"That's Paolucci's car just like his GPS said," Chloe observed as she looked across the road.
"The bar is closed," Lucifer's voice came from behind her.
They were at the Paddock, having tracked down Anthony Paolucci, now that their other murder case was solved. Chloe still wasn't happy about the way Lucifer had broken Dr. Medina's arm, or maybe it was just how easily he'd done it that she didn't like. It reminded her once again just how strong he was, in an only slightly terrifying way. He stopped himself before he'd done any real damage, but she knew he'd chosen to do that. If one day something happened and he chose differently there really wouldn't be anything she could do about it. She wasn't used to not being in control.
Still, one problem at a time. Chloe went to look through the Paddock window, but turned when she heard the sound of a door opening.
"It was unlocked," Lucifer defended his actions.
What they found upon entering the building was exactly the opposite of what Chloe expected. It looked like Anthony had shot himself in the head. Chloe called it in and then sat down to wait for back up to arrive. Putting her phone away, she turned around, and there was the Devil pouring himself a drink.
"What?" Lucifer said as she narrowed her eyes at him. "We're waiting for backup right? Best way to kill time in my experience." He indicated the glass by lifting it slightly.
"What does killing time look like for an immortal anyway?" Chloe asked. "Doesn't ten years just feel like a second to you?"
"Quite the opposite actually," Lucifer replied.
"This is a crime scene," Chloe reminded him. "It's no place to be drunk."
"Really, Detective?" Lucifer said in a mocking tone. "Have you ever actually seen me drunk?"
She stopped and thought for a moment before replying. "Well technically, no," she answered. "But I've seen you drink, like a lot."
"Yes, but I don't get drunk, do I?" Lucifer explained. "Quite frankly, I can't. Angelic metabolism and all that. I drink because I like the taste."
"Wait, so you can't get drunk?" Chloe asked. "Like physically?"
"Well I guess that's not as true now as before," Lucifer said. "Been managing a tiny bit of a buzz since that whole bleeding incident but it's touch and go. Haven't actually managed to get drunk yet."
"Huh," Chloe replied. She wasn't really sure what to do with that. If you couldn't get drunk then what was the harm in alcohol, actually? Wasn't it just like really strange tasting water without the intoxication part?
"Oh any news back on that key we found?" Lucifer asked, taking another sip of his apparently harmless bourdon.
"I sent it in myself," Chloe said. "But no clean prints."
"Would have been too easy," Lucifer said cheerfully. "If the dirty cop had just left their prints for us to find."
"I suppose," Chloe said. "Sometimes easy is good though, if it's true."
"You really are all about honesty aren't you, Detective?" Lucifer said, thoughtfully, or as thoughtfully as the Devil could manage.
"It's the foundation of every kind of relationship," Chloe replied.
"Is that why you seem okay with me then?" Lucifer asked. "Because I'm honest with you?"
"Part of it," Chloe replied, suspiciously. "Haven't we been through this already?"
"Just following up," Lucifer said, raising his hands in an almost surrendering gesture.
Was he waiting for her to suddenly change her mind and freak out? Hell and heaven were real and her partner was immortal. Yes, it was a lot to wrap her head around, but she thought she was managing quite well all things considered! She did sometimes wish she had someone else other than Lucifer to talk to about this though.
It was then that backup arrived, and she left Lucifer to his drink and went to brief the other officers. A suicide note had been found, written in Anthony's handwriting or at least what looked like his handwriting. It was just a bit too tidy. The note explained that Anthony had been on the take. It also said he'd shot Malcolm so when Malcolm woke up Anthony couldn't take the guilt anymore hence the suicide. It was like someone had handed her a storybook ending to her Palmetto case. Anthony was the only other person who knew Malcolm was there and his suicide note explained the motive. Plus, he was conveniently too dead to explain his side of the story, assuming he had one. When she told Dan, even he didn't seem to believe it.
For now, Chloe had to accept this as the end of her case. She had no leads, and no loose ends, but she was going to keep her eyes open. Her instincts were telling her, there was something wrong here.
*****
"My brother has hijacked my therapist." Lucifer's voice broke her concentration. Chloe had just gotten into work after dropping Trixie off at school. She still had alot of paperwork to get done from last night's suicide scene. What she hadn't done was call Lucifer in.
"You know you could at least bring me coffee if you are just randomly going to show up like this," Chloe sighed.
"He's set up shop down the hall from Dr. Linda," Lucifer continued, clearly ignoring what she said. "Calling himself Dr. Canaan. Like I wouldn't figure that out."
"What does it matter if he's there?" Chloe asked. She was only half listening, with the rest of her mind focused on her actual job.
"Well he's not a doctor is he?" Lucifer said. "Which means he's there for some nefarious purpose. And to top it all off Mazikeen was the one who told Amededial about Dr. Linda."
"And this is a problem because?" Chloe asked, finally looking up from her work. It's not like she was gonna get much done with Lucifer venting anyway.
"Don't you see?" Lucifer began. "Amededial is trying to use my therapist to control me, and Maze betrayed me!"
Chloe lowered her voice before asking. "Maze is the demon, right?" Even if no one was really in earshot, she was always worried someone would notice her taking Lucifer seriously at work.
"Yes. My demon," Lucifer grumbled. "She is supposed to be loyal to me."
"Why?" Chloe asked.
"Well, because I'm her king," Lucifer said.
"Right. The king that's been on vacation for five years and burned his only way back to work," Chloe reminded him. "Real dedicated monarch you are. Can you blame her for deciding to run her own show?" She lowered her voice even more before adding, "What does being a demon actually mean anyway?"
"Well, back in Hell it meant torturing deceased souls," Lucifer replied easily. "But here it just seems to mean she betrays her boss."
"Maybe she meant well," Chloe offered. "Isn't the road to hell paved with good intentions?" She couldn't help but laugh at her own joke.
"Very funny, detective, but no," Lucifer said. "As I've told you, it's guilt that's the road to hell, not good intentions."
"Does she have wings?" Chloe asked after a moment.
"No. Demons don't have wings," Lucifer scoffed. "Or souls for that matter."
"How did she get here then?" Chloe asked.
"I carried her," Lucifer explained.
"Which also means you trapped her," Chloe observed. "When you burned your wings."
"She was my right hand in hell for thousands of years," Lucifer continued. "So should she be here."
"In other words, you decide where she gets to be," Chloe replied. "No control issues there."
"Oh come on," Lucifer whined. "You were supposed to be on my side."
"I hardly know enough about either side to understand half of what you say sometimes," Chloe laughed.
"A lot of help you are," he said sarcastically.
"You could be of help you know," Chloe reminded him. "There is paperwork to do."
"I'd rather be back in hell," Lucifer said coolly before walking away.
She was pretty sure he didn't actually mean that, but it made her smile nonetheless. He was just so ridiculous, most of the time. Who was she kidding? Lucifer was ridiculous all the time.
*****
A week went by and not a single homicide showed up on Chloe's desk. She had no new information on Malcolm, even if she was still pretty sure he had something to do with all this celestial stuff. Chloe assumed Lucifer was partying it up at his penthouse like he always did. Without any cases she hadn't had a need to call him in.
All in all it had been a rather relaxing week, without Lucifer. A whole week of no inappropriate jokes or angelic comments. Still she kinda missed the stupid idiot. He was quite entertaining to have around, even with all the downsides.
Just then she looked up from her desk and jumped. Who was standing right in front of her but the Devil himself, and with two coffees no less.
"Are you sure you can't read minds?" Chloe asked.
"We've been over this, Detective," Lucifer said. He gestured to himself before adding, "Devil, not jedi."
"What are you doing here?"
"I have a case for you," Lucifer said, grinning as he held out one of the coffees to her.
"What's this?" she asked.
"You said if I was going to randomly show up I should bring coffee," Lucifer explained. Chloe just blinked at it.
"Wait, you listened?" Chloe asked, genuinely shocked, as she reached forward to take the beverage.
"Nevermind the coffee," Lucifer said. "A case, Detective."
"You brought me a case?" Chloe continued, dubiously.
"Yes, so you'll never guess who came by Lux last night?"
"The Easter bunny," Chloe said the first crazy thing that came to her mind.
"Oh alright I'll just tell you," Lucifer said. "A priest! Can you believe it!? A priest walked into my bar and asked for a favour."
"And this gets us a case, how?"
"Well the priest's favour, of course," Lucifer continued. "There's this youth center being used as a drug operation, but that isn't the point."
"It's not?"
"No, we need to investigate the priest!" Lucifer said. "He wasn't all he seemed, I'm sure."
"And just how are you sure?" Chloe asked, with a sigh.
"Well for starters his most powerful desire was to punch a guy in the face," Lucifer replied.
"Okay but did he actually do it?" Chloe asked. "Because I wanna punch you in the face sometimes, but you don't see me doing it."
"Oh that's a thought," Lucifer said, grinning. "I wonder what getting punched in the face would feel like?"
Chloe raised her eyebrows at him. "I highly doubt you've never been punched before."
"Well, it never hurt before," Lucifer said. "I bet being able to bleed makes punches feel different too."
"What is it with you and feeling new things?" Chloe sighed.
"Not sure," Lucifer said. "Might be a phase. I'll keep you posted."
"You said something about a drug operation at a kids youth center," Chloe brought them back to the matter at hand.
If it was a drug case, like Lucifer seemed to think, then she could just send the case to narcotics, but she kinda wanted something to do other than paperwork.
"Yes," Lucifer said. "So the first stop would be talking to the youth direction, hmmm?"
"Alright, fine!" Chloe said, getting up from her desk and collecting her keys. "But I'm-"
"Driving, yes, I know," Lucifer sighed. Chloe just grinned.
As they were walking to the car Chloe realized something. "Why are you so interested in his priest anyway?" she asked. "Seeing as how the welfare of those kids clearly isn't your motivation."
"He's hiding something," Lucifer explained. "And what better way to stick it to dear old dad than to prove that those who speak on His behalf aren't as virtuous as they pretend to be."
Chloe stopped walking.
Suddenly it all clicked in her head. She hadn't really put two and put together yet. Okay yes she worked with the Devil who was an annoying mischiefness type at best and kinda violent but not murder-y at worst. Totally manageable. Other angels existed. Okay that happened. And confirmed knowledge of an afterlife was a problem for much later. But the fact that the angel's father was actually God hadn't quite sunk in.
"Is something wrong, Detective?" Lucifer asked. Chloe shook her head and started walking again. She got into the driver's side of her cop car, and Lucifer sat in the passenger seat.
Once the door was closed and she knew no one in the parking lot could hear them, she spoke. "So your father is God?" she said.
"Yes. Sorry. Did I not explain that before?" Lucifer replied.
"Maybe," Chloe said. "Just this whole 'celestial beings are real' thing is a lot to process."
"Yet working with the Devil doesn't phase you?" Lucifer asked. There was something strange in the tone of his voice, but Chloe really didn't have the energy to figure it out.
Instead, she started the car. Driving made sense. Driving she could do. Realizing her passenger was the son of God was quite a bit more to process. Still, it didn't change anything, not really. Maybe it was best she didn't focus on it.
When they arrived at the youth center, the director's door was locked. Looking through the window, Chloe saw signs of a struggle and kicked in the door. It was then that Lucifer's family feud case turned into a homicide. Someone had murdered the youth director. Without missing a beat, Lucifer blamed the priest. He really did have daddy issues. How had she missed this before?
When Chloe interviewed the head counselor she had to admit, Lucifer might be onto something. It sounded like Lucifer's priest, Father Frank, had been coming around regularly, getting into arguments with the victim. She also interviewed two kids who were the counselor's alibi. They confirmed Father Frank had been there that morning.
They went back to the precinct and checked up on Father Frank, who had quite the criminal record, though nothing for the last ten years except for one restraining order filed by the victim.
"Ready to go to church?" Chloe asked the Devil.
"Bringing down a priest is the only reason I ever would," Lucifer replied.
"Bringing in," Chloe corrected him.
"Yes, bring him in, so we can bring him down," Lucifer said with a rather evil grin.
"All the time in the universe and you haven't managed to get over those daddy issues, huh?" Chloe commented, smugly.
"No comment, Detective," Lucifer said as they reached her car and got in.
They arrived at the church with nothing more than the usual Lucifer banter during the car ride over. The guy was more chatty than the radio. While they were waiting for the priest, Lucifer wandered off. She found him taking confession and wasn't sure if she should warn the poor lady he'd been talking to or not. The Devil taking confession just sounded like a recipe for disaster.
While interviewing Father Frank, Chloe quickly realized he wasn't the murderer. Even if Lucifer hadn't accidently got the priest's alibi in confession, her gut told her Father Frank was innocent. Even if the Devil didn't like it, Chloe was determined to follow procedure, which meant taking the priest to the station for a statement.
Lucifer was going on about how maybe the priest could still be guilty if he had a twin or something, when she saw it. The black van that was driving, just a little too slow. Thinking fast, Chloe knocked all three of them to the ground just in time to hear the bullets fire above them. Getting up quickly, once the sound of bullets stopped, Chloe ran to try and catch the license plate.
"And you wonder why I don't go to church," Lucifer said once it was safe to stand up.
*****
Between Father Frank's coming clean about someone threatening him and the partial license plate she'd got, the case had quite a few new leads. She connected narcotics and asked if any of their CIs knew anything. A vehicle matching the partial license plate had been stolen from just outside the youth center. She'd ordered traffic cam footage and was just now on her way to Lux to get Lucifer up to speed on the investigation. She also needed to check in with Father Frank and make sure the Devil wasn't trying to corrupt the priest. She sensed somehow that Father Frank could handle even Lucifer.
The dancer's at Lux were all in rather more nun themed outfits than usual. Panties and wimples were a very strange combination, even for Lux.
"Couldn't resist, huh?" Chloe said. "Still wanna prove he's a hypocrite?"
"Temptation is in my nature," Lucifer replied slyly.
"Not everyone gives in to temptation," Chloe replied smugly as she nodded towards Father Frank. The priest had his eyes closed and was nodding his head in time with the music. He even had a smile on his face.
"I love this song," he said.
Chloe had to hold back a laugh. It was quite entertaining to watch Father Frank get under Lucifer's skin.
They all sat down to drink and Chloe got to witness the strangest interaction. If she wasn't very much mistaken the Devil was befriending the priest. Their love of music in particular seemed to break the ice. Then when Father Frank told the tale of his daughter's car accident and how Conner's parents had been killed as well, Chloe was sure she saw sympathy in the Devil's eyes. For all his big talk about sticking it to his dad, Lucifer cared quite a bit more than he let on.
"We might not always understand it," Father Frank said. "But God has a plan."
"Yes I know!" Lucifer said. "But why does everyone always think it's a good plan?"
Her phone rang then, and Chloe stepped away to take the call. Her contact in narcotics had confirmed Father Frank's story about the Spider and even gotten her an address.
She went back to the bar, but Lucifer and Father Frank were nowhere to be found. Heading up to the penthouse she found the two of them playing piano together and looking mighty adorable doing it. They stopped the moment Lucifer noticed her. The look on Lucifer's face reminded her of when Trixie got caught eating chocolate cake after bedtime.
"Why do you need me to come along?" Lucifer asked as she drove them to the address her contact had given her.
"Anxious to get back to your new friend?" Chloe asked, grinning.
"The Devil, friends with a priest!" Lucifer scoffed. "Absurd."
"If you mean absurdly adorable then I agree."
"He's everything I stand against, Detective," Lucifer reminded her.
"Just because two people are different doesn't mean they can't be friends," Chloe counted. "I mean just look at us."
"Is that what we are then, Detective?" Lucifer asked. "Friends?"
"What else would we be?" she chuckled.
"Well I don't know," Lucifer said. "Dr. Linda asked me the same question, and I didn't have an answer for her. But that's what you say we are then, Detective? Friends?"
"Yes," Chloe laughed. "How could you not know that? It isn't like you've never had a friend before-" Then she stopped questioning her certainty. "Is it?"
For a moment he didn't reply. Chloe wondered if she'd hit too close to home for him, but then the Devil spoke.
"I've done favours for people," Lucifer said, as if beginning a list. "I've ruled over demons, fought with my siblings, Michael especially. Never with Azrael though, my favourite little sister. We used to prank Amenadiel together way back when. Rarely see her these days on account of her job, but I'm getting off topic." He paused, then took a deep breath. "If I understood Dr. Linda's definition correctly then no, Detective, I don't think I've ever had a friend before."
The emotion in his voice was very noticeable to her, even if she could tell he was trying to hide it.
"Well I think you have two now," Chloe told him, kindly.
"Only have confirmation on the one actually," Lucifer said.
"Don't discount Father Frank yet," Chloe replied. "And even Dr. Martin might qualify, if you weren't sleeping with her."
"Actually Dr. Martin has ended our sex for therapy deal," Lucifer said, easily. All the hurt had vanished from his voice. "Been paying for therapy with money these days, and I must confess it is much less time consuming to just write a check."
"Oh," Chloe said, surprised. From what Dr. Martin had told her last they'd met it had seemed like the poor woman couldn't help herself.
She was saved from having to come up with something to say to that by arriving at their destination. Chloe parked and got out of the car. Together they walked towards the chain link fence at the end of the alley. Near a door at the back, Chloe spotted the girl from the youth center she'd interviewed earlier, making a drug deal. Conner showed up then and took the money off the girl, before pulling a gun and shooting it up into the air. Both teens escaped in the chaos.
Then Chloe got a message on her phone. Her traffic cams had gotten a picture. Conner had been the one to shoot at them outside the church. It was enough for an APB. This kid was armed and dangerous.
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This one was not as different as I expected it to be. When I write these chapters I re-watch the episode then try and re-imagine it in it's entirely as if Chloe knew about the celestial world, plus I try to keep continuity from previous chapters I've written while not repeating too much canon from the show. Hopefully, it isn't too hard to follow even if you haven't watch the episodes recently.
What I've noticed so far is that Chloe's not getting closer to Dan during the Palmetto case had a much greater impact then I expected! Most of the rest of it I predicted when I first started planning this, but without Dan and Chloe's almost it really changed Lucifer's motivations in some unexpected places as well as Chloe's, which meant quite a few scenes and events would never have happened.
People have been asking about Maze and Chloe's friendship and how it will change. All I can say is alot. Maze became friends with both Linda and Chloe before they knew she was a demon. I think developing a friendship with that knowledge up front will be quite a bit more complicated. Just like knowing you are falling for the Devil as she start to will make loving him all that more conflicting for Chloe! ^_^ You excited? Cause I am!
Oh and if you haven't noticed I've so far done a very fixed pattern for POV: Lucifer/Chloe/Lucifer/Chloe/repeat. Not sure if this is forever, but seems to be working for now.
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Sneak Peek Chapter 13
"The Devil doesn't need a babysitter!" Lucifer called back at her, but she was already in the penthouse elevator.
Oh he was gonna need a drink. Picking up one of the drinks he'd just poured for Father Frank, the Detective, and himself Lucifer downed it in one go. Such a pity he never felt the buzz. What was the point in being able to bleed if he couldn't get drunk?
With a sigh, Lucifer went to talk to Father Frank who was standing on his balcony looking out over the city. Despite all the evidence against Conner, Frank still believed in him, and in God too.
"Why don't you believe?" Father Frank asked.
"Because He didn't have faith in me," Lucifer explained.
"I felt that way once too," Father Frank replied. "But now I know deep in my heart God has a plan for me."
"Oh His plan for me was quite clear," Lucifer said, annoyed.
"How do you know it's finished?" Father Frank asked.