If he hadn't felt her touch, heard her words, and seen her face with his own eyes, Lucifer would never in a million years have believed it. He'd been wrong. Even if she'd been scared of him before, Chloe wasn't scared of him now. He didn't have to give her space like he'd thought. It felt like a miracle. She felt like a miracle. Lucifer just couldn't explain it, even to himself.
When he got home, Lucifer sat at his piano and played some old classics. Even with his leg all shot up, Lucifer was in a wonderful mood. He wasn't sure why he felt like singing love songs tonight, but he was well past denying himself the joy. Especially when there was no one else around to judge him for it.
Something else no one was around to judge him for was his sentimentality about the bullet Chloe had shot him with. Lucifer had found it on the ground, when Chloe had been arresting Roberta, and picked it up. He'd kept it in his pocket after that until he'd arrived home. Then he'd put it somewhere safe. It was strange, but the small piece of dented metal made him smile when he looked at it. Lucifer wanted to keep it around to see if the effect continued.
Lucifer had just finished another song when the elevator door opened. He hadn't realized he had an audience. It wasn't until he turned around and saw who was walking off that elevator that Lucifer froze.
The woman before his eyes looked rather disheveled. Her white blouse was ripped, and it was so dirty it hardly looked white anymore. She had on a short business style skirt and heels that were also looking worse for wear. He could tell her hair had once been up in a professional style bun, but now most of it was falling loose around her face.
Lucifer barely had a second to guess at who she could be before she spoke his name. She seemed upset, almost desperate, but none of that mattered because the moment he heard her say his name he knew exactly who she was.
"Mum?" Lucifer gasped.
"Help me," she said, then started to fall. Moving forward Lucifer caught his mother in his arms before she hit the ground. All that time and energy spent looking for her and she literally walked into his penthouse!
Conscious but wobbly, his mother managed to stand again. Completely out of his element, Lucifer suggested she sit down. His mother complied, then began her story without a single prompt from him.
She explained how the first two vessels she'd inhabited had been killed quite quickly - leading her to inhabit the woman she was in now. The goddess of creation went on in detail about the 'scary ringing thing' she'd hid in the ice and the 'tiny spear' she'd pulled out of her neck.
Lucifer could only imagine what a 'scary ringing thing' was but as she had the 'tiny spear' in hand he could at least identify that as a screwdriver. His mother's story of pulling the screwdriver out of her neck did explain the blood that covered her back, but Lucifer still wasn't buying it. She was the goddess of all creation and this was a wounded bird story.
"I swear all I've done for three days is wander around this cesspool asking these vacuous cretins how to find you," his mother defended herself.
Lucifer had made up his mind. This wasn't about getting an explanation for the past. This was simple. He'd made a deal with Dad, and the Devil didn't break his deals. His mother had to go back to hell, and he knew just the person for the job. Placing his palms together, Lucifer brought them to just under his chin and prayed for Amenadiel. What Lucifer needed right now was someone with wings who could take his mother back.
In hindsight, if he hadn't burned his wings taking mom back to hell would have been a bit easier. Still, Amenadiel would be on board with his plan, Lucifer knew, and able to help.
His mother didn't seem to like this idea. She kept claiming she wasn't here to hurt anyone. No matter how much he reminded her about why she should want revenge on him, all his mother said was that she wanted to repair their relationship. She said she wanted to be a mother to him again. It had been so very, very long since Lucifer had felt like he had a mother. A part of him wanted to believe her. He wanted to get the mother back he'd thought forever lost to him. He wanted to believe the Detective had been right, but he just couldn't. Too much had happened. His mother's word wasn't enough.
"I'm going to need you to prove your original story to me," Lucifer told her firmly. "We'll retrace your steps." It was what the Detective would do. She'd hold onto her skepticism until she had proof one way or the other.
His mother agreed, saying they should begin where she woke up with the screwdriver in her neck.
It wasn't until they got to the building in question that Lucifer realized letting his mother borrow from Maze's wardrobe had been a mistake. The sight of his mother in a slutty dress made Lucifer wanna throw up.
Lucifer had to admit her story was looking pretty accurate until they found the dead guy on the bed.
Between his mother trying to persuade him and Lucifer's own internal conflicting feelings on the matter of his mother, he knew he was in over his head. To really get to the bottom of his Lucifer needed the Detective's help.
"Oh I've seen one of those before," his mother observed as Lucifer got out his cell phone. "It startled me so I hid it in the bucket of ice. What does it do?"
"It's a phone, mother," Lucifer sighed. At least now he knew what the 'scary ringing thing' was. "I'm calling for backup." Just then Chloe picked up. "Detective?"
"What is it, Lucifer?" Chloe asked. "I'm kinda in the middle of something."
"Yes, well then I'll be quick. Found mom," Lucifer said. "And a dead body."
"You what?" Chloe said, her tone stunned.
"Mom is claiming it wasn't her so I thought if we solved the murder then I'll know if she can be trusted or not," Lucifer explained.
"Slow down," Chloe said. "Where are you?"
Just then there was a knock on the door. Whoever was on the other side announced themselves as management.
"Hotel Gleam," Lucifer replied. "And it looks like we are about to have company."
"Please don't make my job harder by being discovered beside the body," Chloe groaned. "I'm on my way." Then she hung up.
"Right," Lucifer began. "We have to get out of here before they get in."
"Out the window then," his mother replied, attempting to climb into his arms. Lucifer pushed her off.
"I don't have wings anymore, mother," he told her.
"WHAT?" his mother exclaimed.
"It's a long story," Lucifer replied, before directing her to the fire escape.
The whole trip to the car, Lucifer had to listen to his mother's little freak out about him losing his wings. Admitting that he'd cut them off just made her more animated about the whole thing. Lucifer ignored her response. She had no idea. He wished Chloe would get here soon.
Lucifer further regretted his mother's wearing Maze's clothes when she was mistaken for a prostitute by some random guy on the street. Lucifer took off his jacket and put it over his mother's shoulders, suddenly wishing he'd asked Chloe to bring an extra set of clothes.
He thought of taking his mother back to the penthouse, but he decided to wait for Chloe. The Detective would know what to do.
"Why are we just sitting here?" his mother asked after about a ten minute monologue about her shock at his losing his wings.
"My friend is coming to help," Lucifer explained. "She'll be able to figure out if you can be trusted or not."
"I thought we were going to retrace my steps?"
"We are," Lucifer said with a sigh. "But now there is a dead body involved, which changes things."
"What does the dead body matter?" his mother asked, with a dismissive wave of her hand.
"Humans tend to frown at leaving dead bodies around willy nilly," Lucifer snapped. "Even more than seeing someone with blood all down their back."
"Picky creatures, aren't they?" mother scoffed. "I still don't see why that means we have to wait here?"
"The Detective is going to figure out who killed that poor kid, which will tell me if you can be trusted," Lucifer informed her.
"What is this Detective?" his mother asked. "One of your demons?"
How any being could be his annoying Lucifer had no idea. Even after eons apart it was like she could push all his buttons the same as when he'd been young.
Just as Lucifer was starting to wish Amenadiel had just answered his summons to take his mother back to hell already, he was saved by the arrival of Chloe.
"Finally," Lucifer said as he got out of his car to walk up to Chloe. He suspected she'd parked around the other side of the building since her car wasn't in view.
"Wait a minute," Chloe said as she stopped in her tracks. Lucifer presumed it was the goddess sitting in the car behind him that had given her pause. "This is your mother?" She had a dubious look on her face.
"More like my mother inhabiting the body of a disturbingly hot woman, but yes Detective," Lucifer replied.
"Why is she wearing your jacket?" Chloe asked.
"Trust me, it's better than the outfit underneath," Lucifer replied, internally cringing. "Borrowed it from Maze."
"Why did she need new clothes, Lucifer?" Chloe asked in that annoyed tone of hers when she suspected he'd done something wrong.
"Don't look at me like that!" Lucifer shot back. He didn't want to know what the Detective was thinking. Even actively trying not to imagine it was making his stomach turn. "She showed up covered in blood. I couldn't exactly let her walk around like that."
"This is the friend we were waiting for?" his mother butted in. "But she's just human. Why do we need her?"
"She's a cop," Lucifer turned to snap at his mother. "And there's a body. This is how humans do things."
"Okay," Chloe began, the doubt leaving her voice. "Let's say this is your mother. That means whoever this woman is that she's inhabiting recently died, right?"
"If by died, you mean got a tiny spear to the neck, then yes," mother replied. Then she turned to Lucifer. "We don't need her, son. You said we could retrace my steps together."
"We are doing this my way, mother," Lucifer shot back. "Or would you rather go back to hell?"
"Since you burned your wings you can't even take me," his mother continued. "Empty threat."
"Amenadiel is still an option," Lucifer shot back. "Even if he isn't answering my prayers right now, he will."
"Enough," Chloe said, firmly, but with a sigh of exasperation. "One thing at a time. You said there was a body?" Lucifer told her which room the body was in and she added, "I'll have to call this in, you know. I can't take her with us."
"Not to worry," mother said smoothly. "I can just make my own way."
"Not going to happen," Lucifer countered.
"I'm gonna have to agree with your son on this one," Chloe said. "I'll call it in and get Ella to look for evidence. In the meantime, take your mother home. I'll let you know what we find."
"Very well, Detective," Lucifer said. Then before he drove away, Lucifer added. "Oh and make sure to look in the ice bucket for a cell phone."
Putting his faith in the Detective, Lucifer took his mother home. He really wished Amenadiel would tune in. The stubborn angel didn't even have a cell phone, so Lucifer had no other way of contacting him.
Lucifer's mother continued to complain all the way home. Talking about how she wanted to get to know him again and all shorts of other shit. Lucifer wasn't ready to believe it. He wasn't even sure if he really wanted to, or maybe was. Still it was hard to even admit to himself.
When Lucifer got his mother home, he called out, expecting Maze to be there. To his delight, she was. He really didn't want her to leave, no matter how much soul searching Maze felt she needed to do. After so many years at his side, Lucifer was so used to having Maze nearby. She'd definitely quit being his bartender, and now it seemed she'd quit being his demon as well.
As he'd predicted, Maze was interested in meeting his mother in a human body, though her mind did jump straight to torturing.
"Hands off," Lucifer told her.
"Are you kidding?" Maze snarled at him before going on a bit of a tangent.
"Until I've worked out whether or not she's lying, she can't be trusted," Lucifer explained.
"Call me when you're ready to torture her," Maze said, looking very disapointed before walking past them and into the elevator.
"You keep ungrateful pets, as usual, I see," mother huffed.
"Sit," Lucifer told her. "I need a drink." Walking over to his bar Lucifer poured himself one and drank it down, before pouring another.
As soon as Maze had left he wished he'd asked her to watch his mother for him. After all, Lucifer should be helping the Detective. It was so strange to think of her on a case without him. The idea gave him a strange empty feeling.
In all the excitement, Lucifer had quite forgotten his leg. It throbbed painfully for a moment as if it had been insulted by his neglect. After pouring himself a third drink, Lucifer went to sit on the chair across from mother.
"What was that look on your face just now?" mother asked as he sat down.
"What are you talking about?" Lucifer sighed as he sat down. Sitting was better. He could ignore the healing wound much better if he wasn't aggravating it.
"I saw the same thing earlier as well," his mother continued. "When we were climbing down the ladder and away from the voices who called themselves management."
"Pour yourself a drink, mother," Lucifer told her, gesturing to the bar. "And I'll put on the tv."
He didn't want to be here. Even if Chloe knew why he wasn't helping her on this case, even if it had been her idea, Lucifer would rather have been with her.
"What's wrong with your leg?" his mother asked, more directly this time.
Lucifer sighed. "If you must know, I got shot the other day and it's still a bit sore," Lucifer admitted. It was a point of pride with him that he never lied. Lucifer would never regret this way of living, but it was often inconvenient.
"That's not possible!" his mother exclaimed, standing up.
"Bit of a recent thing," Lucifer explained. "Still working out the cause. Don't worry about it."
"But you are immortal!" she reminded him. Lucifer suddenly got the urge to roll his eyes the way Chloe did. Even though it felt appropriate, eye rolls weren't really his style. Those belonged to Chloe.
"Thank you. I know that mother," Lucifer grumbled.
She really needed to calm down. His leg was almost healed now anyway. Between the wings and the bleeding it was like all she wanted to do was freak out. Okay, yes the bleeding was out of his control, but with the wings it was like she was judging his life choices.
Lucifer was starting to get truly tired of his mother's company. Countless eons since they'd so much as said hello, and here he was trapped in her company. When he couldn't take it anymore, Lucifer got out his phone and called the Detective.
"What's wrong?" Chloe's voice sounded concerned.
"Please tell me you have something," Lucifer replied.
"Well that's hard to do when I'm the only one who knows that one of the murdered bodies just got up and walked away," Chloe's voice continued in a whisper. "If not for that, I'd assume this was an affair gone wrong."
"More like a mother gone wrong," Lucifer pitched in.
"So I take it she's just driving you crazy then, and everything is actually fine?" Chloe said in that annoying superior voice she sometimes used.
"Alright, yes, that might be the situation," Lucifer grumbled.
"I was at least able to find the phone," Chloe said. "It was exactly where she said it would be, so that's one point in the she's not lying category, isn't it?"
"I suppose," Lucifer sighed.
"Just sit tight," Chloe said.
"Please hurry Detective," Lucifer sighed. Chloe just chuckled and hung up after promising to call when she had news, leaving Lucifer with no distraction from his mother and all her crazy.
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What do you think of Chloe meeting the Goddess? Also I didn't mean to go a week without an update there. Time just kinda got away from me. I do miss the fast update though. I am going to try to get back to them. I really am excited to write the more major plots in this season than the last one. I think I just wrote way too fast for the season 1 rewrite and wore myself out a bit.
Also I'm not sure if I will keep the Lucifer/Chloe repeat POV pattern going so I have added who's pov it is into the chapter titles. Hopefully that will help with confusion if the pattern changes.
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Sneak Peek Chapter 26
When Chloe stepped off the elevator of Lucifer's penthouse she heard raised voices. It sounded like Lucifer was refusing to give his mother a credit card. Chloe had to fight back a chuckle.
"But, son, I must find the strange gooey substance from the flatscreen," the Goddess in Charlotte Richard's body said.
"I don't even want to know what you are talking about," Lucifer's voice replied. "But you are not leaving here until I know if you are set to cause carnage or not."
Chloe decided it was time to make herself known. She walked a little farther into the door and cleared her throat.
"You have no idea how relieved I am to see you, Detective," Lucifer said as he turned to look at her. "What's the verdict? Does she go back to hell or not?"