Chapter 6: Back to the Way I Was

Put me back to the way I was though I'll never be the same

The air it moves like honey as I'm trying to get away

The little red car with the headlights off keeps coming back into my sight

But I'm still here and I will not go quietly into the night

"Lucifer, hold on," Chloe begged. "Please hold on."

She wasn't sure what people normally said when they prayed, she'd never had a reason to. But she was going to try anyway. Chloe didn't care who heard what she was thinking, she knew Lucifer had many brothers and sisters, she just wanted someone to help.

"Gabriel," Chloe whispered. "If you can hear me, Lucifer needs your help. Please."

Chloe opened her eyes, she wasn't expecting the angel to be standing there when she did, but she could hope. After taking one more look around she turned her attention back to her partner, who was looking worse by the second.

"You're looking at me with that look," Lucifer whispered slowly, blood still trickling from his lips.

At the sound of his voice, Chloe snapped to attention. "What look?" she replied soothingly, trying to keep her voice down.

Lucifer chuckled and then winced. "Like I'm a kicked puppy."

Chloe was going to respond and tell him to stop talking when a rush of wings cut her off. She nearly jumped out of her skin when a man was suddenly standing in front of Lucifer, his blue eyes wide.

"Gabriel," Chloe breathed. She couldn't believe it, he actually listened to her.

The dirty blonde archangel gently touched his brother's face. "Hello Chloe Decker," he said sadly, his eyes never leaving Lucifer. "I apologize for not arriving sooner."

Chloe shook her head. "It's okay, please, can you help him? We can't have people seeing him like this."

"You're right," Gabriel nodded. "Can you help me get him standing?"

It took a bit, but the two eventually got the Devil to his feet. At this point Lucifer had lost consciousness again, which Chloe counted as a blessing, because his injuries looked excruciating. The pain alone would probably have killed a normal human being.

Gabriel hooked one of his brother's arms around his neck and held him close, careful to not jostle his wings. His normally bright blue eyes were filled with tears at Lucifer's state. Never in all his years has he seen his brother this broken. Sure, there were times where Lucifer and Michael would occasionally engage in one of their childish fights, but they never came out of it with anything worse than a black eye or a broken rib.

"Where am I taking him?" Gabriel asked as Chloe walked over to him.

Chloe wrapped her arm around Gabe's waist and thought for a second. She had more medical supplies at her house, but she couldn't take the risk of Dan bringing Trixie over. There was no way she could let her daughter see Lucifer like this, it would devastate her.

"His penthouse."

Gabriel nodded. "Hold on tight, Chloe. This might feel a little…odd."

How bad could it be? The detective rolled her eyes.

Almost immediately after thinking those words, Chloe instantly regretted it. It felt like the largest roller coaster she'd ever been on multiplied by one hundred. But as soon as the feeling started it ended. Chloe opened her eyes and she was standing in the middle of Lucifer's penthouse.

As soon as her feet hit the ground she ran into the bathroom in search of anything that could be used to bind or clean Lucifer's wings while Gabriel slowly lowered his brother onto the couch.

"Oh Luci…" he mumbled. "What am I going to do with you?"

"I ask myself that some question every day," Chloe smiled sadly.

Gabriel chuckled. "He always was a handful, even as a kid."

There were so many questions Chloe wanted answered about that sentence, but they would have to wait.

"I couldn't find anything. Not surprising since he's an immortal archangel," Chloe said as she dropped to her knees next to the couch. "I'll make a run to the store."

Gabriel laid his hand on her shoulder, stopping her from standing back up. "Stay with him," he replied. "Just tell me what to look for."

A second after Chloe explained what she needed, Gabriel disappeared in a blink of an eye, leaving her alone with Lucifer.

She began to carefully remove his shirt so she could at least wipe some of the blood away before Gabe returned.

God, there was so much blood.

Chloe left his side and walked back into the bathroom. She grabbed every towel she could find and brought them back into the living room. Luckily most of the bullets went clean through his wings, but there was still one embedded in his chest.

"Oh God," Chloe sighed when she realized someone was going to have to dig that out.

"Told you to stop talking about him," Lucifer mumbled as he tried to open his eyes.

Chloe gave him a half smile. "Sorry."

Lucifer looked down at his bare chest and smirked. "Couldn't wait to get me out of my clothes, Detective?"

Somethings never change.

His normal quips would have annoyed her any other day, but seeing him deliver them as he was covered in his own blood and fighting to stay awake, was another thing entirely. It was… surreal.

"Lucifer," Chloe said, "Who did this to you?"

Lucifer grimaced when she ran the towel over his abdomen. Right, that happened.

"Brother," he responded softly, his eyes blank with pain. Before he could get a name out, his eyes slid shut again.

Chloe stopped when she noticed the change in his voice. "Lucifer?"

The flapping of wings interrupted her, as Gabriel returned, a plastic bag hanging off his arm.

"You humans are fascinating," the archangel said as he emptied the contents on the ground. "So many of you waiting in line, yet so few cashiers."

Chloe was going to respond when she heard the elevator doors opening. She turned around to see Maze stalking towards them, looking quite murderous.

"Mazikeen!" Gabe said happily.

"Stuff it, Feathers," Maze growled at the angel. "Where were you when this happened?" She said and turned to the detective.

Chloe stood up, she didn't like the way Maze was insinuating that this was her fault. "He can fly!" she cried and threw her hands in the air. "He flew up a building for God's sake! How was I supposed to follow him?"

"Chill out Decker," the demon said trying to defuse the situation, she didn't mean to come off so strong. "So, this happened when you were nowhere near him?"

The detective narrowed her eyes. What was Maze trying to say?

"Answer me," Mazikeen said, there was no malice in her voice, only concern for the being she quite literally followed through the gates of Hell.

"Yes," Chloe replied. "Why?"

Maze diverted her eyes. "You can ask him that when he wakes up. It's not my place to tell you, but I do need you to go downstairs while I work on him."

Chloe was going to argue but Gabriel put a comforting hand on her shoulder. Something was going on, and she wasn't on the same page. She nodded slowly and made her way to the elevator. After giving Lucifer one last look she pushed the button.

When the doors closed, Gabriel turned to the ex-torturer. "You think sending her away will really help?"

Maze grabbed a bottle of antiseptic. "Lucifer is vulnerable around her," she explained as she started to clean his wounds. "That means he could die if she was standing too near to him. All I'm doing is giving his angelic healing ability time to kick in. Once he's out of the woods she can come back in."

That information baffled the archangel. He's never heard of that happening.

"What do you need me to do?" he asked her quietly.

Maze started to disinfect a pair of tweezers. "I'm going to need you to hold him down, from the looks of it, there's still a bullet lodged in his chest and it needs to come out. And if what Chloe said is true, that she wasn't close to him when he was shot, that means that the bullet was forged in Hell."

The Messenger only nodded and moved towards the couch.

"Ready?" Maze asked. "Because this is going to hurt like a bitch."

Chloe sat at the bar, nursing a glass of whiskey that she wasn't even sure if she wanted but felt like she needed. As she stared into the amber depths, she couldn't help feeling confused and slightly angry. Why did Maze send her away and what was Lucifer hiding from her?

Didn't he trust her?

She started to bring the glass to her lips when a sudden scream caused her to almost drop it back on the bar. The detective's head snapped up towards the ceiling, as another ear-piercing howl echoed from the top of the tower. Chloe pushed the whiskey away, she didn't feel like drinking anymore.

There were at least three floors separating Lux from Lucifer's penthouse, and it scared her that she could hear his screams through all of them.

Fifteen minutes passed before the elevator doors opened, revealing a very tired looking Gabriel sporting a fresh cut on his lower lip. He made a motion with his hand, signaling it was all right for Chloe to come back up. She didn't waste any time, already half way off the bar stool when the doors had opened.

"What happened to you?" Chloe asked as the elevator started to move.

The archangel shrugged and wiped a bit of blood away with his sleeve. "Nothing much, big bro just caught me with his elbow."

Chloe was going to ask him if he was okay, but the elevator stopped on the top floor. When the doors opened, she couldn't help but gasp at the destruction. The coffee table was nothing more than splinters, and the rest of the furniture didn't fare much better. And in the middle of all of it, lay her partner.

"He's fine, Decker," Maze said. "He just needs to sleep it off."

After kneeling down next to Lucifer, Chloe could not agree with the demon. He looked anything but fine to her.

"Trust me, he's fine."

Chloe made a face. Was she really that transparent?

"Yes you are."

Chloe rolled her eyes and turned back to the angel on the floor. His wings had disappeared which she hoped was a good sign, because the last time she laid eyes on them, they were covered in so much blood they were almost stained pink. Her eyes then moved to his chest, which was wrapped in bandages.

She hated seeing him like this.

Even before she found out he was a celestial being, Lucifer always gave off an air of invincibility. He was so confident in everything he did, it was almost mesmerizing. The way he held himself practically screamed superiority.

When everyone in her department, including Dan, refused to work with her, Lucifer had gracefully stepped out of the shadows with a smile and a one-liner. Yes, he was a pain in the ass most on good days, and a downright bastard on bad ones, but he was her partner. He always had her back.

And now he needed her.

"Can you help me move him to his bed?" Chloe said and looked in Maze's direction.

Maze glanced at the archangel in the corner and nodded. "We got this."

Ever so gently, Maze and Gabriel managed to carry Lucifer into his room and deposit him onto his bed without him waking. Chloe sat down next to him, the mattress dipping under the added weight, but still Lucifer didn't move.

Chloe brushed away a few strands of hair from his forehead and frowned when she felt how cold he was.

"Don't worry," Gabriel said quietly. "His wings are healing, and unfortunately that takes a lot of energy, even for an archangel."

All right, starting tomorrow, she was going to work on her poker face, because apparently, everyone could read her like an open book.

Gabriel chuckled. "Yes, while you are incredibly easy to read when you are stressed," he said while slowly tapping his temple. "I can read minds."

"Oh," was all the detective could utter. What more could you say to that?

The archangel's smile faded as he turned his attention back to his older brother. Suddenly in that instant, the blonde angel looked older. The near constant half-smile was replaced with a solemn line and his blue eyes were dark. He sighed and ran a hand through his messy hair.

"Did you know," the angel responded and pulled up a chair. "That Lucifer was the one who taught me to fly?"

Chloe stopped stroking the side of Lucifer's face and turned to face the younger angel. Of course, she didn't know that, but she knew that Gabriel wasn't really looking for an answer from her.

"He was the oldest by a few thousand years. Actually, if you look outside," Gabriel smiled and pointed out the window. "Most of the stars were made by him. A few have run their course, but you get the idea."

Slowly grabbing her partner's hand, Chloe tried to picture him dotting the night sky with light. It brought a smile to her lips.

"He was the Light Bringer, Bringer of Dawn, Shining One, The Morning Star. Your planet Venus, the brightest object in the east, was actually my creation for Lucifer. It was a gift," Gabriel said, sliding a hand through his hair. "It nearly killed me when Father cast him out."

Chloe nodded in understanding. "He's your brother, of course you care for him."

"He didn't deserve what happened to him, and he doesn't deserve this either," the archangel replied and leaned back in his chair.

"Gabriel, this isn't your fault," Chloe urged. "It was whoever did this to him."

"I will find them."

The detective looked back at Lucifer before sighing.

"Start with one of your siblings."

Gabriel's eyes narrowed as he rose to his feet. "What?"

"When you were gone, Lucifer told me that it was one of his brothers who attacked him."

The sheer anger on Gabriel's face almost made Chloe feel sorry for the angel who attacked her partner. Almost. Before she could open her mouth to ask him where he was going, Gabriel's wings appeared and he was gone, leaving her alone with an unconscious Lucifer.

Hello all! I am so excited about tomorrow's episode!

I will also try to have the next chapter up soon. I've hit a bit of a writer's block and playing hours of Pokemon Moon is not really helping, although it is a blast so far.