A broken heart was one thing he never thought he'd experience. He'd always separated himself from bed mates, never being with a person to develop feelings or attachments. It wasn't difficult, a millennium worth of practice paying off. She was different.
She wasn't just a bed mate. She was his better half. She pushed him to be better, to find redemption. He never did with his Father, but that didn't matter. He was redeemed in her eyes, and she was all that mattered. He allowed himself to love her and be loved.
A broken heart wasn't slamming of doors or yelling. No, his broken heart was much worse. It was watching her slip away slowly from him. Her hair turning grey, her joints aching. She was still beautiful to him. Yes, het looks had initially attracted him all those years ago, but he stayed for the woman she was.
He watched her slip away, her memories slipping away before her body. The doctors had said Alzheimer's, but he said the curse of humanity. He was mistaken for her son, and then her grandson. That hadn't bothered him...much. It was when he was paying for her to live in a retirement home. He hadn't wanted to, but Beatrice had persuaded him.
She had grown from when he first met her. She was older than her mother when he first met her. She had gotten married to a wonderful bloke who treated her like his world. She'd had three children, all of whom adored their 'Uncle Lucifer.' He'd cringed at all the same things.
A broken heart was out living his Detective. She hadn't been lucid for quite some time. She thought she was a teenager or in her twenties most days, not remembering him. There was the rare day she would think she was still a Detective and he was just a consultant. It was rarer for her to remember actually being with him. When the time came, he was laying in bed next to her. She was curled into him, still fitting into him perfectly. His arm was around her, placing the occasional kiss on the top of her head.
"When you get up there, you tell them to take care of you or I'll start another rebellion. You'll like it," he assured her. She was asleep, her breathing coming erratically. He knew it was the end, but his heart hadn't shattered yet. " Is it selfish that I don't want you to go to the Silver City? I know it is, and you deserve to be happy. But I don't want to give you up. I love you too much to give you up. "
He felt her take her last breath, body relaxing against him. There was no sound in the room, tears falling down his cheeks. His heart shattered knowing he'd never see her again, never hear her voice or laugh or his name on her lips. He'd never feel her skin under his or her lips or the warmth of her breath on his skin. He'd never hear her tell him she loved him.
A broken heart was knowing he'd never see her again.