Chapter Five: Shadow

Two months have passed since that enormous revelation about the divine was made, and things seemed to finally be returning back to normal. Not that now be living with three angels and a demon was considered normal, but Chloe wouldn't be the one to complain at how things went, after all, Lucifer's penthouse was way bigger than she thought.

Chloe knew he had guest rooms because of her previous visits, but she didn't know he had connected the whole of the bellow floor to his penthouse for future use, he basically had a second house a few flights of stairs of distance. And with so many people now living with him he gave them the opportunity to choose where they would prefer to stay.

What was being more complicated was the coexistence of so many different people in the same space, because, despite space not being a problem, they still frequented the same common spaces in Lucifer's penthouse. Chloe could see at firsthand how Lucifer was coping with his twin brother entering his life again, it was frustrating at the same time it was painful. Lucifer would basically avoid Michael like a plague, and Michael would follow the youngest like a lost puppy, Maze wasn't helping with the situation with the way she would glare at the Archangel of War and pin him against the walls, which would result in a fight between the two.

But nothing gained enough momentum because Chloe laid down the law because they had a child there and she didn't want any gore in front of Trixie. Speaking of the little hell-raiser, she was over the moon when Chloe picked her up that day and told her they were moving in with Lucifer. She never saw her daughter shine with so much happier than that day, and things got even more interesting when Trixie spotted Michael for the first time.

They had just stepped out of the elevator being accompanied by Lucifer when Trixie spotted Michael on the other side of the room with Amenadiel. Chloe saw when her daughter took a double take at Michael and then looked at Lucifer, and with all the innocence of a child she asked:

"Mommy, why do we have two Lucifers?"

Chloe looked at the curious eyes of her daughter and with a small smile, she replied before Lucifer could give his own reply.

"He is Lucifer's twin brother, Michael, monkey."

Trixie brown eyes bulged slightly, and a tentative smile spread across her lips.

"Cool!" The little girl's reply came and before Chloe could do anything, Trixie was already pulling her hand off her grasp and running all the way across the room and hugging Michael like she did with Lucifer. The Archangel froze on the spot and was desperately looking around in midst of Lucifer laughs.

She had to confess that it was quite amusing, how Michael was as inadept with children as his twin brother. But Trixie didn't mind, in fact, she declared in the following weeks that Michael was one of her best friends together with Maze and Lucifer, the latter declaring he never knew he had agreed with such a thing, something Trixie ignored completely and would drag the Devil to play games with her and Michael.

It was funny to watch the Devil comply with a child wishes, and see the almighty Michael sitting for tea parties. Despite Lucifer's attempts to be away from his brother, her daughter's games with the twins made them talk, for real, for at least a couple of minutes every day.

Despite all that, and the differences between all of them, some things started to get a little better with that forced co-habitation they were in. Linda and Maze's relationship started to slowly heal because of Linda's gentle and wise words with the demoness regarding Michael – it was obvious to all to see that Michael's presence was irking Maze to the extreme, no one had forgotten what she said about she being filling Michael's void in Lucifer's life – and the therapist was helping Maze navigate through those difficult feelings, despite the demoness blatant denial.

Lucifer and Dan's friendship was flourishing beautifully in spite of the still common exchange of words the two always had, with Lucifer joking something about Dan, and Dan giving him one of his snarky replies. Ella was as energetic and cheery as always and was straightening her friendship with everyone, despite that sometimes Chloe would spot a troubled expression she would quickly hide.

Amenadiel, as well as Chloe, was trying to keep the order in their new house, even more after Charlotte joined them after her confrontation with Lucifer and Amenadiel when she heard all the things about angel wings, and Amenadiel, that didn't know she was alive, met her by coincidence and spilled the beans about her being their mother for a while. Charlotte was another good addition to their living arrangement, she had a knack to control the celestial siblings, quite motherly in fact, and it helped a lot to keep them in control when needed.

Chloe was brought back from her musings when an Officer dropped another file on her table. Sighing softly, she opened the new file, however, her mind was flying once again to the things that happened in those two months. Things in the precinct went back to normal as much as it could go, with the other cops and detectives getting used to this new reality and despite still treating Lucifer with certain apprehension they got more relaxed with him.

They started asking him all kinds of questions though.

"Should I go to a church?"

"No, not necessary."

"Adam and Eve?"

"The biblical ones never existed, evolution is real. They are Cain and Abel's parents though."

"Cain really existed?"

"Yes. He very much does."

"The Bible, it was real then?"

"Some things, but most of the things are fictional blabbing made by sexually frustrated misogynist fellows, but Jesus stories are more real, although they distorted some of my half-brother words for their own gains."

"Then you never tempted people to sin?"

"No, is all on you. I never do anyone do anything, I'm Free Will team, not manipulation one, I can reveal your deepest desire though."

"Jesus is your brother?"

"Half-brother, yes."

"Am I going to Hell because I'm gay?"

"No, definitely not!"

"Should I start praying?"

"No, that's not a guarantee of stepping on Silver City, do good things, be good, regret bad actions, and be a decent person is enough."

"I didn't believe in God, this means I will go to hell?"

"No!"

"I'm a Wicca/Muslim/Buddhist…"

"It doesn't matter. You believed in what you want to believe, or don't believe in anything, that's the beauty of Free Will. Dad has many names and forms, and whichever you believe is all good. It all depends on the choices you make if you are a decent person. So, no, loving sex, food, or money don't lend you in Hell, is what you do to have it that matter, if you chose to do it while being a decent person, congrats, Silver City waits for you. Now, no more questions."

Chloe remembered his face when he decided he had enough questions and how her co-workers scattered like leaves blow by the wind.

Something that didn't change that much was their partnership, with the only excepting that when Lucifer asked her to step back, which was rare, she did, because she knew he would be back without a scratch. Although she would feel slightly restless while waiting, however, she knew she could trust Lucifer those times, and he always called her when things were controlled. But in between the new living arrangements and work, she didn't have time to discuss her relationship with Lucifer after she discovered all the truth about what happened after her poisoning, and the Archangel didn't make any effort to speak about it either.

But she was cutting him some slack because of the whole situation with his twin and that supposed war happening in Heaven, despite the lack of evidence to support it, he had a lot on his plate at that moment. Everything they gathered from Michael's appearance were inconclusive at the best, only leaving a fascinated Ella with the Angel's DNA and she was spending most of her free time analyzing it together with some samples from Amenadiel, that despite having grown quite human had all the traces of divine if you knew what to look for.

That's why Amenadiel could hear the call but couldn't attend to it, with his half-human condition he was stuck in the mortal plane, at least it was what Amenadiel understood of his condition with his limited information about his case.

Chloe signed again and placed the file back on her desk and grabbed her phone this time half-expecting to find a bunch of messages from Lucifer, but none was waiting for her, what she found odd. Because it was the first time in weeks Lucifer was alone with his twin brother, and both taking care of Trixie in her free day from school – Chloe didn't have many options that day with every responsible adult having a previous appointment to attend to.

She could only hope things were okay at the penthouse, for all the involved, and most importantly for Trixie, but she had faith that her little girl would be able to deal with those brothers. After all, she was a Decker.

Trixie hummed while she looked at her cards and spared a quick glance at her two opponents, one had a very concentrated look on his face while the other held a smug smile on his lips. She giggled lightly and played her 4+ card and watched with satisfaction the smug smile of Lucifer disappears when he groaned.

"I want red." She grinned.

"You play dirty, child." He said grudgingly while grabbing four cards from the card pile at the center.

Michael that was already holding a lot of cards sighed heavily and grabbed another card from the pile.

"She does…" the other Archangel said.

"Nah, you are just horrible in this game, Michael." The Devil said, glaring at the card Trixie just placed on top of the second pile of cards in the center of the table. He gambled when he had to grab another card from the first pile of cards.

"How can I be horrible in something that requires more luck than actual thought?" He said while placing the same number but in a yellow card.

"Figure it out, master of strategy."

"I'm a master of military strategy, brother."

"Apparently not a good one..."

Trixie giggled again at their constant bickering and placed another card on the table, receiving a glare from both Archangels because she changed the color back to red.

"I think the both of you are really bad in this game." She flashed them a toothy grin.

"Spawn," Lucifer narrowed his eyes while looking at her "you knew that, haven't you? That's why you proposed a deal, isn't it?"

Michael also looked curiously at Trixie when his brother mentioned the deal the girl made with them at the beginning of the game.

"Of course." She admitted shamelessly.

Lucifer snorted and grabbed another card from the neat pile of cards, he finally grinned in excitement when he placed a red card on top of Trixie's. Michael groaned and grabbed another card to joining the pile he already was accumulating in his hand. Trixie placed another card on top of Lucifer's.

"Uno!" She exclaimed with one of her biggest smiles.

Both Archangels groaned, both moving at the same time to grab another card from the neat pile, and Trixie smiled brightly when she saw that none made a move to place a card on top of hers, she placed her last card and smiled triumphantly.

"Now, the deal." Trixie clasped her hands together and rubbed them in excitement.

"This isn't a fair win, urchin." Lucifer protested.

"It was, I didn't cheat."

"She is right Sa… Lucifer."

"I didn't ask your opinion, Michael."

"Lucifer, a deal is a deal," Trixie said seriously and glared at the Devil so much like her mother it creeped Lucifer out just a bit. "You are going to sit and talk with Michael, really talk." The child said sternly.

"Why do you even care, child?" Lucifer glared back. And Michael had to agree with his twin.

"Because the two of you are my friends." She said simply. "And, besides, you are acting like me and Lucy when we fought once, it was only when we were forced to talk we discovered it was all a misunderstanding."

Michael and Lucifer stared at the little girl with their mouths slightly hanging open. The Devil was the first one to shake his head and clear his throat.

"What happened between us wasn't a simple misunderstanding, Beatrice…"

"But you still need to talk about it." She interrupted the Archangel. "And you promised, and your words are your bond," Trixie said while she was gathering the cards of the game. "You are family, and family is supposed to be there for each other…" She lifted her eyes to stare directly into the Devil's eyes. "He needs you." The last words left her mouth with conviction.

Not waiting for their answers, she walked off the living room in direction of her room, leaving the two Archangels alone, a small smile ghosting her lips.

Linda just finished her last appointment that morning when her door opened with a bang startling the blond therapist to the extreme. However, she calmed just a bit when she saw Maze walk in.

"Maze, is everything okay?" Linda asked gently when the demoness sat on her couch. Despite things being better now that they were living together, Linda was still treading carefully with Maze.

"No." Maze sighed and placed her face in her hands. "I want him gone."

Linda knew well who Maze was speaking and she straightened her back and looked at her friend attentively and gently.

"Maze… Why do you want him gone?"

Maze lifted her eyes with a sharp glare directed at her friend. "You know well, he can hurt Lucifer again."

Linda sighed and reached for Maze's hand and grasped it. "No, it's not because of it. What is the real reason, Maze?" She squeezed the demoness hand, receiving another glare from the denizen of Hell, but Linda kept staring back.

Maze stayed silent for a long while until she finally lowered her eyes and spoke quietly, in a tone that despite the silence in the room was difficult for Linda to catch, but she did.

"I don't want to lose my place in Lucifer's life if he comes back…"

Linda felt her heart squeeze painfully, she remembered well when Maze spoke with such certainty that she knew Lucifer created her to fill his twin place in his life. She couldn't bare imagine how it would be to live with such a thing hanging out there, shadowing something she had in such esteem.

"Maze, in the beginning, you were probably that, but now… Now I do believe you are much more than even Lucifer realize you are for him. Do not underestimate yourself, Maze." The therapist said with conviction, however, Maze laughed bitterly.

"Underestimate me? I know pretty well where I'm for people, Linda. I'm never the first choice, no one cares enough. Am I more to Lucifer than he thinks? Bullshit." The demoness pulled her hand back and gets up, ready to run.

"That's not true, you are the first choice of Trixie, and I chose you in my relationship with Amenadiel," Linda spoke before Maze could exit.

"After when? After you lied to me, Linda."

"I know, and I will pay for this for the rest of my life, but I'm here for you, so is Trixie, Chloe, Ella, Charlotte, Dan, Amenadiel, and Lucifer." Linda also stood up from her seat. "You are loved, Maze. Just talk to him."

The demoness, that had stopped a few inches from the door, finally stepped out not indicating if she had listened to her or not. But Linda knew, deep down, she had. She just needed time.

Michael watched as his brother played a song on the piano, he always liked to watch Samael play since they were young fledglings. It was a sad song that spoke about bittersweet memories, and Michael knew deep down it was related to something about them.

Lucifer hasn't spoken to him since small Beatrice left them and he knew his brother was stalling the conversation without actually breaking the deal he made with the little girl. But Michael knew they couldn't stay like that any longer, he didn't remember what he did, but he knew that pain of missing his brother was real, the memories were gone, but not the emotions.

The Archangel of War walked to the bar his brother liked so much and grabbed a tumbler and filled it with one of the Scotch his brother was so fond of and shyly approached his twin and placed the cup on top of the piano as a peace offering. The Devil glanced at the tumbler and him briefly while he finished the piece he was playing.

It took another minute or so until Lucifer touched the last piano's key and the note rang in the living room for him to actually turn his full attention to Michael, who was waiting with his hands behind his back while looking at his feet. The Archangel of Desire sighed heavily and grabbed the tumbler taking a long sip of the drink and stood up.

"What happened between us won't solve with a cup of scotch, a band-aid and a kiss better, Michael." Lucifer walked to his ceiling-high windows and stared at the City of Angels under him. "And the worst part is that you even remember it…" He took another sip of his drink.

Michael sighed and bowed his head even more. "I know… I don't remember it… But I feel it, Samael."

"Do not call me that!" Lucifer snapped, and Michael flinched.

"You will always be Samael, Lucifer." The Archangel of War lifted his head and stared at the tense back of his twin.

"I wasn't anymore when you threw me out of Silver City, Michael." Lucifer turned around and glared at his twin. "I chose a name for me, and you will call me that, brother."

Michael sighed and looked at his brother Sumerian wall. "You continue to be a bloody stubborn."

"And you a bloody stupid." Michael almost smiled, however, he decided to say something that was nagging him since he spotted his brother that day he woke up to no memory and out of Silver City.

"I'm sorry, Lucifer, for everything."

Lucifer cocked his head slightly sideways and stared at his brother for a long while.

"You can't ask sorry for something you don't remember, Michael."

"I don't… But I feel it, Lucifer. I feel what it made with me, and I need to ask your forgiveness." He answers with such earnest that the Devil could only recognize the truth behind it.

"It's not easy…" Lucifer tried to be indifferent, but he felt the pull, the one he has been ignoring the last two months, come stronger.

"Let me try, please." Michael pleaded.

"Fine." He answered simply. It wasn't the answer the other Archangel was expecting; however, it was something.

Michael smiled, but didn't walk the few meters that separated them, he was going to take one step at a time. And maybe one day he wasn't going to feel that regret anymore, he wouldn't feel that pain anymore.

She was watching the interaction from her place in the shadows, one of the human feelings she hated so much punching directly in her gut. She balled one of her hands and stepped further into the shadows when Lucifer's eyes traveled in her direction.

Maze hated it, she hated that stupid Archangel. She glared at Michael's back before she turned around and walked to where she came from, disappearing into the shadows where it was her place.

She was always going to be his shadow.

She was Michael's shadow.

And for the first time in millennia that hurt.

She hated those pesky feelings.

She hated Michael more.

As silently as Maze entered the penthouse she left, and she didn't know if she was going to come back so soon. She needed something strong, something far away from LUX and that stupid Archangel. Away from Lucifer… Away from his twin.

She missed home. She needed home.

A/N: I'm so sorry for taking so long, but this chapter was quite tricky. I wrote it three times until I was actually satisfied with it, and I had to change my initial idea because it wasn't working

I hoped you liked my final version though, I put a lot of thought into it, and do expect the next two chapters are going to be, more or less, into this vibe while I pave our way to our juicy stuff.

Meanwhile, if you want to talk to me follow me on my Tumblr ( limonath - without spaces), or just leave a question (I will love to answer them). Coming next is You Know Me second chapter ^^

See you soon~

Nath :*

Reviews answers:

wazup8523257: I'm glad you liked the other chapter and my take on Michael having amnesia. I'm not so sure if they would have gotten that physical, have more about Michael's past actions that we don't know yet ;)

OldGirl-NoraArlani: You sure are right about that. They need time, and with Michael's amnesia, we at least have some time to work it out ;) I hope I haven't disappointed you, more is coming for this two :D

elvimar: I kinda realized your wish, I hope you like her reaction here :D Thank you so much for reading and commenting :D

LuciusDivius: Thank you so much! I hope you like this chapter as well :3

roban05: I think I answered a few of your questions in this chapter, I hope you liked hehehe And yes, so many questions still have answers, some have the answer hidden in the previous chapters and some will only be answered in future chapters :D I hope you liked this chapter as well ;)

Crystalyna du Starrvan: Thank you! I hope you liked this one as well :D

KarenKitties: I'm glad you think so! I hope you like to what I have in store for this :3 Ohhhhh well. You caught me there, for now just the precinct he works actually know, but well... I have some things in mind and I hope you like ;) About your questions, well... They will be answered in the future :D