Author's note: I began writing this story before Legends episode 5x09 aired, and it (as expected) contradicted quite a few things about the plot of this story. As such, consider this an alternate path our characters may have taken, but didn't.

Sara put a hand on Charlie's shoulder comfortingly. So much had happened recently – so much death and pain – and it was arguable who was to blame. Sure, it was Charlie's loom and Charlie's sisters, but she had warned them their quest would be dangerous. John's the one who ran headfirst into a battle against a vengeful goddess, and then of course almost didn't make it out alive. And then Behrad... if he hadn't given his sister psychotropic drugs and his totem, maybe he could have defended himself.

The captain of the Waverider shook it off; now was not the time to be casting blame. Now was the time for action, and it began here in the ship's central hub. "Hey, how are you holding up?"

Charlie snarled. "Shouldn't you be asking Zari that?"

"Zari is managing. Channeling a lot of emotion into beating up John, but managing. I'm checking in on *you*."

"John? It wasn't John's sister who killed Behrad, was it? It wasn't John's sister who's trying to control every human on the planet, is it? It wasn't bloody JOHN who thought he could outrun literal Fates just because he broke up a damn loom, was it? I'm the one she should be pissed off at!"
Sara echoed her inner monologue to her friend. "We could sit here throwing blame around, deciding who's at fault, or... we can get the last piece of the loom. If you still want to brood and yell and throw punches after, I'm your punching bag, but every second we spend on that is another second closer Atropos gets to that ring."

Charlie glared at her. She wanted to wallow, she wanted to rage, she wanted to hit someone or break something or both. But she knew Sara was right. "Fine," she sighed. "Then we're going to LA."

"You hid part of the loom of fate in the middle of a crowded city?"

"It'll make sense once we get there, trust me."

Sara nodded. "Alright, just tell me the year and we'll head out."

"2015 or later's fine."

"For the sake of keeping my city life as straightforward as possible, let's do 2020, then. Gideon!"

"Already on it, Captain Lance," the computer's AI answered, and as the ship flew off through the Temporal Zone, Sara called a team meeting.

Detective Chloe Decker sat at the swanky private bar alone. Not another soul was around, which made sense, since the owner of the penthouse had left months ago. Honestly, she felt foolish even coming here once a week as she did, but somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew she harbored a tiny glimmer of hope that maybe he would return. He'd find a way home, a safe solution, and show up on the balcony, and he'd expect her to be there waiting for him. He was always a bit narcissistic and juvenile, so of course he'd expect her to drop everything and wait for him... and yet, that's exactly what she was doing, so was it really that juvenile after all?

As she poured herself another brandy, suddenly the elevator dinged and the doors opened. Her heart jumped: was he back? Was he about to step out of the lift and yell, "Detective!" like nothing had changed? She stood and faced the doors, and then her heart sank when instead of the charming, handsome British man, she saw two women she'd never met.

"Oi, Lucifer!" yelled the darker skinned woman, clearly another Brit. The woman took a step out of the lift and froze as soon as she saw Chloe. "And who are you, then?" she asked, an expression of mixed confusion and instinctive rebellion on her face.

"Detective Chloe Decker, LAPD. What are you doing here?" Chloe slowly reached for her weapon, but kept it holstered. Better to be prepared, but not start any unnecessary drama until she found out who they were.

The lighter skinned woman spoke up; she was American. "I'm Sara Lance, this is my friend Charlie. We're here to talk to Lucifer Morningstar. Do you know where he is?"

Chloe took her hand off the gun and sighed. "You're about six months too late. Lucifer's gone. Whatever favor you owe him, don't worry about it, it's forgiven."

"Mate, we don't owe him any favours. I'm here to cash in on a favour he owes me."

*That's not like Lucifer to leave his favors unpaid,* Chloe thought. He usually fulfilled his end of the bargain first so he could cash in later. "Well, I'm sorry, but like I said, he's not here."

"Did he leave any of his personal effects behind? Like a ring, maybe?"

"He wouldn't leave the ring behind, Sara, he's not that reckless."

"He left everything behind," Chloe answered, holding her arms out like a game show host presenting their glorious prizes. When Lucifer had first left, Chloe had kept everything untouched for his return. After two months, though, she finally gave up and covered his furniture with plastic to prevent dust from piling up on it. Other than that, everything was exactly as it had been that day when, crying on the balcony, he had jumped and disappeared forever. "Except I think he was wearing his ring when he left, so he took that."

"Dammit!" Charlie exclaimed. "Any idea where he ran off to?"

"Somewhere far away," Chloe answered. She wanted to honor Lucifer's influence on her life by being honest, but she also couldn't tell them he'd flown away to hell. They'd think she was insane.

"Detective," Sara began, not knowing the slight pain the word caused this mysterious woman hanging out in a nightclub owner's abandoned penthouse, "it's very important that we find him and get his ring back. Where is he now?"

"I can't tell you. You'd... you wouldn't believe me anyway. Just forget about him."

"Mate, why wouldn't we believe you? Because he's an angel? Or because he's the devil?"

Chloe gasped, totally not expecting anything like what she just heard. "You... you know? I thought my friend Linda and I were the only humans who knew..."

"I mean, until I told Sara about an hour ago, you and John Constantine probably were. I'm not human." And right before the detective's eyes, Charlie began changing form, morphing until she looked exactly like Lucifer. And then she spoke, but her voice was Lucifer's as well. "So trust me, we'll believe you. Where is Lucifer?" She morphed back into her original form of a young lady.

Chloe gasped again and took a step back. "Wh—what are you?"

Sara tilted her head and puckered her lips a little, as was her habit. "Hm. That's a bit rude. But understandable."

Charlie shrugged. "I'm a god. Not the main focus here, though."

"... *a* god? So... Lucifer's father..."

"Not the only one, no. Now look, we don't have a lot of time to waste. Tell us where Lucifer is or we'll find out another way."

"Hell," Chloe said simply. "He went back to hell."

"Ugh, well why the bloody hell would he do that?" Charlie questioned, irritated.

"The demons, they... they were rising up, coming to Earth. They were staging a coup. He had to go back, to keep them in line...to protect everyone..." *To protect ME,* she thought.

"So the last piece of the loom has been in hell the entire time?" Sara shook her head.

"Apparently," Charlie answered.

"Please tell me we're not gonna have to eat blood to get there. It always grosses me out when John does that."

"No, this is... a different hell. The hell that was attached to Lucifer's earth before the multiverse collapsed. I think I can get us there, though. Maybe."

Chloe didn't fully understand what she was hearing, but she did pick up on one thing. "You can get to hell and back? So then, you can take me to see Lucifer!" The thought of seeing him again after all this time, seeing his face, holding him tightly. Even just for a brief moment, it would be enough.

"Uh, no," Sara said. "Sorry, we're not taking any unnecessary risks. Not anymore. Thank you for your time, thank you for your information, but we're done here."

As the two women turned to head back into the elevator, Chloe grew desperate. Without thinking, she pulled her gun and pointed it at Sara, figuring pointing a gun at a god would be useless. "Freeze!" she yelled, and the two women turned back to face her. "I'm a detective, my friend is a demon, my... well, Lucifer is an angel. I think I can handle myself. Now you are going to take me with you."

Sara smirked and turned to her companion. "I like her," she said, before swiftly flipping to land directly in front of the detective and grabbing her gun before her feet even touched the ground. "Fine, you can come, as long as you don't point another gun at me."

The detective, still stunned by the speed at which she was disarmed, just nodded and followed her two new cohorts into the lift.

"Someone going to tell us who the new recruit is?" Nate pointed to Chloe as the team gathered in front of the ship's main console.

"Everyone, meet Detective Chloe Decker. She's with us for this one mission and this one mission only."

"Detective? What, you got us our own Batman?"

"Uh, 'Chloe' is fine," the new woman interjected. She wished they would stop calling her Detective as much as possible.

"Uh, babe?" Ava looked inquiringly at Sara. "Why exactly are we bringing a hot det—I mean, uh, a detective on this mission?"

Sara smiled a little at her girlfriend's jealousy. "Chloe has a personal connection to Lucifer, so she's coming to hell with us while we get his ring back."

Just then, Constantine limped into the room from an adjacent hallway, with Zari close behind. "Did I hear someone say 'Lucifer'?"

Sara sighed. "You did, John, but you're sitting this one out. You need to rest and heal."

"I also have a personal connection to Lucifer, love, so I'm coming with you."

"Yeah, Diggle told me about that. His debt to you is already paid. You're not coming, John, that's an order."

"Besides," Zari said, dripping with sarcastic saccharinity, "you need to stay where I can keep my eye on you."

"Bloody hell, you're like a hound dog." Zari just smirked, equally as sarcastically as her tone.

"So what's the plan, Captain?" Nate asked.

"Charlie thinks she can get us into hell – Lucifer's hell, not the one John's been to with Astra. We'll go there, find Lucifer, get the ring back from him, then come back. Should be a piece of cake."

"And, uh, how exactly do we get into hell in the first place, Charlie?" Chloe asked. She always liked to know all the details of a plan before executing it.

"Lucifer's hell is reserved mostly for angels, demons, and tortured human souls. But at least one goddess was trapped there at some point, too: Lucifer's mum. I heard she was tossed there by her husband – lovely bloke, him – but that she escaped. If one goddess can pass between that hell and Earth, then I'm guessing I can, too."

*Lucifer's mom,* Chloe thought. Flashes of things he'd told her about Charlotte Richards suddenly sprang to mind, but there was still so much that didn't make sense. She put it aside, resolving to ask Lucifer when she saw him again.

"So what, you just... take a walk and end up in hell?" Nate was skeptical that this plan would work.

"Not exactly. Moving between dimensions and universes is...more complicated than that. But back when there was a multiverse, I wandered around it all the time, so I'm sure I can do this, too."

"You're damn right it's more complicated," Constantine spoke up. "And if you're planning on taking two humans with you, bodies and all, they'll be torn to shreds."

"Maybe," Charlie responded somberly. "But what choice do we have, John? Sara would never let me go alone, and she's right not to." Sara had a moment of realization about what Charlie meant, and wanted to reassure her that wasn't the case, but she didn't say anything.

"At least let me prepare some warding for you lot," John pleaded to Sara.

Sara nodded. "Do it. Girls, get your summer clothes, 'cause once the warding's done, we're going down south where it's real hot."