Author's note: As the title gives away, Doom is the hero of this little chapter. I hope you will have fun reading it. Enjoy!

Chapter 10

Not a Normal Dog

Early the next morning, Chloe walked into the precinct with Doom by her side. He was wearing his head high, looking very proud at the prospect of becoming a police dog. Chloe had told him in length how important that job was and how he would have to be on his best behaviour today to insure that her Lieutenant accept to give him a chance to prove himself.

So she was doubly surprised when Doom started growling deeply when they took the steps down towards the bullpen. Chloe reacted quickly by snapping the leash that the Hellhound had reluctantly conceded to wear under the promise that she would take it off at the first opportunity. If he was planning to behave like that all the time, Chloe thought that she might not find that many occasions to do so.

"Will you stop that?! It's not the time to make people think that you're dangerous," she admonished the beast under her breath.

Doom first looked surprised at her outburst, maybe even offended. Then he lowered his head in submission, turning his eyes away from her hard glare.

She was starting to reconsider the wisdom of her plan to have the hound work with her. Could he even behave normally around humans? She couldn't even answer that question. She shook her head to clear up her doubts, determined to do everything she could to make it work. He would have to learn.

Every heads turned to them as they came across the bullpen. Doom was that much of a sight and moreover, police dogs usually didn't come in here. She left behind her a trail of whisperings. They were all most certainly trying to guess what she was doing here with such a dog.

She ignored the lot of them and headed straight for Monroe's office.

This morning, she had to entrust Trixie to Azrael since none of her celestial or demonic friends had returned yet from their hunts. She was trying very hard not to worry about them. They all could take care of themselves after all. Right? And Trixie would be safe with Lucifer's sister. Chloe trusted her entirely. Even if Azrael was not feeling at her best yet, she could still protect her child and call one of her brothers if needed.

Chloe did her best to put all her troubles aside as she knocked on the Lieutenant's door and entered at her signal.

Her boss almost jumped in surprise at seeing the huge beast enter her office.

"What the hell is that Decker?"

She resisted the urge to comment on Monroe's choice of words.

Chloe stopped in front of her desk and Doom sat quietly beside her without her motioning him to.

Following her boss' lead, Chloe skipped the civilities and went straight to the matter at hand.

"This is Doom, and Lucifer's dog. He wanted me to have his hound to watch my back while he would be away." Chloe made sure to precise that from the start, so the Lieutenant would be more inclined to listen to her. It wasn't exactly the truth, but Chloe thought that Lucifer would have wanted it this way.

Monroe chuckled softly as she shook her index at Chloe. "No, no, no! That's not the way it works, Detective. Police dogs need months of training. You can't just pick a dog and decide to make it become one."

"I can assure you that Doom is already a very well-trained dog. He can track from miles away anyone he gets the smallest scent of; he could find anything we're looking for, be it drugs or explosives, or missing people, as well as crime scene evidence; he can also insure my safety or anyone else's I ask him to protect; and he obeys me at the beck and call. You can't tell me he wouldn't be a huge asset to this team, even more so now with all the craziness going on around the city."

Monroe seemed to be considering this for a moment before finally shaking her head in denial. "Sorry Decker, I can't allow one of my best detectives to waste her time finishing that dog's training in order to pass all the tests. You've been off duty long enough as it is. My successor won't agree to that."

"You misunderstand me, ma'am! I'm not asking for any amount of time for training. All I'm asking is a chance to pass the final test. I swear to you, if Doom doesn't pass it the first time around, I won't bother you again with it."

"I won't even be here for you to bother me again with it anyway. My successor will relieve me next week."

"Does that mean you're giving us a chance?" Chloe was holding her breath.

Monroe sighed in defeat. "All I can do is make a call to the K9 unit and see if I can book you a place for the next testing day. But you'd still have to learn all the verbal cues and hand gestures even if the dog already learned them during his past training. You'll have to learn that on your own personal time though."

"No problem ma'am! I'm a fast learner, and Doom too. Thank you so much for giving us the opportunity. You won't regret it. I promise."

Monroe didn't seem so sure about that. She made the call anyway, and even pitched in a good word for her as to convince the officer on the other end of the line that it was a sure bet.

As it turned out, luck was on Chloe's side. There was a test scheduled for this Friday, or else the next one was only due to take place in two months. Chloe assured her boss that they would be ready by Friday even if it left them only three days to prepare.

As soon as Chloe left Monroe's office with Doom, they were practically attacked by a joyous bouncing Ella.

"So, what I heard is true? You got a dog? What a cutie he is!" She lowered herself at Doom's level to scratch his ears profusely.

Doom grinned from ear to ear in pride, showing off his numerous sharp teeth.

Ella released her hold on the dog's head with a sharp movement, as if frightened by his unusual behavior.

"Woah! Is he gonna bite me?"

"No, no! Don't worry!" Chloe reassured her. "Doom is just grinning. He always gets the big head when he receives compliments," Ella lifted her eyebrows doubtfully at her words, "and he is such a softie when it gets to petting. If I didn't know better, I would think that he could get away with anyone who gives him some affection. Come to think of it, maybe he got that from Lucifer...," she mused playfully.

"So he is Lucifer's?" Ella looked around, searching for the Devil in question. "Is he around then?"

"Actually, he isn't..." Chloe nibbled at her lower lip uncomfortable. "He left town for an indeterminate amount of time to take care of an urgent family matter. There's no way to know how long it will take. He left me in charge of his affaires in the meantime." It was as close to the truth as she could afford to tell.

Chloe's sensibility on the subject must have transpired because Ella immediately softened and placed a comforting hand over her arm.

"Oh Chlo, I'm so sorry! I hope it won't take him too long to sort it out and come back."

"Yeah me too!" Chloe answered softly with way too much emotions to her liking.

Ella sensed the need to change the subject. "Sooo, what are you doing here with that gorgeous ball of fur?" Once more, Doom beamed at her praise. "Woah! He really does grin as a prideful bloke," she marvelled.

"I need to get him ready to pass the K9 unit test so he would be able to assist me in my investigations in the future. That's Lucifer's way of insuring my safety while he is away."

"Ooooh! That's so romantic!" purred Ella.

Chloe thought that her friend certainly had a very unique view of romanticism.

Ella happily volunteered to help her prepare for the test and herded them to her lab where she did some researches on the subject. Chloe took the opportunity to take off Doom's leash. She reasoned that people in the precinct would have to get used to seeing him walk freely before long since she wasn't about to keep him tied up all the time once he would be working with her officially.

Her geek friend found without difficulty all the information necessary about the different tests they would have to go through as well as images of the hand gestures used for silent orders and a list of verbal cues currently used with the dogs. Chloe's head was spinning with everything she had to learn. She started doubting that she could ever be able to get ready in time, but she had to. She couldn't wait two months to have Doom with her to watch her back.

After making copies of everything she needed, Chloe made a visit to the evidence room where she borrowed a sample of every drug available, then went to the equipment store to get pieces of different explosive material.

While crossing the bullpen on their way back to Ella's lab, Doom once more emitted a low dangerous growl. This time, he stopped in his tracks and turned around to look directly at a man about to leave the precinct. Chloe had the clear impression that the hound was warning her about that guy. She put a calming hand on the dog's back to keep him from bouncing on the man. Doom stayed put, but the growling continued.

As if hearing the hound, which was impossible from that distance, the man in question stropped climbing the stairs and turned to look directly at Doom. His gaze was dark and cold, entirely focussed on the menace. Sporting short dark hair with a lanky frame, Chloe was certain that she had never seen him in the past. He was certainly not working for the department. After having asserted that the hound was not about to attack him, the man raised his gaze up to Chloe.

The way he looked at her was feral.

A cold shiver ran along her spine and her entire being screamed to run away. After a few seconds of staring at her as if she was his prey, the man smiled a little then resumed his ascension towards the exit. When Chloe lost sight of him, she was almost shaking under the rush of adrenaline. Doom gradually quieted down as she imagined the guy was putting distance between them.

Chloe ran her hand through Doom's furred neck to help him, and herself, to calm down.

She looked back at her hound. "Were you trying to warn me about him when we first came in earlier?"

Doom answered her with a little yelp.

Chloe nodded seriously. "I'm sorry! I promise I'll listen to you next time." Doom just looked back at her with as much seriousness. Then a creepy thought crossed her mind. "Do you think... Could he be a demon?"

Once more, Doom yelped affirmatively.

Oh! Shit!

Chloe grabbed her cell phone and tried to call Maze who didn't answer. Damn it! As an afterthought, she closed her eyes and prayed to Michael. Making it short and clear that a demon was just getting out of the precinct. She opened her eyes and looked around as if waiting for something to happen. Unsurprisingly, she noticed nothing out of the ordinary. She sent her prayer a second time just to be sure it went through. She even thought of going after that demon all by herself, but what could she seriously do against one. Even with Doom with her and Lilim's demonic dagger under her belt, she couldn't imagine being able to contain one.

She gazed once more at Doom who was patiently waiting for her to take a decision. "Sorry pal! We'll have to let it to the big guys."

Doom looked disappointed.

Chloe tapped a finger against her lips as she gave the situation some thoughts. "What was that demon doing here in the first place?" she whispered softly for only Doom's hears.

In reaction to her words, Doom started sniffing around, going first to the stairs then back tracking inside. She quickly understood that the hound was tracking back the demon's movements in the precinct and encouraged him in his search.

Unfortunately, the guy seemed to have wandered pretty much everywhere in the building, apparently lingering a little more in the archive's room and in one of the interrogation room. Strangely, the officer in charge of the archives denied having seen the man and she couldn't find any official documents acknowledging that the demon met anyone during the last hour. No one that she asked to had seen him either. She even went to the security room to check the video footages from this morning, but the agent in post complained about an informatics glitch that erased hours of recording. Quite convenient indeed. Somehow she couldn't really believe his claim. He looked way too guilty for that. She could almost hear Lucifer complaining about how corrupt the police organisation was.

Frustratingly, there was not much more she could do. Something was certain though, that demon had come here to get information, but about what, or who? She realised that she couldn't even feel safe anymore in here.

Her resolves to pass the test with Doom strengthen even more. It was probably a question of survival for her now. So she went back to what she could really do to improve the situation.

Back at Ella's lab, she proceeded at showing everything she collected to Doom, while taking the time to name every different samples and let the Hellhound sniff it as much as needed to put it to memory.

Ella watched her with a doubtful air the whole time and even voiced her doubts at some point. "You know that's not the way dogs learn, right? He can't really understand everything you say."

Chloe smiled confidently. "Just watch it, Sis! Doomy is far from being a normal dog."

Ella only shrugged as if to say have it your way, before letting Chloe to it and resuming her own work.

Once Doom seemed to have absorbed it all, Chloe thought of putting him through a little test. She left him in the lab for a moment and went around the offices to hide the borrowed material.

When she came back at the lab, Chloe clapped her hands excitedly.

"Time to show me if you remember any of what I showed you, Buddy."

Doom huffed and rolled his eyes, very much akin to Lucifer when he was offended.

Chloe snorted at the nerves he had. "Okay smart ass! If you think yourself so clever, I'll upgrade the difficulty level."

She had first thought of sending him to search and try to find whatever he could track down, but he was being way too pompous to let it slide.

She crossed her arms in front of herself seriously. "I'll name you an item and you'll find it without touching anything else you could smell. Does that sound to you as a real challenge?"

Doom only lifted an eyebrow as if thinking about it, then puffed in agreement. Ella didn't miss a moment of their exchange, her eyes narrowing curiously at Doom's behaviour.

"Alright. Start by bringing me back the weeds. And don't go to the evidence room, because that would be cheating," Chloe added as an afterthought.

Doom immediately patted away in search of the drug. Both women followed him to watch his progress from a distance.

Ella looked mystified by the whole situation. "Do you really think he understood what you asked of him?"

Chloe just smirk at her friend. "We'll see, won't we?"

To Chloe's surprise, Doomy stopped at the second desk on their left and burrowed his muzzle in the personal bag of an agent who seemed absorbed into some readings. It was definitely not where she had hidden the weeds. The hound came out with a little plastic bag full of green herbs between his teeth. When the detective finally noticed the big dog sniffing his things, he snatched up the little bag and hid it quickly.

"What the hell Decker?"

She grimaced apologically. "Sorry Detective Marsten! My dog is training for the K9 test." She lowered her voice conspiratorially. "I won't tell anyone what I just saw, if you don't make trouble," she said suggestively.

He growled in annoyance. "As long as the damn beast stays clear of me!"

"He will!" she assured him. "You heard that Doomy, no disturbing Detective Marsten anymore, alright?"

The Hellhound sighed deeply and turned away. Chloe followed him quickly to get away from the angry detective.

Chloe considered the first sample as a success and proceeded to sending Doom to look for the other items one by one. Fortunately, Doom didn't find any other kind of drugs in the personal belongings of other agents, to Chloe's greatest relief. By the end of her little test, everyone had stopped working to watch Doom search, and some had even placed bets on the outcome.

To Chloe's great pride, and Doom's, of course, the hound finished with a perfect score. He dropped the last piece of explosive in her hand before sitting on his hind legs in front of her, a little annoying smirk visible at the corner of his mouth.

Chloe's serious air cracked and she nodded with a happy smile. "Okay, I am officially impressed!"

As was everyone else in the room, starting with Ella.

"Oh my God, Chloe! That dog is amazing!" Her friend exclaimed in awe. "He made me win lots of money. I was the only one who bet for him. With the bet I already won on your relationship with Lucifer, that makes quite a good amount of money. Now I have to invite you and the Tribe to party next Friday so we can spend it."

Chloe grimaced. "I don't know Ella. I don't feel like partying right now."

"All the more reasons to do so, Sis! It'll help change your mind and think about something else than the fact that you're missing your man. Oh come on!" she added insistently when she saw that Chloe was still hesitating.

Chloe finally yielded to her friend's contagious cheerfulness. "Alright! You can call the Tribe."

Ella emitted a high pitch squeal of happiness. "You won't regret it Chlo. I found that great Club. You'll just love it!"

Just then Chloe's cell phone signaled an incoming call. Her screen announced that it was Maze trying to reach her. Chloe excused herself to her friend and went to her own desk where she could answer the call discretely.

"Maze! Are you okay?"

"Of course I am. What kind of a question is that? Amenadiel and I caught a pack of three wolf-like demons with venomous tentacles all over their heads. I didn't have that much fun in years. I took pictures for you before sending them back to Hell, if you're interested."

"Heu, sure!?" Chloe answered hesitantly. She recovered quickly and asked. "What about Michael? Do you have news of his whereabouts?"

She didn't want to talk aloud about the demon she just saw for fear of attracting the attention of her coworkers. She figured that if Maze heard about it she would tell her.

"The feathered prick didn't even catch the Soul Eater he was assigned to get. How surprising!" Her tone was dripping with sarcasm. "He says for his defence that the demon was slippery. How much do you bet that I would have caught it if it had been me hunting it?"

Chloe pinched the bridge of her nose in annoyance at their little rivalry. "Maze, please? Don't antagonize him. He's doing his best to help, and he is a great warrior. Didn't he say anything about... I don't know, something else he may have caught?" she finally asked hopefully.

"You mean, did he catch the demon you handed him on a platter? Fortunately for his feathered ass, yes, he did. And that's why I'm calling you actually. By the way, I don't know how you did it, but congrats! A very great catch. Clearly one of Lilith's that one."

"All the merits go to Doom really. That hound is amazing!" Chloe stroke Doom's head while saying it, which extirpated a purring sound of contentment from the beast.

"Of course he's amazing, I partly trained him."

Always the modest one thought Chloe.

Maze continued in the same breath. "We're all at my place right now. I took the time to question that demon a little. As I was fearing, he is not letting slip a lot of information. Those zealots are freakily loyal to Lilith. Short of handing him to the King of Hell, there's not a lot of ways to break him. Unless..." Maze let her sentence unfinished, as if to create some suspense.

"Unless what? Don't make me linger here, Maze." She didn't feel in the mood for riddles.

Chloe could hear a smile in Maze's voice when she spoke what was on her mind.

"I think it's time that demon met the Queen of Hell!"

Author's note: Looking forward to meet the Queen of Hell? Well I am! :) I wanted to get a lot farther in the story with this chapter, but I got taken by the moment and was more inspired than I expected, so I had to cut it in the middle. I hope you enjoyed it. Thanks for reading, and commenting.