Lucifer tapped his fingers impatiently on the steering wheel, waiting for his passenger. He scanned through the waves of children exiting the main building.
No sign of the Spawn.
He took a quick look at the school playground. No sign of her there either.
"Where are you, child?" he muttered to himself, frowning.
Lucifer pulled up his sleeve and glanced at his wrist watch, just to make sure. It read 1.00p.m. Classes had ended almost an hour ago, if he recalled the Detective's words. Yet Beatrice was nowhere to be found. He dreaded the need to step into the school compound to hunt down the little urchin. He disliked children and he most certainly did not want to find a reason to be near any of them. Lucifer's eyebrow furrowed at the sight of thick overcast leaden skies and a muffled rumbling of thunder rumbled afar. The last thing he wanted was to get caught in the rain and ruin his Armani suit.
Lucifer let out a regretful sigh at the thought of his foolish offer. He had accepted Chloe's request to pick her daughter up after she had become bogged down with unfinished paperwork from their latest case. The Devil was never an office sort, so he volunteered himself to fetch Beatrice as a means to escape the workload (not that he was going to tell Chloe that). Excuses aside, Lucifer did promise the little spawn he would take her out for a drive in his Corvette. It was a favour in return for valuable information about her mother. Chloe's immunity towards his charms drove Lucifer mad, and puzzled enough to conduct a personal investigation on his partner. His pride refused to let him accept the fact that Chloe was unaffected by him. There was an unsettled feeling deep inside him (jealousy perhaps?) that Amenadiel was able to catch the Detective's attention without even trying to be charming. He would not, however, let his brother know that he was incapable of doing the same himself, nor that it irritated him.
A high pitched voice brought Lucifer sharply out of his musings.
"Lucifer!"
He cringed as the child flung herself into the car, and wrapped her tiny arms around his chest.
"Hello Spawn. Where have you been? Your mum told me that you finished school at noon."
"Well," Trixie shuffled nervously on the spot as Lucifer stared down at her, "I'm only meant to tell mommy, but II got held back in my last class."
Lucifer arched his eyebrow, puzzled when she gestured at him to lean down so she could whisper in his ear.
"I didn't complete my maths homework yesterday, so Mrs Jones made me finish it before leaving today."
"You've been punished for not completing your homework? You humans have some weird rules."
"Please don't tell mommy. She would be mad."
"I suppose I could keep it a secret if you tell me more about your mother."
"Deal! You're the best, Lucifer!"
Lucifer crooked a smile when Beatrice hugged him, her arms flying around his neck with her excitement. He cringed but placed his hand to her back and gave her a gentle pat.
It felt odd, this warm and fuzzy feeling.
It was foreign yet pleasant.
"Alright, let's go before-"
As soon as he had started to speak, the heavens opened and it began pouring rain.
Lucifer cursed to himself.
It was definitely a mistake driving the Corvette.
He grudgingly peeled off his jacket and draped it over the little girl's head.
Lucifer wanted to avoid his partner's wrath for making her daughter sick. He might have the benefit of immortality - the Devil was immune to all sickness and pain (except when around Chloe, it seemed) but he could not ensure the Spawn's health in this weather. They already had trust issues regarding his responsibility, it was bad enough that she'd refused to equip him with a handgun of his own.
"I can't trust you with my kid's toy lightsaber, let alone a gun."she had protested.
Lucifer did not want to prove her right by failing at such simple task.
Right now, he needed to get Beatrice back to the Detective's house in one piece, safe and sound.
xx
When his Corvette pulled into the Detective's driveway, Lucifer was drenched from head to toe, Beatrice equally as much despite his jacket. The strong wind sent chills down his spine as he stepped out of his car. He grabbed Trixie's hand and slung her bag over his arm r as they dashed to the porch.
"You're dripping. I'll get towels." Trixie giggled, watching the water roll off Lucifer's nose and fall onto the porch floor as she unlocked the front door, kicking off her shoes.
"Alright, off you go then child."
Trixie handed him his jacket, and darted into the house. After a few minutes she reappeared with two large fluffy towels and handed one to Lucifer, stepping back out to dry her herself.
"Thank you, Beatrice." he finished drying off his skin and followed her inside.
He could not help himself from chuckling when he saw the written sign stuck on Trixie's door.
"No boys allowed except for Daddy and Lucifer."
Lucifer felt touched that the girl trusted him to be on her visitor exception list. He had barely known the kid for three months and yet she had already warmed up to him.
"Mommy says that I should have a hot bath if I get caught in the rain." Trixie hummed, draping the towels over chairs to dry as Lucifer did the same with his jacket.
"Yes, of course. We don't want you to be cold, do we? Here, let me run the bath for you."
Lucifer moved into the bathroom and turned on the taps above the tub, putting the plug in as it began to fill. .
Trixie rummaged around in a cupboard and passed him a bottle of bubble bath liquid, and he added some before passing it back to her. Satisfied with the water temperature, he left the bathroom, starting to unbutton his wet shirt as he walked back into the kitchen. It was heavy and uncomfortable, and he could let it dry while the child bathed. He was just slipping it over the back of another chair when he heard Trixie gasp behind him.
"Lucifer, what happened to your back?"
It was almost ironic how she reacted the same way that Chloe had when Lucifer generously paraded his naked body for her to marvel at.
He cursed himself for being so careless, turning to face her.
If she was an adult, Lucifer could easily have got himself out of this situation with a diversion or by avoiding her gaze.
But this was Trixie that Lucifer was currently dealing with. An inquisitive seven year old would be harder to distract.
On one hand he could tell her the truth, but he wasn't sure whether it was at all appropriate to expose the concept of extreme self-harm to a child. The Detective would most likely be against Lucifer telling her. Alternatively, he could lie to her. It would make things simpler, but Lucifer detested the thought of lying.
Trixie spoke again before he could reply.
"Is that where your wings were?"
Lucifer blinked, surprised.
How does she know? Did the Detective tell her?
Either the look on his face or the silence confirmed Trixie's suspicion.
"They were there, weren't they?"
"They were." Lucifer admitted, defeated.
He felt anxiety settle in his stomach as she stared at him, and he couldn't bear to look at her. It was silly, the Devil himself being afraid of a child's reaction to his glaring sign of failures.
When Lucifer looked at Trixie, he was shocked to see her eyes filled with tears.
"Who would be so mean to take them away?" She sobbed, clutching his knees as he patted her head comfortingly.
"I'm sorry you lost your wings, Lucifer. Now, you can't fly anymore."
Although in truth the scars were his own choice, it was weird that Trixie had assumed someone had stolen them from him. He was confused by her sadness on his behalf.
"It's alright. I lost them in an accident a long time ago."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
Lucifer wiped away a tear that ran down her cheek as she looked up at him..
"Can a doctor help? When I broke my arm, they fixed it for me. Maybe they can fix this for you?."
"No doctors or science can fix this."
Trixie wanted to ask, but knew that her mom had reminded her it was rude to ask people about personal things, and could sense the sadness in Lucifer's voice.
"Can I fix them?"
"I don't think anything can, Beatrice." Lucifer untangled her from his legs and lead her back to the bathroom, turning off the dangerously full tub.
"I can give you some bandaids for them?" she asked, looking up at him as he shook his head.
"These are permanent, I'm afraid. A reminder, if you will."
Lucifer's sad expression made Trixie upset.
She felt frustrated that she could not do anything to alleviate his pain.
At that moment, she thought of an idea.
Trixie placed her small hands on top of Lucifer's scars and rubbed them gently.
Lucifer flinched at the unexpected contact but relaxed eventually when the sensation comforted him.
"What are you doing, child?"
"I'm caring for them. Mommy said if we care for someone deeply, the wounds will heal."
As absurd as it sounded, Lucifer felt his heartstrings tug at Trixie's words.
The little human actually cared for him.
The Devil, who for the longest time has been epitome of all evil, was worthy of affection-and from a child, no less..
There was a time when he felt remorseful for severing his wings, the last connection he had with Heaven. He had feared that he made a mistake for rejecting his Father's gift as revenge for his Fall.
But Trixie Decker had shown him there were things that more important than his wings. That its importance was nothing compared to the compassion and acceptance that he had gotten, something he had never found in Heaven.
Lucifer smiled, patting Trixie's head again as she looked up at him.
"Thank you, child. Now, you best hop in that bath before you get even more cold. Don't you worry about me."
"Don't worry about your wings, Lucifer. You're great without them." Trixie told him as he left the bathroom, closing the door behind him.
Maybe picking Trixie up from school wasn't such a chore after all. Although it would take ages to dry the interior of his car, and plenty of money.
End