Wow! Thanks for all of the support! I really appreciate it and because of said appreciation, I feel that I must apologize for the wait. I meant to post this days ago but my long shifts at work had other plans. So, for future notice, if it takes me a long time to post or update this, or any other story, it's because of my job :(

But now, without further ado, here's Chapter Two!

Love,

FantasyWriterFoSho

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Summary of the Previous Chapter: Lucifer knows, and admits to himself, that he's in love with Chloe and decides to tell her of his feelings soon—quite possibly during the next case they'll be working on...

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Chapter Two: Sore Revelations

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"Finally," Chloe called out, when she saw the tall figure of Lucifer approaching her, his stride long and purposeful. "What took you so long? It's been over an hour since I texted you. You missed the majority of the processing..."

"I hit some traffic on my way to this God-forsaken place" he responded with his signature smile, the one that always managed to make her heart beat a degree faster. Just the way he was looking at her now made her feel something she couldn't quite explain but, if she could describe it, it would be equivalent to a whole bunch of convoluted emotions that have been building up to a crazy and explosive height—especially in the last few months—and the more she tried to push it down, the more piercing and annoying it became. Even now, she could feel the redness blossoming on her face, the butterflies stirring in her stomach and a sharp tingle of excitement beginning to curve up her back at the mere sight of him.

Clearing her throat at her profound reaction, she attempted to hide the blush that was inflaming her cheeks by quickly looking back down at one of the covered bodies before her but, like with most things, he managed to catch it. Liking the expression on her face, he raised an intrigued brow, his dark eyes dancing with a burning intensity the closer he got to his love. "You're lucky that I consider our adventures high on my priority list, detective."

"Like you have anything better to do with your time?" she countered, her tone slightly teasing. She didn't look at him but she could feel the gentle breeze that accompanied his arrival at her side. Instantly, his manly fragrance of spice and heat engulfed her senses, making it difficult for her to concentrate on...concentrating when all she wanted to do was to throw herself at him, but she managed to hold herself together by biting the inside of her cheek and reminding herself that there were people around her. She knew better than to bait him. He already had a sexual interest in her, there was no need to goad him on it, but she couldn't seem to help herself nowadays. He always had that charismatic personality but lately...lately she felt herself succumbing to his smiles, his charms and—God help her—his not-so-subtle innuendos but, somehow, she always muscled through them.

Maybe it was the will of The Almighty, she thought, trying not to roll her eyes at the absurdity of it all; of Lucifer's delusions. If anything was responsible for her resistance, it was of her own making, not of some powerful, omnipotent deity. I mean, if he does exist, she thought offhandedly to herself. Then that would just about change everything...

Exhaling softly, it finally hit her that he didn't respond back to her comment; that he was unusually quiet. No sarcastic response or guttural sounds of any kind. Biting the inside of her cheek harder, she was in the midst of regretting what she had said when he then replied, his tone suspiciously light and conversational.

"I admit that I'm not as busy as I once was in my hell hole of a prison, but I do have a successful club to run and even though Maze has done an exceptional job in my absence, I rather miss the business side of it."

At that, she looked at him, one of her brows raised in skepticism. "Are you saying that you now find your consulting work boring?"

Chuckling at how she emphasized the last word with a British accent, he bestowed her question with a wicked grin before lowering himself so that his face was inches away from hers. "Oh, I'll never say that. Besides, what's better than saving innocent victims and punishing the evil with a lovely woman by my side?"

Breath hitching at his expression, she shook her head and shrugged, trying to play off his pointed words over the loud thundering of her heart. If she thought about it, he probably did have something he could be doing rather than spending his time with her. He could be binge drinking, playing numerous catchy tunes on his piano, having some of his infamous threesomes...and the Lord only knew what else, but the fact that he always answered when she needed him made her feel relatively special. Besides, she too enjoy their little "adventures", as he called them...

Ignoring all of his Prince of Darkness weirdness, she mused quietly to herself again, her eyes slightly glazing over with past images. He's really essential in catching the bad guys—

"Detective?"

—I mean, the last six months of working with him alone produced more positive results than most cops could ever hope for—

"Detective?"

—so if that's the case, then why do I feel like this? So...weird and...and—

"Chloe?!"

She was immediately snapped out of her reverie with a sudden and sharp jerk. Looking back at him, she noticed that he had, somehow, grabbed both of her shoulders in an effort to acquire her attention, a curious and worried tint shading his eyes when he began to draw her in close; his touch warm, but firm. Next thing she knew, her chest and thighs were pressed against his while his face was inches away from hers, again. Hazy from the intimate and close contact, she found her gaze wandering over his high cheekbones and aristocratic nose before she pulled away, allowing them to sweep down his muscular neck and broad shoulders in a swift, but fluid, motion.

Lucifer would be the first to admit that he may have overstepped his bounds when he attempted to wipe that unfocused look from her eyes by physically jarring her; however, he definitely knew that he overstepped his bounds when he had brought her to his more-than-willing body. He could say that it was unconsciously or instinctually done, but that was only half true. What he really desired was to comfort her in someway; the sensation, of which, was still new to him—despite experiencing it often whenever he's around her.

It was all very frustrating. He went from aroused to concerned to wanting to provide her with some solace to aroused (once more), in a matter of seconds, and he didn't know if she had just been reacting to what he had said or if she was thinking about their new assignment or something else entirely, but either way, he felt compelled to act.

She just looked so lost and conflicted...and to say that he knew how that felt would be the understatement of several eons.

Reluctantly letting her go and taking a step from her, he gathered his frayed wits behind a mask of composed indifference. Now wasn't the time. They had a new case to deal with and if she already had something pressing on her mind, he didn't want to add to her plate. He'll have to find another way or outlet to properly express himself. Oh, how my temperament has changed...

"Are you alright?" he asked, acting as if their close contact had never happened or that it meant nothing to him. "You look positively unnerved, detective."

Almost falling forward, due to his abrupt lack of support, Chloe buckled before trying to regain some of the professional composure she had earlier by brushing some of her already smoothed hair behind an ear and breathing deeply. After glancing about, nervously, at the other people swarming around them—none of whom were paying the two any mind—she answered him, her voice cracking, "Huh? W-what? No, yeah...I'm f-fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Uh," she began, inwardly wincing at how she must sound to him. She already felt strange for her feelings; she didn't need to act like a bumbling idiot around him as well. Putting some more distance between them, Chloe took a hasty, but careful, step to her left before carrying on, making several unscripted gestures with her hands. "Yeah, um, I was just thinking about the possible motive for, um, these murders...here..."

Not believing her one bit, Lucifer opened his mouth to say something, but then immediately closed it, once again stopping himself from entering into a confrontation with her.

"Anyway," she suddenly pushed out, moving the topic back to what brought them to that warehouse. If she had been looking at him, she would've seen his eyes widen then dramatically normalize at the change of topic. "So, we have one mutilated body on this lower level and two more up top. All were found lying on their backs with multiple stab wounds to their necks and torsos. Their eyes were all gouged out and...and as for prints, there were none since their fingers and teeth were forcibly removed; however, they all have unidentified, large tattoos on their right arms. So, we could possibly get something off of that..."

"As you stated in the text message," he commented as he moved towards the body and squatted down, lifting up the cover to see the damage. "That's positively revolting."

"I know, it's horrible. It's such a painful way to go."

"I meant who, in their right mind, would vandalize their skin with these kind of markings?" He displayed his meaning by further lifting up the cover, revealing the deceased's unveiled, bloodied right arm that was practically coated in black ink. "Honestly, what's the point?"

Rolling her eyes, she left his inappropriate inquiry unanswered when she spotted the coroner and a few others approaching them. Moving towards Lucifer, she tapped him on the shoulder, indicating that it was time for him to drop the subject and to also step away from the body. Nodding his head, he gracefully pushed himself back onto his feet and stretched out his long legs with a few shakes.

They both watched in silence when the body was subsequently bagged and carted away for further investigation before they spoke again, their voices more hushed.

"So, what's next on the agenda?" Lucifer asked, sticking his hands into his pant's tailored pockets.

"Really? After months of working together, you still don't know what follows this point?"

Raising a brow, he gave her a simple look. "No need to be cheeky, detective. I was asking on formalities sake but I should've clarified. What I should've asked was whether we should go to the headquarters first or whether we should do some investigational digging into those tattoos by ourselves?"

Tilting her head at his suggestion, she then offered him a genuine, proud smile. "Those are good ideas. Look at you being all detective-like."

Lucifer couldn't help but to beam at her praise. His need to impress her was working—minus what happened a few minutes ago. Glancing down at her face, he drank in all of her beautiful features, particularly her eyes and lips. Fighting the urge to pull her into him again, to satisfy his cravings, he clasped his hands behind his back, breathed deeply and looked away. Oh, how he would love to do nothing but stare at her all day, without a care in the world, but the more he thought about it, the more he realized how difficult it all would be. He hasn't answered him or given him a sign, but he knew that his Father was getting ready to make His move. He didn't know how or when but it was imminent, given their past history and complicated relationship.

But this battle would be exceedingly different than the ones before it. At this point in time, he had something worth loosing should he fail in his quest for his freedom...

A darkness then fell over Lucifer's face, when he thought about his weakness, wiping away any trace of his previous joy and contentment, while also lowering his resolve from earlier. He would be damned if Chloe got caught in the crossfire because of either his feelings or out of sheer, angelic retribution—hell, he would damn himself if that happened! So when a painful thought fluttered through his mind, he did all he could do to not fall over from the intense weight of it all...

Maybe it would be better if I keep her at a distance? —His stomach knotted at the idea while his skin involuntarily shuddered, but if he was loosing his immortality and becoming human—the emotions alone confirmed that he was—then perhaps it was time for him to start putting his affairs in order and start thinking more...selflessly.

So, instead of telling her of his feelings later that day, like he planned on doing, he would have to settle with not telling her...at all.

A sort or numbness prickled over his body when he glanced back at his detective, who had been talking about the case the entire time. Harshly swallowing the bitter taste in his mouth, which trailed a burning sensation all the way down to his empty stomach, he managed to catch the hindmost of her speech.

"...they thought that it was gang related but I think it's something more than that. The attacks were too brutal. Anyway, out of your suggestions, I pick the latter. I really want to know what those markings mean too. Besides, another investigator will also be handling it, so, if they need us for anything, they can call us. Though, I suspect that they'll have their hands full with all the evidence filing and debriefing..."

"Exactly," he acknowledge thickly before he suddenly pivoted into the direction of their parked cars—his sitting directly beside hers. His heart was hurting but if he valued her life more than his own, which he did, wholeheartedly, then he had no choice but to put her first. Pushing down his overwhelming feelings, he glanced over his shoulder at her, the light in his eyes now dim. "In any case, it'll be better, all around, if they left the identification findings in our capable hands..."

Slightly running to catch up to him, Chloe gave him a side glance. "Planning on using your superpower on these guys when we find them?"

"But of course."

"Planning on letting the justice system deal with them accordingly afterwards?"

"Why must you limit my fun on our adventures?" he asked with a stiff smile, finding it hard to mask his agony even through their usual bantering.

Unable to stop the laughter from bursting past her lips, Chloe stopped and covered her mouth, completely oblivious to the inner turmoil her partner was feeling. Ending it in a long sigh, she apologized before walking past him to her car, her tied hair bouncing from side-to-side in an effortless swinging motion. "Come on," she invited with a head tilt, walking to the driver's side, a faint smile on her lips when she looked at him. "Let's get a head start on our research."

Sighing, Lucifer followed behind her without another word. His mind was too busy reeling from his choice. One moment, he thinks that he can find bliss with the woman he loves, but in the next, a blinding revelation reveals that he can't...

...as a human but especially as a Devil.

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Thanks for reading. I honestly never thought that I would feel sorry for Lucifer, but I do. Unfortunately, things will get a lot worse before they'll get better... :/ Stay with me, but brace yourselves!

Tell me what you think!