Detective Chloe Decker stood in the elevator that took her to Lux's penthouse, and she was extremely nervous. This was the night of her date with Lucifer. The night she would tip the contents of the vial Kinley had given her into the Devil's glass, after which the priest would banish him back to Hell.
The plan had seemed so simple in Rome. At the heart of the Roman Catholic Church, she had been so determined to carry out the plan and rid the world of the Devil's presence. Since her return to LA, cracks have slowly appeared in her resolve. She had grown increasingly doubtful. The image of the Devil that Kinley had projected in her mind did not seem to match the one she saw when working with the Devil. It was a dichotomy in her mind between what she had seen when the Devil stood over Pierce's lifeless body and what she saw every day from Lucifer. Yes, he could be hot-tempered and even violent, but everything was measured, and he always held back when she asked. Yes, he could still be evasive and spin the truth, but she had never caught him in a lie. As much as she watched his behavior and words, she never saw that he was a danger to humanity or that he would lead people to evil or crime. On the contrary, his abhorrence of evil and criminals seemed absolutely sincere. Her greatest fear since returning from Rome was his presence near Trixie. Something she had long tried to avoid at all costs but which proved impossible to maintain without arousing the suspicions of Trixie herself, Lucifer, and his demon Mazikeen. But around her daughter, he was as he had always been. Insecure, awkward, and sometimes to the point of being hilariously a little afraid of the young girl. The devil, the king of hell, was afraid of a child, a nearly twelve-year-old, something that was somehow extremely important according to said daughter, who had the ruler of the demons wrapped around her little finger. If Chloe did not put the brakes on, this devil would grant her daughters every wish and whim, no matter how much effort and money it would cost him. And to not see that this devil would do anything to protect the girl at any cost, one would have to be blind, deaf, mute, and probably dead.
The elevator door slid open, and Chloe pasted a smile on her face. Lucifer was waiting for her beside the piano with that special smile of his that he seemed to reserve just for her. Dressed to perfection, as always, in an exclusive dark tailored suit, including a pocket square, tie, and cufflinks with a small gem. His hair coiffed to perfection and worked with products that no doubt cost as much as she made in a week. If possible, he might look a little more impressive than usual. This was no ordinary meeting in his penthouse; this was to be their first real date.
"Detective, welcome."
"Hi, Lucifer..."
The Devil was also nervous, but for very different reasons than the detective. He pointed to a table with a white silk cloth that he had placed especially for this occasion between the piano and the bar and asked:
"How about a glass of wine?"
Chloe's throat went dry, and she could only nod. Lucifer took the bottle of white wine waiting in the cooler and began to pour two glasses, and that was the moment Hell broke loose.
The large double glass door that provided access to the rooftop terrace burst into thousands of pieces as a figure with blood-red wings came crashing through them. The figure collided ungracefully and hard with the hardwood floor of the penthouse, and Chloe and Lucifer could hear the sickening sound of some bones breaking quite clearly. The figure slid across the ground a few feet before coming to a stop not far from their feet. The eyes of both Chloe and Lucifer were wide open in shock at the event. The Devil's mouth opened, and for once not a word passed his lips. The figure on the ground groaned in pain and tried to sit up. This movement was immediately followed by a cry of pain. The figure looked at his left forearm and saw that the bone protruded through his skin and muttered:
"Oh poop..."
The two looked into the face of the one who had just dropped in, and Chloe suddenly noticed that it was a boy. Twelve or thirteen, not much older than Trixie. She saw the broken arm and registered that his left wing didn't look right either. She immediately forgot why she was here in the first place, and her maternal instincts took over. She stepped toward the boy, got down on her knees, and helped him into an easier position. The boy was clearly bleeding from the open wound in his arm, and she seamlessly switched to her more professional side, looked at Lucifer, and said:
"Do you have a first aid kit or some clean kitchen towels? The wound needs to be covered, and he needs to go to the hospital!"
Lucifer still stood there as if nailed to the ground with his mouth open. The detective raised her voice:
"Lucifer!"
With that, he seemed to come out of his shock and said:
"Right, yes, coming..."
The kid on the ground chuckled softly and said:
"And how are you going to explain that at the hospital? Genetically modified chicken or something?"
He pointed to his wings with his right thumb and spoke with a smile clearly marked by pain.
"In that case, maybe a veterinarian would be a better idea."
Lucifer approached them with a first aid kit he had retrieved from behind the bar, handed it to the detective, and asked the boy, not understanding:
"You're a celestial, but how can this be? Amenadiel never said a word about your existence, and how can Father create a new Celestial without Mother?"
The boy looked at him with a gentle smile and said:
"True, I am a celestial, but not like you and the rest of the angels. It is a long story that I would like to tell without being interrupted by stupidly fainting. If you don't mind, I'd rather get patched up first."
Chloe looked at the child with concern as he began to look suspiciously pale and drab.
"I'm Chloe, and that's Lucifer, but I guess you already knew that."
The boy nodded:
"Yes, I know the Devil, if only by reputation, but you're no unknown either, detective."
Lucifer heard the boy say the words "devil" and "reputation," and of course he jumped to a conclusion and said angrily:
"I punish evil; I am not evil!"
The boy looked him straight in the eye and said deadpan:
"Gee, thanks for that priceless piece of information, Sherlock. Please do me a favor and bring a towel or something."
Lucifer looked at the boy, not seeming to understand that the kid seemed to know that he was not the Devil as mankind had portrayed and vilified him for centuries. When he made no move, the boy said briefly:
"Hey Diablo, towel, chop chop!"
Lucifer broke out of his trance for the second time in a few minutes and rushed to his bathroom to get a towel. Once back, he held it out to the boy, who accepted it with his right hand. He took a deep breath, as if to steel himself, and in one swift motion tied the towel around the wound in his left arm. Tears of pain welled up in his eyes, and Chloe felt a pang of pity go through her heart. The boy let out a long breath.
"Ohhhhh... POOOOOP!"
and turned a little paler still. Lucifer looked at the boy strangely, and there was a tiny smile around the detective's mouth at hearing such a polite curse. The boy had noticed the smile, shrugged, and said quietly:
"Believe me, you don't want to draw my mom's evil eye when you use naughty words."
He pointed at Lucifer:
"His devil face is a joke compared to that."
Chloe nodded omnisciently; mothers seemed to be the same everywhere and shared many of the same traits. She asked quietly:
"If you can't go to the hospital, there must be something that can help you, because you can't stay like this. Can we call your parents?"
He nodded slowly:
"My parents have…euch… bad reception, so no. There is a way to fix this mess, but it won't be very pleasant. At least not for me. My name is Alexander, by the way."
"Okay, Alexander, what way then?"
The boy looked at the devil and said:
"Lucifer, can you put me on the piano first? My knee took some of the brunt as well, and I won't be able to put any weight on it for a while."
"My piano?"
The devil asked, as if he had just heard something very unpleasant. Alexander replied with a straight face:
"Yes, your piano, because I forgot to bring mine."
Lucifer blinked for a moment, then carefully picked up the boy and sat him down on the piano. Once seated, he asked:
"In your collection of illegal drugs, do you happen to have a strong painkiller and a bunch of Valium tablets?"
The Devil nodded and opened the seat in front of the instrument, fumbling around for a moment before handing the boy a vial and some strips. Alexander looked at the vial for a few seconds, and Lucifer rushed to get a glass of water. The boy had swallowed a serious amount of the pills. A human would undoubtedly be in such bad shape within minutes that he would need an ambulance. Fortunately, Alexander was a Celestial and virtually immune. He shook his head for a moment, looked at Lucifer, and asked:
"Is Mazikeen in the club by any chance?"
The devil shrugged his shoulders and replied:
"During the day she hunts bounties, and at night she is usually here, partying."
"OK, can you please go and check, and if she's there, bring her with you. I need her skills to straighten this mess out so my celestial healing can kick in. Will you also call Miss Lopez and ask her to come here as soon as she can with her kit? Tell her to stop on the way and pick up some extra bandages."
Lucifer's eyes had widened, and he said quietly, some fear in his voice:
"Miss Lopez? People don't usually react well when confronted with evidence of the supernatural..."
The expression in Alexander's eyes turned hard, and Chloe noticed the coldness in his voice as he replied:
"I am well aware of that, Mr. Morningstar. But for what I need, there is unfortunately little other choice. However, I know that Miss Lopez can be trusted completely. I am a great believer in free will and choice. So make your choice. Mazikeen and Miss Lopez, or you ask your brother Raphael to come down and see for yourself what is left of your building, your precious club, and your patrons when he is surprised to find Mazikeen and a celestial stranger in the same room."
Lucifer's eyes widened at the prospect, and he swallowed noticeably. A small grin appeared on Alexander's face:
"That's what I thought. Tick-tock, tick-tock, Diablo mío, time does not stand still."
After shaking his head momentarily, the Devil turned away and vanished into the elevator. The boy looked at Chloe:
"Would you please get two chairs from the kitchen? We need splints to literally straighten out some of my limbs."
The detective nodded and hurried into the kitchen. No sooner had she disappeared into the kitchen than Alexander's eyes turned golden. The vial of anesthetic she had received from the priest appeared in his right hand, and he closed his hand around it. A moment later, Chloe returned to the living room with two chairs and set them down by the piano. Alexander's gaze met the woman's, and he said softly and icily as he opened his hand:
"You must talk to him urgently!"
She turned deathly pale and stammered:
"How... how did you get that? I... I... I don't know what to say to him..."
"The truth, Detective Decker, just as he has always told you the truth about who he is. I admit his manner is not the most effective, and he can be a complete idiot, but there is not an evil bone in his body. I think you know that by now. Lies are a highway to hell. Not so much the lie itself, but the guilt that comes from being caught in a lie and having to live with the consequences of a lie. I have no desire to see your soul end up in hell because you killed an innocent person. In fact, it would break him to know that you ended up in hell. What will happen after you tell him the truth? I cannot say. But something as serious as this cannot stay hidden. And you know as well as anybody that the truth has the nasty habit of always coming to light, sometimes at the worst possible timing. The only thing I have left to say about this to you, and you better take note of it and never ever forget my words! Try anything like this again, and I will personally deliver you to the deepest circle of hell. You will be the first living, breathing human being in Hell since Dante!"
Hellfire flashed in all its intensity in Alexander's eyes, and the vial in his hand was instantly destroyed on a molecular level. Chloe turned pale at the display of power and hellfire in the boy's eyes. The boy's commitment to honoring his word was evident to her. Before another word could be spoken, the lift doors slid open, and Lucifer, accompanied by Mazikeen, stepped into the penthouse.
The demon snarled as she saw a winged figure sitting on the piano, and her daggers immediately appeared in her hands. Growling, she stepped towards the boy. Alexander did not react the way she had expected. Not even when she put a dagger to his throat. He smiled softly, looked her straight in the eye, and spoke softly:
"Mazikeen of the Lilem is known for her direct approach and avoids unnecessary foreplay. Believe me, your chance to work a celestial with your dagger will come soon enough. It is an honor to make your acquaintance; I am Alexander, by the way."
The demon's face came very close to the boy's, and she sniffed his scent, then she looked at Lucifer and roared:
"What da fuck Lucifer!"
He raised his hands and said:
"I have no idea either, Maze."
"He smells like hell, you idiot! He's been to Hell not long ago! In fact, he is bound to Hell! Worse, he is also bonded to Heaven!"
The smile did not leave Alexander's face, and he said:
"True Mazikeen, on both fronts. Explanations later if you don't mind. Unfortunately, we have other cats to flog first."
He looked at the devil:
"Miss Lopez?"
"She's on her way. I'm still not convinced this is a good idea, but as you said, we have few options. Doctor Linda could give birth to her angel baby at any moment, so she would be of little use."
Alexander chuckled:
"How many times does she have to tell you she's not that kind of doctor, Lucifer?"
The smile disappeared from his face as he looked at Maze and said:
"I need you to listen closely to my voice and what I have to tell you, okay? You have access to all of Lucifer's contacts. You'll need someone from the Yakuza or the Bratva. In the alley behind Lux, near the dumpsters, a figure is hiding. A Roman Catholic priest who wants to kill Lucifer and send him back to Hell. Find him, immobilize him, and make sure he gets picked up and put on ice until I can have a word with him. It is imperative they keep him in isolation and as miserable as possible until I'm ready to have a…euch… let's say chat with him. Understood?"
Maze closed her eyes and clenched her teeth. The Demon did not understand why, but the boy's words seemed like orders she could not disobey and did not want to disobey. She just nodded and disappeared from the penthouse in a flash. Lucifer had watched the scene without understanding and asked confused:
"What's going on?"
Alexander looked up to him and said icily:
"Nothing to worry about, Diablo. As I said, I'll explain later; I just don't have the energy right now, and the Valium is starting to kick in."