Chapter Text
Chloe can tell the second they pass into Heaven from Hell. The cloying humidity of the underworld evaporates instantly. The faint scent of ash is gone.
Her memory of the first time she had been here, almost half a century ago had faded with time. She remembers her father, Lucifer, and the overwhelming sense of peace and contentment.
Lucifer gently lets her out of his arms and it occurs to her for the first time that she doesn’t have any shoes — she left hers on their beach in the hell loop when she had changed into the dress she now wears.
“Why would you need shoes, Detective?”
She looks up at him, flush against his body with his arms wrapped around her waist. “Because it’s weird to be without them. Why’d you take us here anyway?”
Chloe actually hadn’t given much thought to what Heaven would look like when she went. She honestly figured Lucifer would take her to the same lakeside where he had first told her he loved her all of those years ago. This is like a town square. A very deserted town square.
“It’s the Citadel — the center of the Silver City. Amenadiel keeps his office in the central building, that’s where the majority of the family business is done.”
She nods, taking it all in. “It’s so—”
“Bright? Idyllic? Pristine? Divine?”
“I was going to say tacky.”
“Whoever was responsible for this atrocity should be tried for blasphemy, honestly.” He cracks a smile at her and is overcome by such intense joy that she can hardly maintain eye contact with him, in fear she will burst.
Chloe loves him more than she ever thought possible. She’s not sure if it’s Heaven, that they got married about twelve minutes ago, or the single truth of her existence, but she is nearly undone by the strength of her love for him.
They walk hand-in-hand to the gleaming central building, which is really an interconnected series of structures. More impressive than the most beautiful university campus, it simultaneously looks to be hundreds of years old and from the far future. Sure, someone’s been a little heavy-handed with the gold leaf, but Chloe is still awed at the sight.
“This is where you grew up?”
Lucifer runs a hand through his hair. “Well, not here exactly. But yes.”
She catches the hesitation in his voice and gently rubs the back of his hand with her thumb. “Is this too difficult for you, babe? We can go home if you want.”
Lucifer softly shakes his head. “Nonsense. Ancient history, love.” He continues to stare up at the entrance to the building with an unreadable expression on his face.
In no hurry herself, Chloe is content to explore. A bed of flowers sits to the left of the grand staircase. To the right, a beautiful bubbling fountain that puts the Trevi Fountain to shame. She studies the intricate carvings on the tiers. Only once she is closer can she see that the tiers are actually individual animals. Each massive tier of the fountain each showcasing a single kingdom of animal life.
“Can I help you?” comes a voice behind her. Chloe is so caught up in admiring the fountain that she jumps. She whips around and sees a nondescript man waving at her, trying to get her attention.
“Hi?” she replies lamely.
The man smiles at her acknowledgment of him. “Hello! Can I help you?” He takes in her appearance, his expression becomes puzzled. “Are you new around here?”
“I guess?” This was Heaven, so why was she being forced into small talk? Chloe has seen hell loops consisting of nothing but inescapable nightmarish small talk scenarios.
The man now holds a scroll that definitely wouldn’t have fit in the loose grey robes he wears. “I don’t see you on this list from Azrael… You said you just arrived?”
Chloe doesn’t answer him. Whoever this man is, she’s uninterested. She steps past him to join Lucifer so they can go find Amenadiel and the man reaches out to grab her wrist. She tenses, quelling the instinctual urge to twist his arm behind his back until he apologizes for touching her.
“My apologies dear, I didn’t realize you were coming to us from down there.” The man says the last bit in a stage whisper, as if it is a great secret or something to be ashamed of. “We find your kind all over the place. Still, we’re glad you’re here now.”
“Excuse you, what do you mean my kind? Do you mean human?”
“ Human? No dear, I mean souls from Hell.”
“Oh.”
“As I said, don’t worry, you’re here now. I’m called Stuiel. Let’s get you to your orientation,” he explains to her.
With a name like Stuiel, she knows she’s dealing with one of them. With very, very few exceptions, she cannot stand Lucifer’s siblings. “Thanks, but I’ll pass.”
The angel shakes his head and Chloe wonders if she’s imagining how patronizing the action seems. “Trust me dear, there’s nothing to fear now. Come with me.”
“I’d really rather not.” She takes a step back from him.
He tuts. “No, no. We can’t have that. You will feel so much better soon. You will soon be free of Hell’s stench.”
A light breeze makes her hair flutter and when Chloe looks down, she’s no longer clad in the dress she had worn as she vowed to spend her eternal life with Lucifer as his wife. Instead, she is once again clothed in the long, blindingly white tunic she had worn to first greet Amenadiel after she died.
At least now she isn’t barefoot.
More surprised than anything else, she can only manage to squeak out, “What?”
“Now come along.” Stuiel holds out his hand for her. When she doesn’t immediately take it, he lets out a sigh as though he is dealing with an errant child.
“I said no, dickhead.” Chloe takes another step backward and almost stumbles into Lucifer.
“Careful,” her husband cautions. He gently rights her before noticing her new attire. Before he has a chance to ask the question on his tongue, Stuiel interjects.
“Be gone with you! This soul is no longer under your dominion, fallen one!”
Chloe’s jaw drops at Stuiel’s words. “Excuse me?”
“Oh fuck off, Stuiel. She’s mine.” She can tell without looking at him that Lucifer’s irises are glowing red. He wraps an arm around her waist and pulls her tight against him.
“Do not fear, human. I will free you from the Serpent’s clutches.” For all his talk, the shorter angel simply holds his hands out to Chloe, not bothering to actually attempt to free her from Lucifer’s hold.
Lucifer laughs and bends down to greedily suck on the corner of Chloe’s jaw, tugging on her earlobe with his teeth. Her eyes flutter at the contact, suddenly very aware she and Lucifer have been married for nearly forty-seven minutes and their vows remain unconsummated.
Stuiel’s lip curls up in disgust as he watches the scene before him. “Even for you, Samael, this is low. The subjugation of a saved soul? You make a mockery of us all. I shall not surrender this soul to you.”
“It’s fine, I’m fine,” Chloe tries to tell him as Lucifer continues to mark his territory down her neck.
“Shhh… My poor dear, do not fret. The Serpent will cower at the feet of the Almighty.”
“Do you really think so?” Lucifer asks his brother. The other angel is lost in prayer and does not hear him. Addressing Chloe again, he asks, “What’s with the wardrobe change, darling?”
Chloe pinches the fabric at her hips and spins. “Oh, this old thing?” she smirks, “Mandatory uniform for Heaven Orientation Week.”
“You’re covered from neck to ankle. What kind of convent is this thing held at?”
“Apparently one where there’s no such thing as underwear.”
That piques his interest. “You don’t say?” Lucifer arches his eyebrow and grabs her hips, drawing her body against his.
Chloe sticks her lower lip out in a pout. “Can you do your angel voodoo magic and change me back?”
“You don’t need me for that. Not here.”
She remembers when she first arrived in the afterlife, before she had been reunited with Lucifer. The memory is now a blur, a series of flashes, but she remembers going from the white expanse of nowhere to standing in front of Lucifer’s office door in Hell, dressed in a red blouse and jeans.
Without any effort at all, she’s once again in the same dress Lucifer had picked out for her to wear only an hour ago.
“You know, I liked the first time you got dressed in this better.”
The all-too fresh memory of his warm fingers on her back as he buttoned her up sends a shiver up her spine. She is about ten minutes away from suggesting to Lucifer that they do some things in his brother’s office that are sure to get them both sent back down to Hell.
Her fingers trace the lines where the edge of his waistcoat lies against his shirt. Lucifer takes a deep breath when she applies a little more pressure to the planes of his chest with her fingernails. “If we don’t ditch this family reunion soon, I’ll be forced to undo all of those buttons myself, babe.”
“We can’t have that, Detective,” he croons, his voice low in her ear.
A flash of light appears, accompanied by a clap of thunder. As the light dims, Amenadiel stands in its place.
“Fuck!” exclaims Chloe, her heart still racing.
Lucifer rubs her arm gently to soothe her. “A bit showy, even for me, Brother,” he critiques.
“You’re here,” cries Stuiel, grateful his prayer has been answered.
“What’s the emergency?” Amenadiel asks, not taking his eyes off Lucifer and Chloe.
“It’s the fallen one! He-he still claims dominion over this human soul. Tell him that he has no authority here and must relinquish her.”
“I see,” observes Amenadiel. “Lucifer—”
Lucifer interrupts Amenadiel, explaining, “Everything Stuiel said is accurate. For the most part, anyway. Especially the part about claiming this one.” As if to emphasize his point, he wraps his other arm around Chloe’s middle. She rewards him with a peck to his chin.
Stuiel waves his hand at Lucifer and Chloe. “Don’t you see it? He has corrupted her.”
“Okay, okay, Stuiel. Calm down,” Amenadiel instructs. “Lucifer, you know exactly what you’re doing, riling up Stuiel. I would expect this kind of thing from Rory.”
A warm glow of pride fills Lucifer’s chest at the mention of Aurora. “What can I say? I’m a proud father.”
“You speak of his bastard child, Brother?” Stuiel practically spits the words in disgust.
Chloe propels herself from Lucifer’s arms with a power she hasn’t felt in her limbs in decades. Before Amenadiel or Lucifer has a chance to react, she raises her hand to strike Stuiel. The echo of the slap rings in the air. Stuiel’s hand is on his face, hoving over his reddened cheek.
“Inflicting violence upon an angel of God?” Stuiel tuts. “Maybe you really are too far gone to be in the Kingdom of Heaven. Perhaps it is best if you follow the Serpent back to his lair after all.”
Amenadiel’s voice is low. “Stuiel, you are mistaken. Stop now before you do more harm.”
“Me? The human is the one who committed an act of violence at the mention of his bas—”
“Keep any mention of her out of your mouth,” Chloe growls, her warning clear. Lucifer places a hand on her shoulder, gently tugging her back into his arms.
“I’d sooner relinquish my divinity than take orders from a human, especially one condemned to Hell,” Stuiel snarls in response. There is nothing left of the smiling angel who had first spoken to her.
“STUIEL.” Amenadiel’s voice echoes throughout the Citadel. “I don’t believe you have had the opportunity to be properly introduced to our sister-in-law and mother of your only niece, Captain Chloe Decker.”