a/n: Well, the good news: my fingers are not broken. The bad news: it's been nearly a week since my tumble down the stairs and my fingers are still really puffy and very not bendable. So please bear with me, I'm pecking away at the keyboard with little efficiency.
Ah, Chapter Four…also known as "Lucifer is kind of (very much) a dick." I was in a mood… Thank you to everyone that has stopped by, favorited, alerted, reviewed! Love you all!
Chapter Four
Lucifer pulled the edges of his suitcoat together, fastening the singular button. He shoved one hand into his pocket, lifted the other to take the cigarette from his mouth as he leisurely walked across the near-empty parking lot of the precinct. The temperature had fallen steadily during the afternoon hours, causing the increased dampness in the air to take on a cool and uncomfortable clammy feeling. His eyes flicked upwards, searching the overcast sky for immediate signs of rain. The dirty-white clouds that floated overhead were wispy and not at all intimidating. They held the potential for nothing more than a light sprinkling of water over the city. The thick, dark grey clouds to the north, however, promised a much more thorough soaking, and sooner rather than later.
Lifting the cigarette to his mouth for a long, slow drag, he leveled his gaze and stopped walking. Neither degree of storm cloud compared to the threatening presence of the woman he left in the car. He had not played fairly; he would admit that. Though only if asked. Repeatedly. Lucifer was no fool; he knew Chloe would jump at the chance to lock him out of her vehicle. He had teased with his choice of words – "Can I trust you with these?" – with the narrowing of his eyes, and had purposely drawn out the insolence with the manner in which he had placed the keys in her hand. He dropped his cigarette, twisted the bottom of his shoe over it and turned back to the detective's car.
He was going to pay for what he had done.
Chloe had laughed, had kidded him for his misstep in trusting her with the keys. He had played along, pretending to be annoyed that she had bested him. He was proud of himself for having allowed the playful ribbing, with reasons that were purely selfless. He had simply wanted to take the detective's mind off the conversation she had shared with Detective Douche. His reasons somewhat selfless. If anyone was going to be responsible for distracting Chloe from her ex and putting a lovely smile on her face, he preferred to be the one. Half selfless, half selfish. After all, there had to have been a myriad of other things on which he could have focused her attention, but he wanted to be the subject.
Yes, he was going to pay, but he had no apologies; the game they were playing was worth every bit of wrath he was due.
Lieutenant Monroe had called just as Chloe had parked the vehicle in the station's side lot. He had pulled a gold cigarette case and a lighter from his pocket, holding them for show as he had pointed towards the door. Chloe had nodded her understanding and had continued with the call, shifting the phone from her left ear to her right.
It really had been too easy.
Looking down, Lucifer regarded the key fob resting comfortably between his thumb and index finger.
Oh, he was going to pay dearly.
The detective had not noticed he had pilfered the keys until he was a fair distance from the vehicle. In her scramble to open the door before he could lock it, she had dropped the phone. He had chuckled lightly as she had graced him with a look of fury only the devil could rival. She had returned to the call, muttering apologies to Monroe between cursing and yelling his name. Lucifer lifted his eyes, again looking towards the vehicle. The phone was no longer in sight and he met the detective's scowl, staring her down with a wicked smile on his face. He lifted the keys, his eyes never leaving hers, and pressed the button to unlock the doors. With a low laugh, he turned and started towards the building.
"Son of a bitch, Lucifer!" Chloe's heeled boots clicked against the concrete as she jogged towards him, trying to catch up to his longer strides. "Lucifer, stop!" He turned towards her, slowly walking backwards, taunting her with his satisfied smile. "Lucifer, it was a joke," she explained.
"And not a very funny one at that," he stated.
"Come on."
"Thought you could pull one over on me, did you?" His laugh earned another angry glare.
"Give me the keys, Lucifer."
"It's starting to drizzle, Detective," he stated, slowing his pace as she neared him. "Why don't we head inside where we'll stay nice and dry, hmm?" She sped through the last few steps and grabbed the collar of his shirt, forcing him to stop walking. "Ooh, I so enjoy your feisty side," he smiled teasingly.
"Hand them over."
"Nope." She clenched her jaw as the consonant popped off his lips.
"Give me the keys," she repeated slowly. As she reached for his hand, he lifted his arm, holding the keys above his head. She jumped, all but climbing him like a tree, her fingertips skimming the bottom of his wrist.
"Ooh, almost." He dropped his hand and stuffed the keys into his pocket. "You want them, come and get them," he challenged. She growled and yanked on his shirt, pulling his face to her level.
"I hate you," she bit. His eyes dropped to her mouth and he ran the tip of his tongue across the edge of his top teeth.
"Liar."
"Prick." Lucifer laughed as Chloe pushed him back a step and stalked into the building. He silently followed, releasing only a soft 'oh' as the air inside instantly struck him. It was colder than the air outside, and much drier. The lobby was rather loud as various groups of officers and employees filed between the doors and the elevators, some looking to shed the filth of the workday, others just diving in. Lucifer waited patiently behind Chloe as a handful of people shuffled out of the elevator. The hustle of bodies allowed the pair to slip into the car without company. Once inside and safely ensconced in the privacy of the lift, Chloe turned to Lucifer, her expression neutral but her eyes…
Lucifer recognized the mischief in her eyes. He was well aware of her little tactic, having watched her work her magic at the Players' After Party, innocent and charming, playful. Not to mention he himself had twice been a victim of her scheming. Though he supposed the first time, when she so deftly glided to his side, hands roaming beneath his clothing as she searched for a bulletproof vest, did not count. After all, they had just met and had known very little about each other. Fool me once, Detective, he mused as he clasped his hand in front of his body and calmly leaned back into the corner. Lucifer kept the amusement from his features as she slowly moved through the few steps that separated them. Her eyes grew darker as she neared and the bottom corner of her lip disappeared between her teeth.
"I'm sorry," she started quietly as she stopped a half step in front of him. She lifted her hands to the open collar of his shirt and evened the fold. "For locking you out of the car." Her eyes, full of a naughty mirth, met his as her fingers followed the separated hems of the fabric downwards to the first secured button.
"Are you?" he asked evenly. She nodded and placed her hands over his, gently pulling his fingers from their lock. He let his arms fall to his sides and held her gaze as she switched tasks and freed the button of his suitcoat.
"Very sorry." Her hands slid inside the garment, roaming softly over his sides until they settled just above his hips. She lifted herself on her toes and leaned into him. "Forgive me?" she whispered over his mouth. Her hands slipped lower, fingers poised at the opening of his pants pockets. "Please?" Before she could make her move and rescue her keys, Lucifer quickly reversed their positions and used the length of his body to press her into the corner. He securely held her wrists, pinning her arms to the walls to either side of her head. He had not allowed the minuscule distance between their mouths to waver and as he straightened to his full height, he used the proximity to lift her chin.
"Tempting the devil is a very dangerous game, Detective." His voice was quiet, threatening and sensual as he returned the favor of whispering his words against her lips. "I don't think even once before giving in." Her shallow breathing caught in her throat and her eyes fluttered to a close as he pushed through the last ounce of space between them and teased her lips apart with a gentle brush of his mouth. As the elevator door opened behind him, he released her, smirking to himself before wandering into the darkened squad room.
Chloe's hand curled around the edge of the elevator door, preventing it from closing, as Lucifer took residence in the chair behind her desk, leaning back with his legs crossed and his hands dangling comfortably from the arms of the chair. He watched with obvious admiration as she approached. She was not as unaffected by him as either of them believed. He put the falter in her steps, the fiery blush of pink across her cheeks. He caused the uneven rhythm of her breathing, the look of charged confusion of sexual want on her face. And he knew the man watching from the shadows across the room caught every bit of it.
"You," Chloe breathed, her eyes narrowing with anger. She rounded the desk and smacked a hand across the back of his head. He lifted his hands and batted hers away.
"What was that for?" he asked, unable to keep the giggle out of his voice.
"You know very well," she replied.
"Well, you started it." Reaching around him, she punched a few buttons on the laptop.
"Stay here," she instructed. "Read this."
"What is it?"
"Mrs. Lloyd's journals."
"Oh," he smiled. "Direct to digital, eh?"
"Yeah. I'll be back." He turned the chair as he followed her movement around the desk.
"Where are you going?" A sly smile spread across his face. "Need to get me out of your system, Detective? I can help with that, you know."
"Shut up." Shaking her head, she quickly walked away. Lucifer laughed lightly and turned towards the laptop. He leaned his forearms on the desk as his eyes skimmed the screen. He took in a word here, a word there, studied the rough drawing of what he believed to be a chicken on the side of the page, but his interest was simply pretext. His eyes flicked across the room, watching as Chloe rounded the corner of the hallway, disappearing from sight and out of range to hear the conversation he was about to have.
"Come out, come out, wherever you are," Lucifer drawled quietly. The man from the shadows approached the desk, his pace slow and the shake of his head incredulous. Lucifer laced his fingers and rested his hands on the desk. He met the blue eyes of the man and smiled at the anger presented in his body language as his arms folded across his chest.
"What are you doing?"
"Daniel," Lucifer sighed happily. "How nice of you to stop by."
"Cut the shit, Lucifer. What are you doing?" he repeated.
"Oh just fulfilling my duties as a civilian consultant," he answered. "Browsing through the recently departed's diaries." He leaned back in the chair, dropping his hands to his lap as he crossed his legs. "It's really quite boring but Detective Decker seems to think we'll find something useful."
"Does she?" he asked flatly. Lucifer let a gently surprised look cross his face.
"You sound doubtful."
"I am," he assured.
"Well, the detective may not be one to say 'I told you so', but I am." He smiled. "So when her intuition proves correct, expect me to stop by and gloat." Lucifer stood slowly, placing one hand in his pocket as the other flippantly motioned towards Dan. "That's not what you want to talk about though." He smiled knowingly. "Is it?"
"No, it's not."
"Tell me, Detective Douche," he started, dragging out the offensive name. "What do you think I'm doing?" Dan shook his head and rolled his eyes. "Oh, come now," Lucifer laughed. "Put those detective skills to work, old chap!"
"I think you have something going on with my wife."
"Mm. You forgot an important part of that sentence, Daniel. Ex," he stated.
"Separated," he corrected. "We're not divorced."
"Yet. Ex." He sighed contently with the repetition. "Just…rolls right off the tongue, doesn't it?" he asked, rolling his wrist to emphasize his words. Dan huffed a laugh and ran his thumb across his bottom lip as he nodded slowly.
"That's how you're going to play, huh? She's not around, Lucifer," he said, spreading his arms. "It's just you and me. Now's your chance to get it all out." Lucifer offered a genuine smile, slipping his free hand into his pocket as he slowly walked to the front of the desk. "Say it."
"Say what?"
"The smart ass remark I know you want to throw in my face."
"Ah, you mean the smart ass remark in which I say the word rolls right off the tongue…" His smile fell, his expression dark and taunting. "Just like Detective Decker rolls right off my tongue." Dan met the devil's stare.
"That's the one." They held each other's vicious gaze for a long moment, neither speaking as tempers began to rise. Dan's breathing turned shallow but his features remained unyielding to the anger bubbling inside. Lucifer's lips parted slight, his eyebrow rose, daring the detective to make his move, to counter the lewd comment. He knew the opposition would not be verbal; Dan seemed the fighting type. It had been too long since Lucifer was involved in a good old-fashioned fistfight with a human.
"I cannot in all honesty make such a statement," he started quietly, "as I have yet to kiss the detective."
"Bullshit. What was going on in the elevator? She looked like…like you two…" He shook his head and shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "You know what she looked like." Lucifer smiled proudly.
"Yes, I know very well what she looked like." He chuckled lowly. "Where I can, and I most certainly do, take credit for the appearance, it does not change the fact that I have not kissed her." Dan took a slow deep breath. "You don't…" Lucifer placed a hand on his chest, mocking hurt feelings. "You don't believe me, do you? Well, you can always ask her yourself." He tipped his head and returned his hand to his pocket. "Though I doubt she'll look favorably on you butting into her business."
"What about the other morning? I caught you at her house, remember?"
"Yes, I remember." Lucifer shook his head. "I was simply making breakfast, trying to do something nice for her. Maybe you should try it sometime. No," he quickly added, holding up a finger. "On second thought, don't. The sooner you're out of the picture, well, all the better for me." Dan's hands clenched at his sides as he shook his head.
"Chloe won't fall for your playboy shtick."
"Playboy…shtick," he repeated with amusement, mulling over the words. "I'm curious," he started with a frown. "You have had sex with her. Has she ever looked like that after…well, at any point during your escapades?" He smiled and winked.
"I cannot believe you are seriously asking that question."
"Which means 'no'," he said quickly. "How does it feel, hmm?" he asked as he stepped closer. "How does it feel knowing she's never looked like that after experiencing all of you, but after nothing more than a short trip in the lift with me, she looks deliciously rapt? Maybe my playboy shtick is exactly what she desires." He taunted with a wiggle of his eyebrows. "Jealous?"
"You're an ass."
"So I've been told." Lucifer stepped forward again, solidifying eye contact as only the devil could. "What did you do to her, Daniel?" he asked softly.
"I, uh…" Dan shook his head. "I didn't…do anything," he stammered.
"Come now, Daniel," he continued, reaching deeper into the male detective. "You did something to fall out of Detective Decker's good graces. What was it, hmm?"
"No…I just…"
"Don't be shy," he laughed lightly. "I know you want to tell me."
"What the hell are the two of you doing?" Chloe asked as she neared the pair.
"Talking about you," Lucifer answered as he stepped back.
"The case," Dan amended, blinking away the fog of Lucifer's effect. "We were talking about the case."
"And all the while having a staring contest?" She tugged on the sleeve of Lucifer's suitcoat. "Knock it off." He tipped his head, smiled at Dan and followed Chloe to the other side of the desk.
"This case is open-and-shut, Chloe. You need to close it. Now."
"I'll close it when I'm ready to close it, Dan." She placed a second laptop on the desk and crossed her arms defiantly. "Find anything?" she asked Lucifer.
"This is rather peculiar," he answered as he pointed at the screen of her laptop. She leaned her palms on the desk, narrowing her eyes as she focused on the screen.
"That is peculiar." She nodded and straightened. "Good find, partner."
"Thank you."
"Chloe, take the advice," Dan started as he backed away from her desk. "Close the case. And lose him." Lucifer watched with an amused grin as Dan disappeared from view.
"This is an open-and-shut case," he mocked. "What type of bug crawled up his backside this time?" he asked, turning back to her. "Or is the good old Palmetto bug still wreaking havoc?" She nodded. "Is he ever going to let that go?"
"I don't think anyone is." She released a long, slow breath as she placed her hands on her hips. Her eyes narrowed as she studied him. "What did you say to him?"
"Why do you assume I said something?"
"Were you or were you not the one egging him on this morning, right here in front of my desk?"
"Yes, well." He cleared his throat. "I did not say anything this time. He slithered from the shadows as soon as you were out of the area and started spewing false accusations in my directions. I was entirely innocent." He pursed his lips and rolled his eyes slightly as he nodded in concession. "In the beginning, at least. Story of my life," he mumbled. "Detective, if ever there was a reason to finish perusing the journals someplace not here…"
"Yeah." She powered down the laptop and folded the unit. "I would rather not do this with Dan watching over our shoulders." Lucifer pulled her backpack from under the desk and held it open as she placed both devices inside.
"Then which is it, yours or mine?" He nudged her arm with his elbow. "Mine is closer. And there are no little monsters running rampant."
"My daughter is not a monster, Lucifer. Well, most days." She nodded. "Fine. Yours it is."
"Splendid!" Chloe smiled gently and settled the strap of the backpack over her shoulder. She moved towards the elevator, Lucifer following, and started to giggle.
"What's so funny?" he asked.
"You."
"Oh? Do share."
"I thought you didn't lie."
"I don't," he defended earnestly.
"I asked if you found anything, you said you did. But what you pointed out wasn't really anything."
"You didn't specify what type of finding," he explained. "The odd little doodle of a chicken is a find." He shrugged. "Of sorts."
"That wasn't a chicken," she laughed.
"No?"
"No. It was a turtle." She scrunched her face. "At least, I think it was."
Lucifer
Lucifer moved smoothly through the dimly lit penthouse, a partially filled glass tumbler in each hand, and stopped in front of Chloe where she sat on the leather-covered sofa. Some time ago, she had pulled her legs onto the cushion, knees bent and out, ankles crossed in the middle, cradling the laptop across her calves. Her elbows rested on her knees, forming the base of the triangle she had created with her arms. Her hands formed the peak, supporting her forehead as she leaned over the device. Lucifer extended his arm towards Chloe. He lifted a finger from the tumbler and gently brushed the digit along the back of her hand. She looked up, her eyes wide.
"Sorry," he smiled lightly. "Didn't mean to startle you." She half-heartedly returned his smile and closed her fingers around the glass, accepting with a soft hum of thanks. Lucifer sat in the middle of the sofa, crossing his legs as he settled the left side of his body against the back of the piece of furniture, his left arm along the top of the frame. He look a slow sip of his drink as he stared at Chloe. Her fingers gently tapped the side of the glass as her attention returned to the laptop. Both of them had taken to the task of reading the journals, quickly becoming engrossed in the entries. She had grown very quiet shortly after they had started, but it wasn't her silence that bothered Lucifer. It was her physical shift away from him. He was sitting nearly in the same spot as he started the evening. Chloe had moved from her rather chummy position next to him, the proximity necessary as they compared notes, pulling herself closer to the end of the sofa. Her hair had fallen from its tucked position behind her ear and had gradually covered her face. He knew she was withdrawing, hiding. "You've been quiet," he started gently. She lifted her head, but did not look at him.
"Yeah," she breathed. "Sorry. I guess I'm just…wrapped up in these journals." She sighed, rubbed a hand over her tired eyes and leaned forward, placing her glass on the floor. He hummed lightly, tapped his fingers on the sofa's frame. He switched the tumbler to his left hand and suddenly reached towards her, pulling the device from her lap. Turning slightly as he sat back, he reached to the cushion behind him to deposit the laptop next to his.
"Lucifer." She bowed to her right, planting a hand in the space between them to steady her balance as her other hand chased after the laptop. He caught her wrist as he turned back to her. His eyes dropped to the hand keeping her upright and he smiled.
"Come a little closer, Detective." Lifting his gaze to her eyes, he chuckled softly. "I don't bite."
"Somehow, I doubt that." Chloe pulled herself from his hold and righted herself.
"This is all rather depressing," he started. "Mrs. Lloyd was incredibly unhappy." She nodded. "Yet she stayed with a man that didn't love her."
"She did," she responded as she looked away.
"Did you do this?" he asked, indicating the laptops with a tip of his head. "Did you waffle between staying and leaving as Mrs. Lloyd did?"
"I don't want to talk about it, Lucifer." She drummed her fingers on her knee. "She knew about every affair her husband had," she said, turning to him. "She mentions names in everything I've read."
"In what I read, as well," he nodded.
"I didn't see Maggie's name, though."
"Nor did I. At least, not in that sense. Seems Maggie was the only true confidant Mrs. Lloyd had."
"Yeah."
"The whole want of children," he began, "was quite a bone of contention between them. She wanted, he did not."
"Sounds like he wouldn't even discuss the idea with her." Lucifer uncrossed his legs, leaning his elbows on his knees, the glass safely between both hands.
"How do you humans do it?" he asked. "Why do it?"
"Do what?"
"Put yourselves through these ridiculous emotional entanglements? Why fall in love? Why get married? And the worst of all, why have children?" She breathed a little laugh at the narrowing of his eyes. "I am completely baffled by the desire to procreate. You're all insane as far as I'm concerned." He took another drink. "You said your offspring was planned. 'Kind of.' Did you not want children?"
"I wanted kids," she replied with a nod. "A whole litter of them." A sad smile floated briefly across her lips.
"And Detective Douche?"
"He did, too. Just not as many I as did. Trixie came earlier than we had planned, but he was happy. I was happy. Then the job got in the way and never really…" She shrugged. "We never talked about having another baby." He nodded slowly as she bent forward to retrieve her tumbler.
"You blame yourself, don't you? For whatever it was that happened between the two of you. I'm genuinely curious," he explained at her eye roll. "Why didn't you leave when things changed?"
"It isn't that easy, Lucifer." She lifted the glass to her lips, taking nearly half its contents in one swallow.
"Why not?"
"Marriage is kind of a serious thing," she answered sarcastically. "When you love someone so much that you promise to spend the rest of your life by that person's side…" She sighed and finished her drink. "It's hard to admit that's over, to think that love you had may not have been real." She stood and moved towards the bar.
"I, for one, have always been against the idea of marriage." He joined her side as she placed her glass on the countertop. "It is such an inconvenient pain in the ass." Chloe tipped her head to the side.
"Is there a convenient type of pain in the ass?"
"Did you try to make things work with Detective Douche?" He slipped his hands into his pockets.
"Of course I did."
"Then why do you blame yourself?" Chloe took a step back and swallowed thickly. "You are not responsible for his choices."
"I said I don't want to talk about this, Lucifer," she said as she walked away.
"It's a simple question, Detective." He followed her back to the sofa. "Why do you blame yourself?"
"I don't know," she bit. "I just…" She turned to look at him. "Sometimes I wonder if I really did everything possible to save our marriage. I wonder if there was something more I could have done, something I could have changed—"
"Something?" he interrupted. "Or do you mean yourself? You shouldn't have to change to make someone happy."
"No," she agreed quietly. "I know that. But people change over time."
"Right," he nodded. "Change that should be shared within the union. You know, growing stronger with time and all of that gibberish."
"Yeah." Lucifer mentally replayed the conversation with Dan. If he would have had one more minute with the man before Chloe had interrupted, he was certain he would have had an answer as to why they had separated. As with all things that involved the detective, he would not so easily fulfill his curiosities.
"What changed for the two of you?" he pressed. "Is the job really what wedged itself into your happy little family?" Chloe bit at the inside of her cheek.
"We have a case to solve, Lucifer, and we haven't found any useful answers," she started, changing the subject. "I want to finish reading the journals."
"I know." He shook his head and gently took her arm as she moved to grab the laptop. "You're not reading anymore."
"Lucifer—"
"Detective."
"I'm not doing this with you, Lucifer." She shook her head. "We are not discussing it."
"This is bothering you much more than it should for someone who is supposed to be as impartial as possible. I think we should—" He released her arm and turned towards the giggling coming from the elevator. "Maze?" She smiled widely as she entered the penthouse.
"Oh, Lucifer," she sang playfully. "I have someone who wants to meet you before we open the club." She snaked her arm around the waist of the tall, blonde woman that accompanied her. "Mindy, Lucifer. Lucifer, Mindy."
"Well, it certainly is a pleasure to meet you, Mindy," he smiled politely. "And thank you, Maze, but I am rather busy. You're interrupting important police work." The demon's smile fell as she looked past Lucifer and to Chloe. Humming thoughtfully, she let her gaze rake over the detective's form.
"I suppose she can join." She smiled sharply and licked the corner of her lips. "The more the merrier, right?"
"I'll pass," Chloe responded quietly. Lucifer frowned at the soft tremor he heard beneath her words and turned towards her. Despite the dim lighting of his dwelling, he could see her complexion had paled. A gentle frown of confusion knit her brow as she directed an almost vacant gaze towards Maze.
"Detective?" he called carefully as he stepped towards her. "You look rather pallid. Are you all right?" She blinked several times and turned her eyes to Lucifer.
"What?"
"Are you all right?"
"Yeah." She joined her hands, wringing her fingers as she nodded. "I'm fine." His eyes dropped to the movement of her fingers, watching as she pulled the shirtsleeves over her hands.
"Detective—"
"I should go." She pulled her bag from the floor and shoved the laptops inside.
"Wait, please. I—"
"Trixie's sitter can't stay late tonight." She pulled the bag's strap over her shoulder. "See you tomorrow?" He sighed quietly and nodded.
"Wouldn't miss it."
"Great. Good night, Lucifer." He turned as his eyes followed her short walk to the elevator, her path widening with unnecessary distance as she passed the pair of females.
"Oh, too bad," Maze pouted as the elevator doors closed. "Could have been fun." Lucifer hummed absently as he continued to stare at the lift. "Are you coming?" she asked, starting towards his bedroom. He slowly shook his head.
"No, Maze. Not tonight."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean not tonight," he said sternly as he looked at her. "I'm going to take a walk. But by all means," he started, gesturing towards Mindy. "Enjoy yourself."