Learning To Fall

Chapter 1: Anywhere But Here

Today was misery
And I just can't believe this happened
And I finally broke down
She held onto my heart
But now my only star is falling
Its burning to the ground

"Put your hands up!"

Lucifer couldn't believe what was happening as he eyed the gun aimed at him. He looked from the dead man on the floor to his right then back to the woman who held said weapon. Her eyes were accusing and held a twinge of fear. His heart sank.

"Detective, there's an explanation," he tried.

Chloe gripped her gun tighter as he moved closer. "Stop!" She commanded. "Don't say another word. Put your hands up."

The devil scoffed as he looked around at the police officers that invaded his night club. What the hell was happening?

"You give us no choice."

His heart sank even farther if it was possible.

"Lucifer Morningstar," she said, her voice wavering slightly. "You are under arrest."

He lifted his hands to his head, his eyes never leaving the detective's face.

Well, fuck.

"Come on Detective," he said, almost finding this situation funny. Apart from the dead body on the floor of his precious club and the fact that he had a gun leveled at his chest. "You can't seriously believe I killed that pathetic malcontent."

She shook her head. "It doesn't matter what I believe."

Something broke within the devil at that moment. He stared at the woman in front of him, his hands slowly closing and returning to his sides. His eyes searched the detective's face for something, anything to let him know that all of this was a colossal misunderstanding. After finding nothing, he gave up.

"That's all that matters Detective," he said resignedly.

Chloe looked left at the new officer, Simon, who was clearly nervous, his gun shaking. This was only his second week on the job and was totally unprepared for this scenario. She had to get Lucifer to come with her before this got out of hand.

She turned back to her friend. "Put your hands in the air and surrender yourself."

Lucifer backed up towards the bar, a small smile playing on his lips. Chloe watched as his hands gripped the bar stool in front of him in an almost vice-like hold as he almost doubled over laughing.

"This isn't funny, Lucifer!" Chloe almost pleaded.

His head snapped up. "Isn't it?" He cried in between laughs. "I think this is the grandest joke I've heard in all my time!"

The devil continued laughing.

"And the best part is, it's on me!" he roared as he looked around at the other officers. Their guns still trained on him.

Chloe raised her lifted her left hand in front of her while lowering her weapon. "Come peacefully," she tried reasoning. "We'll go to the station–"

"No," he snapped. "We won't."

Raising her gun again, Chloe mind was racing, desperately to figure a way out of this situation without anyone getting hurt. But Lucifer was making this increasingly difficult. "What are you doing?" She almost whispered.

"Well I'm accepting my role in all of this," Lucifer announced, as he stepped closer. "All of humanity's sins are the Devil's fault, right?"

Lucifer…!

"I mean I thought you knew different, but I was wrong."

He came to a stop in front of the female officer. His dark eyes boring into her soul.

"You're just like all the others."

That stung.

"So," Lucifer continued while going back towards his bar, "why not add one more murder to the pile?"

Chloe knew what he was doing. "This is not what this is Lucifer."

"C'mon what are you waiting for?" He shouted as he stretched out his arms, inviting them to shoot him. "You wanted your bad guy, well here he is! Gift wrapped just for you!"

"Don't take another step!"

"You!" Lucifer barked as he stopped in front of poor Simon, the officer's hands still shaking. "Newbie! C'mon. Riddle me with bullets. So you can go home, drink a nice cold beer, and feel better about yourselves!"

Decker panicked. "Don't shoot him, he's unarmed!"

Lucifer smirked. He was so close.

"Oh you don't know that," he taunted and reached into his jacket, "maybe I have a gun!"

"Hands in the air!" Simon yelled. His finger almost pulling the trigger.

"DO IT!"

"NO!"

There was a deafening crack and a grunt of pain before complete silence. Chloe's eyes were wide as she looked at the space where her friend was just a second before. Black bar napkins fluttered to the ground but Lucifer was nowhere to be found.

Lucifer stumbled onto the rooftop as rain poured, soaking his expensive suit in seconds. He scoffed as he tilted his right arm towards him, looking at a slight rip where the newbie had clipped him. Damnit, he had been so close, he thought as he turned to his "rescuer."

Bloody human weapons.

"What were you trying to accomplish in there?" Amenadiel roared.

Shrugging his shoulders, Lucifer turned towards his brother while fishing a cigarette out of his coat pocket. "A good death," Lucifer replied. "Or at least a nice and messy one."

Amenadiel stared at him.

"And then you had to come and ruin everything like always."

He tried lighting it but the rain made it almost impossible. He growled in frustration, and forcibly threw the silver lighter off the roof.

"Why'd you swoop in and stop it?" The devil's eyes narrowed. "Wouldn't let someone else send me to hell, is that it?"

Amenadiel averted his eyes nervously.

"Well guess what brother? You don't need to kill me because I'm done here," Lucifer ground out. "I've had my fun on Earth, and there's no reason for me to stay anymore."

Something had happened to his brother, Amenadiel stared at him, trying to figure it out.

"You win," the dark haired man said, his voice betraying his inner sadness. "I'll go willingly. Please. Just– take me back to Hell."

The only thing that could be heard was the pounding of rain on concrete.

"All right."

Lucifer turned away from his brother, taking in the dreary Los Angeles cityscape, one last time. There was nothing for him in the human world anymore. His fingers slowly released his unlit cigarette and watched it fall.

The two angels were gone before it hit the ground.

Chloe's mind was racing as she drove back towards Lux. The scene with Dan playing over and over in her mind. He had betrayed her; he had lied to her. She couldn't believe that the man she had been married to for all those years, sat back and let the entire precinct think she was insane.

The car came to a stop at a red light, Chloe sighed and ran her hand through her hair. Lucifer thought she had abandoned him. The image of his broken expression was permanently seared into her brain. The way he was toying with her colleagues was textbook. She knew exactly what he was up to. It was suicide by cop, something she'd seen more than once.

"Why, Lucifer…?" she whispered.

She hit the accelerator as soon as the light turned green.

She had to find him.

Chloe found Lucifer's bartender in his penthouse, gathering what she thought were really nasty looking knives. The cop in her wanted to say something, but there were more pressing issues at hand.

"Mazikeen," the detective said as she exited the elevator. "Where's Lucifer?"

The demon stopped what she was doing and turned around. Her expression a mask of pure disdain.

"Hell," she barked out and continued packing her weapons.

Chloe came to a halt a few feet from the other woman. The answer was not acceptable.

"I'm serious. I need to find him."

Mazikeen snapped back around so she was face to face with the detective, her eyes blazing. "I never understood what he saw in you," she seethed. "But I was right. You humans are all the same."

There was a flashback in the cop's mind, Lucifer had said something similar only a couple hours ago.

"You can leave now," Mazikeen said coldly, her temper back in check. "There's the door."

Chloe wasn't giving up that easily. "Why are you still here then, if your boss left?"

"I'll be leaving in a few days. Lucifer wanted me to get a few things in order before I skipped town." The bartender didn't even look back when she replied. "He's not coming back. Now leave."

Lucifer scanned his surroundings as soon as Amenadiel dropped him off. The smell of sulfur was the first thing he noticed. Smirking, he shoved his hands in his pockets and made his way down the path to his throne room.

Ash fell from the dark sky, making it look like it was snowing. Clouds loomed while thunder cracked in the distance as the Devil continued his journey, sending stray demons scurrying out of his path. His black eyes flashing red.

He ran his hand over the large, black ornate doors in front of him. After five years on Earth, here he was, back in the place he swore he would never return to. Sighing, he slammed his foot into the doors, causing them to come crashing off their hinges.

The demon sitting on the Devil's throne, jumped as the Lord of Hell calmly walked towards him.

"Well," Lucifer smiled, and calmly pulled off his coat, "this is gonna be fun."

5 Days Later…

Hundreds of bodies lay dead across the plains of Hell. While the Devil was gone many demons had tried to take the vacated throne. The newest ruler lay decapitated in the throne room, he had barely put up a decent fight.

Lucifer sat in his chambers, blood staining his hands and chest. Wiping the quickly the drying blood onto a towel, he looked up into the mirror in front of him.

It had been five days on Earth, but in Hell it had been five hundred years. His black hair hung down to his shoulders and over his crimson eyes. Now that he was back in his kingdom, he didn't have to hide anymore.

His skin had taken on an ashen appearance which made his eyes even more terrifying to those who crossed him and he was at least a foot taller than in his human form. Lucifer smirked. He was glad his true form didn't actually look like the skinless creature he showed his victims. That was actually just a projection of his soul, of the monster that lived deep inside him.

The Devil crossed the room and stretched out on his bed, crossing his arms behind his head. Five hundred years was a long time to most people, but he wasn't most people, he was immortal after all.

About two hundred years in he finally started to forget his time in Los Angeles, along with the detective's face. Namely the expression she was wearing as she aimed her gun at him.

"Chloe…" he mumbled as he let his eyes slide shut for the first time in days.

Malcolm had disappeared. The man had been a police officer for almost two decades, he knew how to hide if he really wanted to. The LAPD had brought his wife and son in for questioning, but they didn't know anything. The rogue office had been distant ever since his miraculous recovery.

Since Dan had confessed to stealing evidence and giving the untraceable gun to Malcolm, the search for Lucifer Morningstar had been dropped.

Chloe sat at her desk, half expecting the taller man to saunter back into her life, with a toothy grin and a quip about sleeping with him. But five days had gone by and there hasn't been a word from him. Perhaps Maze was right. Maybe he was gone for good.

Sliding her chair back, Chloe grabbed her coat and headed for the exit.

"You're just like all the others."

She couldn't get over what Lucifer had said to her before he disappeared.

Sure he could be an arrogant asshole, and he knew just how to get under her skin. But there was also a side of him that could be incredibly kind and sensitive. She had seen it.

Trixie had taken his absence harder than anyone expected. Chloe had told her that Lucifer was on a business trip to New York City, and he wasn't sure when he'd be returning. She had been quiet the past few days, and it hurt seeing her like this.

Chloe walked through the front door of her house and sat down next to her daughter on the couch. She thanked Jess, the baby sitter, and told her it was all right if she went home a little earlier than normal. After handing the girl a few bills, Chloe wrapped her arm around Trixie.

"Mommy, are you sure you haven't heard from Lucifer?"

The detective looked down sadly. "No baby," she replied. "He doesn't have his phone on him. He must have forgotten it."

"Oh," Trixie said quietly. "I miss him."

Stroking her hair, Chloe smiled sadly. "I do too, Monkey."

"So he's still missing?" Dan said through the phone, his head leaning back on the cold wall of his cell.

Chloe was careful to keep her voice down, it was after Trixie's bed time after all. "He's gone. I've looked all over Los Angeles."

Daniel Espinoza was not the biggest fan of the night club owner, that much was apparent to anyone with eyes, but he wasn't stupid. He saw how Chloe looked at Morningstar, and how Trixie did too for that matter, when she thought no one was watching. It hurt to see his ex-wife so enthralled with another man. She could deny it all she wanted, but Dan could see the truth.

She loved him.

He sighed. This was his fault. Trusting Malcolm had been a huge mistake. He never should have given him that stolen gun. If he hadn't then Lucifer wouldn't be missing, and Chloe… she… she wouldn't be so upset right now.

You've really screwed up this time, Espinoza, Dan thought bitterly.

In a desperate bid to save his failing relationship, he'd gone and made the biggest mistake in his life.

"Chloe…" he tried. "I'm sorry."

On the other end of the line he could almost hear her roll her eyes.

"Dan, you've said that before."

"I know. But, I never thought I would be feeling guilty about Morningstar."

It was almost hilarious.

"Have you told Trixie the truth?" He asked.

"No, I told her he was on a business trip to New York."

"Chloe…"

"I know, Dan," she snapped. "But what was I supposed to tell her? That he just up and left without saying goodbye?"

Dan looked up as the guard motioned that his time was almost up by tapping on his watch.

"Listen, I get why you did it. But she's gonna figure it out if a year goes by and he never comes back."

"I know, I know."

The guard, Matt, his name tag said, held his hand out. "Time's up."

"Look, Chloe," he said quickly. "Tell Trixie I love her."

"I will, Dan."

"I really hope you find him."

Chloe didn't have a response for that and felt grateful when the line went dead. The guard obviously was sick of waiting. She slid the phone onto the table next to her bed and turned out the light. She hadn't had a good night's sleep in days.

Chloe looked around at her surroundings, but it was completely pitch black. She tried to remember how she got here in the first place when she was suddenly standing in a white, marble room with large, onyx double doors. A large throne stood at the end, illuminated by a row of torches.

It was beautiful.

She turned her head as she heard footsteps. In front of the throne stood Lucifer, still looking the same as the day he left. Without thinking, she took off towards him.

"Lucifer!" she called as she ran, desperate to reach him and bring him home.

The man in question pivoted around as the detective came to a halt in front of him. She looked up at him and almost backed up a step. He looked almost like he always did, hair perfectly done with a pressed suit and dress shirt. Except his eyes.

Chloe gasped slightly.

They were red.

"Chloe," he said lowly.

Shaking her head, Chloe didn't have time to worry about this right now. She had to get him back to Los Angeles with her, that's all that mattered.

"Lucifer, please you have to come with me," she pleaded.

Lucifer flinched away when she went to grab his hand, almost like he was afraid he would burn her.

"Lucifer!"

The taller man looked at her with an expression she couldn't read.

"Go back, Chloe."

The ringing of her alarm jerked her awake. Her breath coming in gasps as she tried to silence the offending device.

"Lucifer…"

Back in Hell, the Devil's eyes snapped open, fire blazing in their depths.

After dropping Trixie off at school and informing her that Jess would be picking her up today, Chloe made her way to the station. The dream still weighing heavily on her mind. He had been so close, if only she could have reached forward and pulled him back to reality with her. Everything could go back to the way it was before this entire mess with Malcolm. He would go back to trying to get her into his bed, and she would continue rolling her eyes every time he mentioned he was the devil.

She stepped out of her vehicle and walked through the front doors of the station, saying good morning to a few fellow officers as she made her way to her desk.

Even though she wanted to be out looking for Malcolm, there was a stack of paperwork taunting her. She groaned as she reached for the first folder.

Mel Graham arrived at the station a couple hours later, looking beside herself. After seeing her enter the station, Chloe was immediately at her side, trying to calm the distraught woman.

"Mrs. Graham, can you tell me what happened?"

It took a half an hour to get to this point, but she had finally calmed down enough to talk.

She nodded slowly. "Malcolm showed up earlier this morning, tearing the house apart looking for money. He was frantic, ranting about how he didn't have enough."

Chloe knew what he was doing. After all, fake IDs didn't come cheap.

"Do you know where he went?"

Mel shook her head no. "He wouldn't speak to me," she replied. "Ever since he's recovered he's been… different. But this, this was destructive. Violent."

The detective put her hand on the other woman's shoulder.

"Don't worry. We'll find him. He's probably getting ready to leave town. And he's getting desperate for money."

"What if he comes back?"

Chloe tried to be reassuring. "I'll have a squad car watch over your house until we find him. Don't worry. You and your son will be fine."

After the events with Malcolm's wife, Chloe returned to her pile of paperwork. After shuffling through a few folders she stopped. A single piece of paper fell to the floor and she bent down to retrieve it. A small smile spread across her face as she looked at it.

A few days before the whole fiasco with Malcolm, Lucifer had been complaining about being "bored out of his bloody mind" and that's when the detective had thrown a notepad and a red marker at him. The devil had raised an eyebrow at her, as if asking what he was supposed to do with the items.

"Act like a child, get treated like one."

Lucifer had huffed at her words and proceeded to uncap the marker. The notepad had bought Chloe about five minutes of uninterrupted silence, until she noticed a piece of paper in her line of sight. Rolling her eyes, she had just looked at her partner with a face that clearly showed no traces of being amused.

If Lucifer noticed, he didn't show it. He just shot her a wide grin.

"Is this a devil emoji?" Chloe asked.

At that, Lucifer almost immediately frowned. "If you must know, I've been using that way before you humans even created the telephone."

Chloe didn't say anything to that. It was in that instant that her boss had poked her head out of a nearby room and told them they had a case. Lucifer had gleefully jumped up from his chair, motioning for the detective to hurry it up.

Grabbing her firearm, she had tossed the drawing aside amongst her other papers.

In the present, she gazed sadly at her desk, the horned smiley face staring back at her. Lucifer really was a bad artist.

A few hours later, Chloe grabbed her keys and headed home. She had no active cases, and had a sneaking suspicion that the lieutenant was taking it easy on her, since Lucifer disappeared. It didn't matter if it meant she was able to spend more time with her daughter, she was fine with it for now.

When she pulled up to the house she could almost feel that something wasn't right.

As she walked up to the front door, one hand was on her gun. She walked into her house and spotted Jess, the baby sitter, on the floor unconscious. Pulling out her phone, she quickly dialed for help while checking for a pulse.

"Trixie! Honey it's me!"

Chloe ran through the house looking for her daughter. Panic gripped her chest. She almost didn't notice when the ambulance showed up to take Jess to the hospital.

She was about to leave and go back to the station when her phone rang. The caller ID said "Trixie" and Chloe breathed a sigh of relief.

"Trixie! Where are you?"

There was a pause before, "Hello Decker."

Chloe paled. "Malcolm," she breathed.

The man on the other end smirked. "I'm sitting here with your daughter. Say hi to your mother."

"Mommy," a small voice filtered through the speakers. "Mommy, I'm scared."

"Don't worry baby, everything'll be all right."

Malcolm put the phone back to his ear. "That's enough of that," he said. "I'm going to level with you Decker. I've still got friends at the precinct. I know you're looking for me."

What was he getting at?

"I also know that your partner is MIA, so I have nothing to worry about."

"Malcom, what do you want?"

The corrupt cop laughed. "Money," he replied as if it were obvious. "I'm about ten grand short. Bring it to me and I'll let your daughter live."

Chloe didn't see a way out of this.

"Ok, just tell me where to meet you."

"Perfect," Malcolm grinned. "Remember, no other cops, or she dies."

An hour later, Chloe found herself standing in an airplane hangar, with a bag of cash strapped over her shoulder. Her weapon lay at her feet.

"Malcolm!" she shouted. "I have what you want. Now let Trixie go."

The man was still pointing a gun at the little girl. Her face betraying how afraid she was. He scoffed and pushed her forwards toward her mother. Trixie ran, tears streaming down her face as she collided with the detective.

"Now the money, if you'd be so kind. Also the gun."

Chloe stopped stroking her daughter's hair long enough to glare at the man and push the duffel bag and weapon across the floor. While Malcom was busy with that brief distraction, the detective told the little girl to go hide and to not come out until it was safe.

"Thank you," he said after looking through its contents and then brought his weapon level to her head.

Chloe stiffened. "We had a deal, Malcolm!"

The weapon never wavered.

"I know," he drawled. "But since I was going to shoot you at Palmetto, I might as well finish the job."

His finger squeezed the trigger.

"This time, no one's going to save you."

Lucifer was sitting on his throne, lost in thought when suddenly images flashed before his eyes. He watched as that dirty cop, Malcolm held a gun to Chloe's head, taunting her. He launched to his feet, his fists clenched tightly at his sides.

He had to do something, anything.

There was only one person who could save her and he knew it, so he closed his eyes and swallowed his pride.

"Dad…"

Gunshots rang through the hangar as Malcolm pulled the trigger multiple times. He was going to make sure she was dead this time around. He went to pull it a fourth time when a rush of air almost knocked him backwards.

Chloe thought she was dead, until she felt familiar arms wrapped around her, holding her close. Slowly she opened her eyes and came face to face with a man with long, black hair and piercing eyes. The same eyes she saw in her dream.

"Lucifer," she breathed.

The devil looked down at her.

"Hello, detective."

Hello! Let me know what you think. I've been a huge fan of the Lucifer comic and ever since the TV show aired I wanted to write something but have been way too busy.

I do not have a beta reader, so if you spot any mistakes, please let me know. I also haven't written anything in like three years, so I'm extremely rusty. Like it's not even funny.

Nicholls