Epilogue
I tell the truth

Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me!
(John 8:45, NIV)

Two weeks later…

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THE MIRACLE OF CRAWFORD – CHILD'S GUNSHOT WOUND HEALED BY ANGEL?

"I was shot in the belly and it hurt so much. I thought I was going to die and then I woke up in the hospital and they said nothing's wrong, that I was full of blood but I didn't have a wound at all!", Daisy Granger (8), told the LA Times. "My friend said an angel saved me"

Some of the children insisted their classmate had been healed by the man who saved them from the shooter, while others disputed this claim, saying that 'The Hero of Crawford', as the press calls him, only stopped the bleeding. Both the hospital and the Granger family have declined further commentary.

"Daisy was bleeding so much when he bent over her. I didn't see what he did, because his wings were in the way, but when he put them away Daisy wasn't hurt anymore" (Trisha S., 9)

"He had wings! He was an angel" (Paolo M., 8)

Most likely the unknown stranger was wearing military hard armor as well as large pair of fake wings, presumably to intimidate the shooter and trick him into thinking he was facing an actual angel. Experts agree that it is likely that the wings themselves were made from a bullet resistant material – an elaborate and costly, yet possible feat.

(…)

However, evidence of this has yet to be found and many people indeed believe in divine intervention. The incident has caused a notable increase in church attendance in California, with many citing 'renewal of their faith' as a reason.

(…)

Despite a number of eye witnesses as well as extensive video footage from outside the school, the identity of the mysterious Hero is still unknown. Although bystanders have allegedly recognized the man coming out of the school as a minor L.A. celebrity, who wishes to remain unnamed, other credible sources have vehemently denied this and the claims are widely regarded as false. Officer P. Simmons of the LAPD, who had interviewed the mystery man, described him as the'tall, dark, handsome type. Wore a suit'. As Simmons goes on to explain, the police "never got his name. He gave us a short account of what happened but then he didn't say anything. Dude was like, in shock, so we didn't press him. Ah mean, no one thought he'd just walk off like that! He just said 'Excuse me, I need to go' – had a British accent by the way – and then he went outside with the little girl holding his hand and when we wanted to question him again, he was just gone! Weird right? But it was all chaos, y'know? And the girl didn't look scared. She wanted to go with him, so I didn't question it. Think she knew him."

As of today, none of the children involved have confirmed this happening and the identities of both the girl in question and her savior are still hotly disputed. So far no one has come forward to claim either and it appears as if the Angel of Crawford may have to stay one of many unsolved mysteries."

.

"Just… How?", asked Dan and put down the newspaper. He looked utterly baffled. "There were twenty children in there and the teacher!"

"Well, that's the problem, isn't it", said Chloe cynically, turning a page in her own issue. "Kids. They make stuff up." She sipped from her coffee, then bit into a lemon bar. "Look at page three: They're already trying to explain it away with some kind of bullet proof costume and fake cosplay wings."

"Bullet proof cosplay wings", echoed Dan. "Against an AR-15 right in front of you? For real? At that range I doubt you'd survive even with hard armor, never mind a soft vest. How does anybody buy into this?"

Chloe raised her eyebrows almost up to her hairline.

"Do I really need to remind you how much we've been explaining away for the past year and a half, Dan? People see what they wanna to see." She absentmindedly fingered her bullet necklace. Dan snorted, but had to concede this.

"What do they say about Daisy Granger?", he asked.

"Was only mildly injured."

"And all the blood?", Dan asked incredulously.

"Oh, I didn't get to that part yet", said Chloe. "But I'm guessing something about it only being a graze hitting an artery in an unfortunate spot. Looking terrible, but not actually life-threatening, once mystery man stopped the bleeding. Something like that." She took another bite from a lemon bar.

"Did Lucifer ever explain what he did?"

"No and neither did Trixie."

"Guess we'll never find out", said Dan mildly. After all the revelations of the past two weeks, uncovering a miraculous healing was fairly low on the list of his priorities. "Angel of Crawford'", he read aloud. "Man, he must hate that."

"You have no idea", said Chloe, in the exasperated tone of someone working the complaints department of customer support.

"How did he even manage to keep his name out of the papers? Well, mostly", wondered Dan, referring to the rumors and speculations still circulating through the tabloids. Even Lucifer hadn't managed to quell those entirely.

"Well, he never did give his name to the police", explained Chloe. "The rest was Charlotte and Favours", she said laconically and Dan nodded, as if this were explanation enough, which, at least when it came to Lucifer Morningstar, it was.

"Wonder how many he had to use for that one", he said.

"Considering how much he's whining about it: a LOT", said Chloe and tipped back her mug, to get the last drops of her coffee.

"Wait 'till he hears about the increase in church attendance", said Dan and sipped from his own coffee. "Man, the irony's killing me." He chuckled and went back to his paper, though he decided the sports section was a better use of his time.

.

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AUTHOR'S END NOTE

Okay, I'm ready for the stones to be thrown *ducks*
That was it. I know a lot of you won't be happy that I didn't really address the "a whole classroom of kids saw Lucifer's wings and one of them should be dead but isn't" angle and am in fact kind of glossing over it, so I at least wanted to give you my reasons.

a) For the most part it's because it's not what I wanted to focus on. I wanted to write Lucifer being badass, Lucifer and Trixie and Chloe finding out, so this is what I did. (sorry for not giving you some Maze & Trixie though)

b) Explaining things away is literally what's happening the entirety of the series! Lucifer pushes a man through a glass door with basically a flick of his wrist (caught on video), drives a man insane and regularly holds up 100kg dudes one-handedly. Not to mention his injuries – granted, we're never actually shown how fast they heal but common sense would dictate it's pretty damn fast. In the finale of S03 it looks as if his wings may have healed or almost healed already. Lucifer has difficulty folding them back but that could have been his emotional state, he's fighting as if they were at least mostly fine.
Also, pretty much all of Maze.

c) I honestly don't think it's all that unrealistic. Unless you had been there (or were a person of extraordinary faith) - would you believe in an angel? Or, when no more evidence of the divine is forthcoming, dismiss it as an elaborate show, an illusionist or simply one of life's many mysteries? Sure, it would keep the media busy for a while and fuel the conspiracy theories but after a few months with no new information or the next shooting (whichever happens faster) public interest would wane and the Angel of Crawford would become nothing more than fodder for an X-Factor remake.

Other than that, yes I could have written more about Chloe & Lucifer in the aftermath of the Grand Reveal (TM) but I'm satisfied with things as they are (and tbh I'd be more interested in exploring Ella's reaction because she'll figure it out!). The way their relationship(s) will change and develop now belongs in a different story and not this one. This one was about Lucifer being a bamf and it ends here. I hope you enjoyed it despite the lack of more Deckerstar :-)