A/N - Hey guys - here's Chapter Twelve. Thanks to all my readers!

"He's awake," said Azrael.

"How do you know?" asked Chloe

"I know."

###

"Can I see him?"

"No," growled Abaddon

###

"Do you have to keep following me everywhere," vented Chloe, exasperated, having enough. "I mean, don't you want to get out of here? Surely you have better things to be doing."

The pair of angels exchanged glances.

"Believe us when we say we are enjoying this just as much as you are."

###

"He wants to see you," said Azrael, leaning against the doorpost.

Chloe stopped abruptly on her way out to work. She had resumed her duties a week after the "event". It had been twelve days since she'd last seen Lucifer.

She wanted the ground to swallow her up. She'd been badgering them to let her see him for the best part of eleven days, but now that she could, she suddenly felt nervous. On the other hand, she could finally get rid of her annoying, supercilious, invasive, infernal roommates, who insisted on stalking her everywhere. She was getting weird looks at work, and she didn't even have Lucifer to take her mind off it.

So there she was, ten hours later, fidgeting nervously as she stepped into the penthouse. This was where she had seen his wings for the first time. And the next day had woken up dreaming of eagles and pigeons. Beautiful white, alabaster wings with a pearly sheen that glistened like the reflection of the moon in water…

"Chloe?" Lucifer's voice interrupted her thoughts. He chuckled mirthlessly. "I didn't think you would come."

"I wasn't sure, either," she admitted. She went and sat next to him on the edge of the bed. He propped himself up straighter, and took her hand. They sat in silence for a while, not knowing quite what to say. The room was charged with a tense hush, as if one was waiting for the other to begin speaking first.

Chloe scrabbled for something to say. Something other than the elephant in the room.

"You're still in recovery?"

"When one finds themselves skewered at the end of the Demon blade, it often takes a long time to heal. Lilith's little stab wound kept re-opening. So here I am," he sighed dramatically, "imprisoned in my own bed."

Chloe could only nod at his explanation. The next few moments passed silently, neither of them knowing what to say. At last, Chloe could bear it no longer and went for the direct approach.

"You're the Devil," stated Chloe finally.

"Yes." The simplicity of the statement startled her. There were no snarky comments or sarcastic undertones to his voice. He looked at her earnestly, his eyes completely honest. Chloe took a deep breath.

"I want to know the truth, Lucifer, all of it. Tell me everything, from the day you met me. Leave nothing out. "

And so began his story, telling her about how he wanted to take the holiday from hell, how she was the only one who could resist his charms. He told her the whole truth about Maze, Amenadiel, his mother, Cain. Her eyes widened at certain parts of the story, parts that she hadn't heard from Abaddon and Azrael, but she knew that Lucifer wouldn't lie to her.

"You electrocuted yourself, died and went to hell, while you were mortal, for me?" Chloe was aghast. She hadn't realised the extent of Lucifer's actions for her. She was stunned. All of those mad things he done or said...

She stared at him, speechless.

"Well, I wasn't going to let you just breathe your last, was I detective? We'll be here till the cows come home if you don't stop interrupting." Chloe, despite everything, rolled her eyes.

Lucifer resumed his story, leaving out the part where he murdered Uriel. He didn't want the detective to feel guilty about that; his actions were his own. He wasn't ready to confront it now, and so he ploughed on.

It quite a while later when he finished. Chloe sat in stunned silence, trying to process everything she learned. Lucifer braced himself for what he was going to have to do. He took a deep breath.

"I suppose this is the point where you tell me that I'm a danger to you and your family and you don't want anything more to do with me."

"No! Of course not, Lucifer!" He closed his eyes. He'd hoped she'd be the one to do it for him. "I don't care about all that stuff with your… family. I know you, you're my partner. I've had time to think about this," she half-laughed. "You might be the Devil, and people may think you're evil, but I know you. I just can't think of you that care about justice, you care about right and wrong. You have saved my life more times than I care to admit. I know that you're an honest, loyal… "

He cut her off with a small laugh.

"I never thought I'd hear Chloe Decker praising me of her own volition." He sighed, gazing at her with a tender affection he didn't know he was capable of.

"You're so… good, detective. You deserve so much more than me. You…" He paused, looking for the words. "I never thought I'd be saying this," he muttered. Then he looked at her, with that same earnestness that made Chloe want to simultaneously burst into tears and launch herself at him in a hug. This was so different from the self-assured, arrogant character she'd gotten to know. This was the part of him that she'd truly fallen in love with.

"For once, Chloe, I care about someone else's happiness above my own. I've put your life in danger, and that's unforgivable. You make me vulnerable, in more ways than one," he added.

The look in his eyes was imploring her to understand, to not make this any harder than it already was. He knew this would scar him. He knew that, without her, he'd turn to stone. But it had to be done. "You came so close to harm, Chloe, because of me. I couldn't forgive myself if anything ever happened to you. "

He reached out to tuck a strand of hair away from her face. He took a deep breath.

"I think, that this has to be goodbye." Chloe stared at him, uncomprehending.

"I'm letting you go. "

A beat passed.

Then she slapped him.

"You don't get to tell me that you're letting me go, Lucifer Morningstar. Technically, I employ you. Only I can fire you, not the other way round." Chloe moved closer to him. Then she said gently, "Lucifer, I work with the LAPD. My profession is dangerous, and I walked into this with my eyes wide open, before I even met you. I have also put you in danger, and if you weren't the Devil, then you would be dead seven times over in the course of our acquaintance. You've been shot, stabbed, poisoned, electrocuted and who knows what else." He chuckled wryly.

Because of me, she thought. She blinked furiously, determined not to cry, but her voice wavered slightly as she said, "I have a dangerous job, but there is no one, not one person, I'd rather have by my side than you. "

She didn't think she'd ever seen Lucifer look so vulnerable than at that point.

They leaned forward at the same time, their lips crashing together. Chloe curled her fingers into Lucifer's hair, leaning into him, holding him next to her as they kissed, like they needed each other to live, as if the physical connection between them was like the need to breathe. He could feel her heart hammering against his, and tasted something sweet on her lips, blood rushing in his ears...

At least that's how he imagined the kiss would have been. Because he turned his face aside as she came closer. Because this was going to destroy both of them. And it would be too hard if she knew how much he loved her.

"It wouldn't work, Chloe," he whispered, looking down, anywhere but her face. He was clenching his fists so hard he thought his knuckles might snap. This was more painful than the stab to his chest with a demon metal blade. He felt as though he heart was being yanked out of his chest and being twisted and crushed over and over.

"We'll make it work, Lucif-"

"Lilith was right," he said.

Chloe blanched. "What?" How could he say that?

"You're human. I'm not. You'll wither away and die and rot. I'll stay here forever, destined to rule over Hell for aeons, eternally young, eternally alive. It wouldn't work. You're just... human."

Chloe's eyes were filling with tears. "And what if I didn't care about that?" She knew what Lucifer was trying to do. But it did little to soften the sting within his words. "You are the one that was always about living in the moment, living here and now. Why worry about the future? We'll take each day as it comes, like we always have." She was desperate now, clutching at straws.

Lucifer thought about what Marbas had said to him. You may not utter lies, but that does not mean you don't lie to yourself. Every word he was about to say was true, yet it completely betrayed what he felt in his heart. The truth was not black and white. That was only his delusion. The truth was subjective. He opened his palm. He had not felt the pain until he felt the slippery wetness in his fingers.

Chloe looked down into his open hand. A coin with a lion impressed onto its face was spattered with Lucifer's blood. The coin he had clenched so tightly within his palm had sliced his flesh, and rivulets of blood were streaming from it and soaking into the sheets.

"You are doing this to me," he whispered. "You make me vulnerable, Chloe. You make me bleed." She gave a little gasp at that, a horrified, stricken sound. He went on relentlessly, knowing he was ripping her to shreds, knowing there was nothing else he could do. "My brothers and sisters almost died because I rescued you. The balance of the world almost toppled when she got hold of you, because Lilith realised my connection to you. I-" and at this his voice finally cracked. "I cannot be around you."

The tears were flowing freely down her face now. "I'm so sorry. I didn't want this to happen -" He winced, stopping himself from correcting her. None of this was her fault. None of it. He hated that she felt guilt. He hated that he was the one doing this to her.

"Please," he begged her hoarsely. "Go."

He closed her eyes, so he wouldn't have to watch her, sobbing, walk away from him and out of his life.

###

She materialized out of the shadows in a flourish of ebony wings. There was uncharacteristic panic etched onto her face. She strode over to Lucifer, leaning on the mantelpiece, staring into the flames. "What is it?" asked Azrael. "What happened?"

Lucifer handed her the slip of paper. He took a long drink from the bottle.

"It arrived in my hand, minutes after Chloe left."

Azrael held the bloodstained scrap of parchment aloft and scanned it in the light. Her eyes widened.

Nice try - but it won't save her

A/N I wrote a nice happy reconciliation where the kiss was real and didn't happen in Lucifer's imagination. But then, being the sad person that I am, I deleted the happy ending part and made it more realistic instead of a sappy happily ever after - I guess this means I'm continuing with the story for now. But at the grand conclusion of this fanfic - whenever that may be - the ending will be satisfying. I hope!