gun behind, and for a moment she turned back to get it…but there was another noise, and it was closer, and she decided to screw the gun and made a run for the door.

"Detective?"

The front door opened, and there was Lucifer, the Devil, standing before her, and she skidded to a halt. Every instinct in her brain told her to run, run like Hell was on her heels (literally!) or at least run back to where the wings were and collect her gun. A small voice nagged that she probably looked like a deer in the headlights, told her to straighten up and act like nothing was wrong, because if he still thought that she didn't know his secret then maybe he'd let her go so she could get back to Trixie and they could pack up and run, run, run…

"Lucifer!" She took a step back and composed herself. I was an actress. My mother was an actress. I can do this. "I was just looking for you. It was… I mean, you were taking a while, so…I thought you might need some back up… What were you doing back outside?"

"Looking for you," he said. He was frowning, and there was a small amount of confusion in his voice.

He stepped forwards, and she took a step back. "OK, why don't you…calm down…"

"Calm down?" His head tilted. "I think you're the one who needs to calm down, Detective. Your heart's beating awfully fast."

She expected him to follow up with a comment about the effects of being within his vicinity…and that expectation made her realize just how close they'd grown, and the knowledge that she'd grown close to the Devil hit her like a ton of bricks and her heart beat faster and her trembling was growing to uncontrollable levels…

"No. I'm…fine…" She didn't mean for her voice to shake so much… "Just…the adrenaline…"

His eyes darkened a little. "You should know by now that I hate liars, Detective." His head tilted to the other side. "You saw them, didn't you? My wings. And now you know the truth – the very same truth I was trying to tell you, right from the very beginning. Now do you believe me, Detective?"

Yeah. Oh yeah. She nodded hurriedly. "I…you…I…"

"Detective…" He stepped forwards, arm reaching towards her…

She flinched away and wished she'd gone back for her gun. "No…"

For a moment, she thought she saw a brief flash of hurt in his eyes. "I won't hurt you, Chloe."

She took another step back. "You're…you're the Devil."

"Yes, I am. I thought we already clarified that with you taking a peek at my wings." He sounded annoyed. "But in case you missed the memo that I repeated over and over when I was in your company, I'm not evil. I punish evildoers. I did it in Hell, and now I'm doing it here on Earth. And I'd be enjoying it a Hell of a lot more if my idiotic brother would just leave me alone!"

"Your…your brother." Amenadiel? Was that his name? If he's Lucifer's brother, does that mean he's an Angel, or something?

"Yes, the man you were so…charmed over was the one who tipped Carmen off about my wings!" The Devil began to pace, and she could only watch. Her feet were rooted to the spot no matter how loud her brain screamed at them to run. "Not only did he cause the death of that biker, but he almost exposed humanity to the great divinity of my wings, and that's the last thing we need!"

Humanity…exposed…to his wings… Despite the panic and the fear, her brain managed to register what he was saying and implying, and her eyes widened when she suddenly remembered that she'd called the FBI, and they were on their way. If they see the wings…

"I…called them."

Lucifer stopped pacing and turned his dark eyes on her. "What was that?"

"The FBI," Chloe explained. "I called them. I…I thought you'd only be gone for a few minutes, because you looked so desperate to find the wings, so I thought it wouldn't hurt if I called ahead…"

She trailed off and shrunk back at the sudden rage in his eyes.

The eyes that suddenly turned red and filled with flame.

"I told you not to call them!"

Chloe was trapped in his eyes. She couldn't escape. Her heartrate increased, her trembling was likely to start an earthquake, and her breathing was rapid as she began to fall forwards, falling into his eyes where there was no escape from Lucifer, no escape from herself…

She thought she heard Lucifer call out her name in panic, but she was already halfway gone, and when she hit the floor she met darkness and nothing else.