Chapter Text
“Good evening,” Michael drawled in his fake accent as he walked up behind Chloe.
Chloe tried to hide her scrutinization of the imposter as she tried to trip him up. To get more confirmation for her theory. “Do you remember the last time we were here?”
“Of course,” Michael said easily, hoping that she wouldn’t ask him much more. Or at least give him some hint or something first.
“We told each other how we felt. I just hope you know that I meant every word I said. I... I love you, Lucifer. And I still do,” she said, seeing in his eyes that he had no idea what she was talking about.
“And I meant it, too. I love you, Chloe,” Michael returned, wondering if it really was going to be this easy.
Chloe had never been more positive that she was right. Lucifer would never say those words so effortlessly. Oh she didn’t doubt that he felt them. Or that he would at least attempt to say them. But it would never have been something that was easy for him. Not at first. “Oh... I've waited such a long time for this,” she said, backing him up to the arm of the couch seductively. She wanted to make him let his guard down.
“Oh... Me, too,” Michael said with a chuckle, ecstatic that things were going this well.
Chloe could see that he was eating out of her hand and couldn’t help but rub it in a little bit. “See? Still have it on,” she showed him the bullet necklace that would very soon seal his fate.
“I can see that,” Michael said even while mentally criticizing his brother’s taste in jewelry. Honestly to give the woman you supposedly love a /bullet/ necklace?
“You know...once we do this...things are never going to be the same,” Chloe said breathlessly as she took a few steps back and slowly removed her jacket, using it to distract from her drawing her gun.
“I believe you're right,” Michael said in satisfaction only to be cut off by a gunshot to his leg and the surprise of it, knocked him to the ground even as his leg healed almost instantly.
“Once I shot Lucifer to prove he was the Devil, and now I'm shooting you to prove you're not,” Chloe said coldly. When Michael raised his arms, she just smirked. “That's what I thought.”
“How long have you known?” Michael asked as he got to his feet.
“I knew something was off the first time I kissed you. But you always had such good explanations, such good lies. I wanted to believe you,” she said honestly. “But then I saw you with Maze. That's when I knew. Lucifer would never... do that to me. So... Who are you?”
“I'm Lucifer's brother. Michael. It's nice to meet... Ow!” his words were cut off by another gunshot. This time to his chest. “You know that won't kill me,” he said almost amused. At least he would have been if it didn’t hurt so much. Granted it couldn’t seriously harm him, but that didn’t mean it was pleasant.
“Yeah, but it makes me feel better,” Chloe said hatefully as she let a few more bullets fly.
“Okay, okay, okay. I get it,” Michael said with his hands up in surrender. “I get it. So what? I guess this means you never really liked the new Lucifer?” Michael had to ask.
“You're not the only one who can lie, and you are no Lucifer. I don't know why you're here and I don't care, but I do know that I am glad, because you made me realize that all my fears that Lucifer had changed were just that. They were fears. What Lucifer and I have is special. It's real, and it doesn't matter how many lies you tell me. I will never lose faith...in me and him,” Chloe said seriously just hoping that she would get a chance to prove that to the real Lucifer one day.
“Oh, really? No more lies, huh?” Michael chuckled. He didn’t have to lie to ruin his brother’s life. “Well, how about a truth, then? You...are a gift from God, Chloe Decker.”
“What does that mean?” she asked confused.
“It means that you were never supposed to exist. Father made you for Lucifer. You were put here on Earth only for him, to be his little plaything. Now, isn't that special?” Michael smirked.
“I don't believe you,” Chloe denied, despite being able to hear the ring of truth in his words. “It's time for you to go. Get out!” she ordered almost frantically, mind whirling over this revelation that she refused to believe. Once he had retreated, she let herself collapse onto the couch, hands shaking as the adrenaline left her. Unfortunately, his parting words were far more persistent and they wouldn’t leave her as quickly as the adrenaline did. Or at all. By the time she was together enough to leave about an hour later, she knew that there was only one place she could go. One person who could give her answers. She found herself on Linda and Amenadiel’s doorstep.
Linda was just telling her that Amenadiel wasn’t home when he drove up. Rather than have this conversation in the house, Amenadiel took her around to the back garden to talk. He still had to decide what or how much he was going to tell Linda and until he did, he’d rather her not hear about it like this. He knew that Michael had him over a barrel. It would be far too easy for the angel of fear to manipulate things to make him lose his son and if he was pushed too far…he couldn’t let Chloe continue thinking she was with Lucifer though. That was a line that Amenadiel wasn’t willing to cross. Everything else he would have to think about.
“Chloe, there is something you should know about Lucifer,” Amenadiel started before she could speak.
“You mean that he’s Michael? Yeah…kinda figured that out for myself,” she huffed.
“What happened?” Amenadiel asked worriedly. If Michael had hurt her…
“There was just too much that didn’t add up, so I shot him. And he didn’t bleed. And then he admitted it and told me who he really was…so I shot him a few more times,” she chuckled.
Amenadiel couldn’t help but laugh at that too. It explained Michael’s morosity when he’d seen him. “Good for you,” Amenadiel praised.
“But then he did tell me something…that didn’t sound like the same lies that he usually told…” she said hesitantly.
“Oh?” Amenadiel asked curiously, glad that she had apparently come to him for confirmation rather than just believing Michael’s stories.
“He said that I was a ‘gift from god’. That I wasn’t supposed to exist and was created only for Lucifer…” she said hesitantly, watching the angel for his reactions to her words and that told her all that she needed to know. “It’s true then…”
“Your mother was barren. Father sent me to bless her with a child. You, Chloe,” Amenadiel admitted.
“Was that…something you did often?” she asked hesitantly. If it was then she could try to live with it. To get past it. Angels blessing people with children wouldn’t be completely out of character.
“No, Chloe. It was the first and only time we had ever done so. You are special,” Amenadiel told her with a smile, unaware that she was feeling the exact opposite.
“And…I was created for…for Lucifer?”
“You were. You see, your match was blessed by my father himself. There has never been anything more real and profound,” Amenadiel said gently.
“I-I see,” she said, not wanting to let on the turmoil she was feeling lest Amenadiel start to clam up. “And Lucifer…He…He knew this?” she had to know.
“He found out a few years ago, yes. The same time I did. I hadn’t known it was you until I met your mother. He was…not happy,” Amenadiel admitted. “You know how he is about anything regarding our father.”
“Of course,” Chloe nodded. “Thank you for telling me Amenadiel. You’ve given me a lot to think about.”
“I must caution you, Chloe. Do not push Michael too far. He is more dangerous than you know.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” she promised absentmindedly as she left. She went straight home and locked herself in her room as she turned all that over in her mind. She was nothing more than a puppet. Designed to love Lucifer. She never had a chance. She never got to make her own choice. And Amenadiel thought that was a /blessing/? She shuddered at the thought. And Lucifer had known. So had Amenadiel. She wondered who else knew. Who else was aware that her life wasn’t her own. Who else had hidden such an important fact of her own existence from her. Linda had to have known. She was Lucifer’s therapist. She could forgive Linda though. Doctor/patient confidentiality was a serious thing. Did Maze know? No, probably not. Maze was never much for feelings and even less interested in God and his plans.
The biggest question on her mind was what to do about it. Could she really live with just being a /prize/ for the devil? With letting her life and feelings be manipulated like that? She was really starting to understand Lucifer’s complex about his father’s manipulations now. But then he’d done the same thing. He’d hidden it from her. Even after she learned the truth about him. Did that have anything to do with how surprised and hurt he had been at her reaction to learning that? No. She refused to live like that. She was going to take her life back. One way or another. And there was only one person she could be sure would help her. At least reasonably sure. It helped that her ‘fake’ feelings would be so much easier to transfer to him as well. She got her coat back on, letting Maze know she was heading out again. Trixie was already asleep, so it hardly mattered. She suspected he would have gone back to the penthouse after she left, and was glad to see that she was right.
Michael narrowed his eyes at her as she stepped out of the elevator. “Come to take a few more shots at me?” he scoffed.
“No,” Chloe said shortly. “Come to ask you a question.”
“Then by all means. Ask,” Michael said, wondering if all wasn’t lost after all.
“Were you only with me because you were pretending to be Lucifer and it was part of the ruse?” She had to know that first. Before she could truly decide.
Michael considered his response carefully. Weighed what she would want to hear with what she would believe and finally decided. “At first, yes. But that…changed. Getting to know you…changed everything.”
Chloe scrutinized him, looking for the truth. “Then why Maze?” she had to ask.
Michael resisted the urge to cheer. He had this in the bag now. Just a little minor acting and he would be golden. He looked down sheepishly as he forced a blush to his cheeks. “Be-because my brother was…so much more…experienced than me. I…I didn’t want…I mean…”
“You wanted practice?” Chloe realized, getting an embarrassed nod and that was her decision made. She took a few steps towards him and put a hand to his cheek and he looked up at her with hopeful eyes. “Then you can practice with me. And /only/ me.”
“Really?” Michael asked eagerly, playing up the innocent act.
“But a few ground rules first,” Chloe said.
“Anything,” Michael breathed out, entranced by her proximity. The part about not being experienced like Lucifer hadn’t actually been a lie, after all.
“First…I enjoy working with you, but if people knew that you weren’t Lucifer…”
“So you want me to continue pretending to be him?” Michael asked, not quite sure how he felt about that.
“Only in public,” she assured him, completely understanding his hesitation.
“You should know…some people already know…”
“Who?” Chloe asked. “I know Amenadiel.”
“Maze knows too. She pegged me from the start. I could never fool the demon that had been by his side for millennia,” Michael said sadly.
Chloe nodded. “But they won’t say anything?”
“No. They won’t,” Michael assured her. He had enough dirt on their fears to keep them dancing to his tune for quite a while. “Not anytime soon at least.”
“Okay, good. And everyone else can stay in the dark. It’ll be our secret,” Chloe said moving even closer to him.
“A-any other…ground rules?” Michael asked, desperate to get on to the next portion of the evening. At least what he hoped the next portion would be.
“No more lies. Not to me,” she said seriously, getting a slow nod. She wanted to be able to count on his honesty the same way she could Lucifer’s. “And you don’t hurt anyone. Especially the people I care about.”
“Deal…” he breathed out just before her lips met his and this was even better because now she /knew/ it was him. She was kissing /him/. Not Lucifer. And when they moved to the bedroom later, he knew that even if Lucifer did ever return and get her back, he would never be able to take this away. Michael was going to be with her first.