I cannot thank all of you enough for your reviews and encouragement. It's amazing. It really does make my day, knowing that you guys enjoy reading it as much as I like writing it. For those of you that requested it, I have a scene in my head of how Lucifer will regain his wings, but I don't know if it will fit in yet. I am re-writing a few scenes though, so I might be able to get it in. I hope you guys still enjoy reading this! This was an interesting chapter for me to write. And thanks again for reading!
Comments/Reviews appreciated (and encouraged)!
Tugging at his sleeves as he steps out of the elevator into Lux, Lucifer glances around for a moment until he spots his demon, and he pours himself a drink before he motions. "Lets go see if our guest is awake, shall we?" He asks with a smirk that borders on predatory, watching Maze closely as he takes a drink out of his glass.
A small shiver goes down Maze's spine at that look, despite herself. It's been a while since she saw that look on Lucifer. Her old master is still in there somewhere, then, Maze muses before she grins and nods from where she was standing beside the bar. "If he's not, I could wake him up." She says eagerly as she turns to lead Lucifer down one of the back hallways to a door that she unlocks which leads underneath Lux into one of the old Prohibition tunnels. And from there into what used to be a liquor store room during that same era. Their 'guest' is strapped to a metal chair there, which is bolted to the floor. This isn't the first time they've needed to use inelegant measures to extract some information, or extract some punishment.
Slowly, Lucifer move around in front of the rather nondescript man who is indeed awake, and starts struggling more as he sees them, though not much can be made out through the gag. "I'm afraid neither of us is here to let you go, Mr. Arsonist." He says in a smooth tone, his smile tight and without humor, almost cruel. As soon as he stepped into the room, his demeanor changed, his movements smooth and deliberate, in the way a big cat might look when hunting their prey. He makes a motion toward their captive with a glance at Maze. "Scream as much as you like, no one will hear you down here." He reassures the man as he takes a sip of his drink slowly, savoring it as he waits.
Nearly vibrating with anticipation, Maze moves forward and pulls out one of her knives to cut the gag away from the man. Sure, she could have left it intact to possibly be used later, but this is a little more dramatic and a lot more intimidating. Stepping back away from him, she twirls her knife around in her hand for a moment, just for effect. She knows in this case, she won't do anything unless Lucifer allows it. Given what this man did, and how Lucifer has obviously become attached to the human Detective and her child... well, she doesn't want to lose a hand or something. Which at the moment she thinks the man beside her is perfectly capable of.
"What the hell is wrong with you?!" The man in the chair demands as he looks between them. "Listen, I don't know what you think I did, but just let me out of here, and I won't even go to the cops or nothin', ok?" He offers a little desperately as he tries to tug on his bonds again, as if something will have changed in the last five minutes.
Shaking his head slowly, Lucifer finishes his drink before he hands off the glass to Maze without looking at her. "I'm afraid not... You see, you're a very bad man." He says as he looks at the man in front of him. "And you've done some very bad things. It seems that you enjoy playing with fire." He explains in his silky tone, watching as the man's eyes widen a little as he realizes why he's there. "You're going to tell me why you set fire to a particular house. One occupied someone who is a very dear friend of mine, you see." He slowly removes his jacket as he speaks, laying it over the back of the one empty chair in the room, casual as can be. He glances up at the man briefly before he starts to roll up his sleeves slowly. "You're going to tell me if you were hired to do it. Then you're going to tell me why you did it. And then maybe, just maybe, we'll let you go." But there's a threat behind his tone that implies he may not be in one piece.
"I don't know what you're talking about, man. I didn't torch no lady's house." The man denies with a firm shake of his head as he looks between the two for a few moments, the panic definitely having set in. "Besides, lighting up a cop's house, that ain't smart." He points out as he continues his frantic glances between the two before focusing on Lucifer since he seems to be the bigger, more immediate threat.
A cold smile spreads over Lucifer's face again as he looks at the man in front of him, finishing rolling his sleeves up and then pulling over the extra chair, setting it in front of the man before sitting down in it. Crossing his legs and for all the world looking like he's conducting an interview or holding court, Lucifer watches the man with an almost perversely pleased expression. "I never said it was a woman, or that she was with the police." He says casually, watching the man wince a little. He plucks an imaginary fuzz off his slacks before he looks back up at the man in front of him. "That was your second mistake." He says in a cold tone, before he moves forward inhumanly quick, going from at ease and relaxed, to looming over the man within a second, his hands on the arms of his chair. "I despise liars." He says in a deeper, rougher tone, a small growl behind his words. "Lets try this again, shall we?" He asks with a slight sneer before he straightens and turns away a little toward Maze. "Maze,would you be a dear? Start with his fingers. So many little bones." He says in a cold tone as he steps toward his demon, holding his hand out to take the glass back from her.
Looking delighted at the entire situation, Maze grins as she looks at her master – the Devil himself – adoringly, before she returns the glass obediently. "Oh this is going to be fun..." She says with a broad grin as she turns and struts toward the man, starting on his left side since he's right handed and she's not entirely without mercy. Despite the changes going on in her life, and her attempts to adapt to life on Earth, this is what she was literally born to do, torture humans while her creator, Lucifer Morningstar, looks on. That's why he called her to Earth five years ago, except this time she knows that he wants the man to feel pain, and she is more than glad to give it. If being with that human – Chloe Decker – brings out this side in Lucifer again, maybe there's some good to it afterall.
~oOo~
In the end, it takes a little over an hour for Lucifer to be satisfied that they have the information he needs, and far less damage than Maze is satisfied with. At which point he glances at Maze as he rolls his sleeves down. "Put him somewhere the police will find him. Preferably with some sort of incriminating evidence." He doesn't even think about the order as he grabs his jacket and heads toward the door. He knows it's going to take a little while for him to shake off the familiar numb coldness he pulled around himself to be able to step into his old shoes as torturer to get the information, so he just pulls out his phone and texts Chloe the pertinent information.
Arsonist guilty, but only a hired gun, as it were.
Investigation continues. Police should have arsonist in custody by noon.
Be in later. Need to talk to Linda. -LM
It might be a little abrupt and impersonal, without even his usual devil emoji, but he knows if he tries to force it, she'll know something is even more wrong. Maybe she'll just think he's in a hurry. He does go upstairs to take another hot shower and change into a different suit with a white shirt. Not so much because he got dirty, but because for the first time he /feels/ dirty. And he doesn't want to face the Detective like that. Not when she is so good, and righteous and pure. By the time he gets out of the shower, there's a return text from the Detective.
Wow. Ok. Are you ok? -Chloe
Looking down at his phone for a moment, Lucifer tries to figure out how to answer without lying as he gets himself a drink and downs it quickly, sighing before he heads for the elevator, finally deciding on what to tell the Detective.
Not really. Linda should help. I'll be in once I'm back to myself. -LM
The Detective must have been waiting for his reply because her own is swift. Lucifer sits in his Corvette and looks down at his phone for a moment with a sigh. Bloody things. Cellphones are wonderful things, sometimes. But a lot of the time they are not.
Back to yourself? I don't understand. I'm worried. -Chloe
If you still want to know, I'll try to explain. Meet me at noon, at the beach, I'll text you the address. -LM
Lucifer sends the message and texts her the address of the beach where he first arrived on Earth six years ago, before putting his phone away. He doesn't know if he wants to see Chloe's response. Pulling out of his spot, he drives toward Linda's office, hoping that she'll have at least a little time to see him since there are a lot of things that he needs to talk to her about.
She shouldn't be surprised anymore, but when her door suddenly opens and Lucifer steps in, Dr. Linda Martin still jumps a little. "Lucifer." She says in relief, shaking her head a little. "We don't have an appointment." She's more surprised than anything about him showing up, since he doesn't usually just pop in unannounced. Well, alright he does sometimes. But normally he does actually need to talk, he's not frivolous when it comes to his appointments. So she can't really deny him when he does pop in like this, and she can already tell that her patient has something on his mind. After a year of treating him, she's gotten to be able to read him somewhat at least.
"No, you're quite right, Doctor. But I've had an.. interesting few days, and then had to do something today which should have been relatively easy. And it was. But it... felt different. Like the ease with which I did it was.. wrong." Lucifer explains as he looks at Linda, looking and feeling utterly lost about some of the things that have happened to him in the last few days.
It's fairly obvious how much distress Lucifer is in, and Linda can't turn him away when he's like this. "Alright, sit down, Lucifer, and explain from the beginning." She says as she briefly checks her calendar to make sure she has some time before she steps around her desk to take a seat in her chair facing the couch.
Sitting down and pouring himself a glass of water, Lucifer explains everything from the night of the fire, his interactions with Chloe, her staying over, the bet, Trixie's presence, and the few kisses he and Chloe had shared. Despite his true feelings about all of these developments which he is truly pleased about, it all comes out sort of flat and detached, like he's talking about someone else. Even when he talks about the anger he felt when he found out the fire was deliberately set and the many punishments he wanted to enact on whoever was responsible. "Maze found the arsonist and brought him to Lux this morning." He finally concludes, and this seems to be the crux of the problem if the shift in his expression to something a little more vulnerable is anything to go by.
"That is a lot that happened, Lucifer." Linda says with a small nod of her head, even though she's sure that the whole 'devil reveal' thing is just another part of his metaphors and has more to do with Chloe just accepting Lucifer for everything he is. Which is just as good and essential for Lucifer to experience. "I take it you didn't take him straight to the police?" She asks, a little worried about her patient and what he could have done. It's clear he has a lot of protective anger over whoever tried to hurt Chloe.
"No. We did not. They would have taken too long to get the information we needed. The Detective needs answers, and she needs to be safe." Lucifer says in a firm tone. '"We found out what we needed to know and then Maze delivered the man to the police. But that's not the problem. Six years ago, I was King of Hell, as I had been for eons of course. And I was a torturer. I didn't enjoy it, of course, it was just a job, but it was on that I did well. It wasn't until the sessions with you, Doctor, that I realized to cope with that, I had distanced myself from it. Become someone who was cold and unfeeling."
"And when questioning the arsonist, you fell back on old habits?" Linda guesses as she looks at the man in front of her. "But you're not the same man anymore, Lucifer. You know that, you just told me. So what's really bothering you?" She asks as she tilts her head to the side a little.
"You're right, doctor. I'm not the same as I was six years ago." Lucifer agrees as he leans forward on his knees, looking down at his hands. "It was easy to step back into those shoes. The problem is.. It's much harder for me to step out. It feels like I stepped into quicksand, and it's trying to pull me in and keep me. I can't be around the Detective like that. She may have accepted me being the Devil, but I can't be around her like this She deserves more."
Linda nods a little as she watches him, internally very proud of the man that Lucifer has started to become in the last year since she started treating him. He may still be delusional about the whole Devil thing which is frustrating, but she's seen tremendous progress in him emotionally. "We all have our coping mechanisms, Lucifer. Ways to protect ourselves from being hurt. This.. detachment that you feel, it's not the only way you've learned to cope. You have been able to move forward, to let your guard down, at least around Chloe. And that's a huge step. You said she accepted all of you last night. I think you need to trust her. Trust her to accept you. All of you." She thinks about it for a few moments. "For now.. I want you to think about last night. How you felt when she stayed instead of leaving, when she finally trusted you, and herself, enough to give in. When she kissed you." She still can't believe that really happened and honestly listening about these two is better than any soap opera. "I think focusing on those feelings will give you back the control you want."
Doing as he's asked, Lucifer thinks about the night before, how she finally gave in to her desires, the feel of her kiss, the touch of her hand on his back and across his scars, how she felt in his arms and the way she asked him not to run away. Slowly, he feels cracks start to form in the shell he had placed around him during the interrogation, before it shatters as he recalls the way she trusted him to come when she called, the night of the fire. The way she immediately hugged him, taking comfort from him even before, when they were strictly friends and partners. Yes, she deserves more than the playboy he once was, and Lucifer is determined to give it to her. He's still scared of what Chloe might think if she ever sees that side of him, but for now he hopes to keep it from her.
Linda watches her patient carefully, the way his body language changes and his shoulders relax. And whether he's aware of it or not, the small quirk of his lips and softness in his expression as he does wha she asked.. "Well. It's no wonder you needed to talk to me. I think that's the most you've ever said in a single session. But this is good." She observes as she looks at him. "And I think it's wonderful that you're starting to open up to Chloe, and that she's accepting you for all that you are." Of course she still hasn't figured out what precisely the 'Devil reveal' thing is a metaphor for, knowing that Lucifer is a physical specimen so it must be something else. But she can skip over that part because the important takeaway is that Chloe accepted him completely, 'ugly side' (Hah! Not possible, she thinks) and all. "I knew it wouldn't be as scary as you seemed to think it would be." She says with a little smile. "Though maybe you are taking it a little fast with her living with you and everything, even though I think it was an amazing thing for you to offer, given the circumstances. You've made a lot of progress, real progress, since our last session." She says proudly as she looks at the man in front of her. "As you've already seen, Chloe is far more open-minded than you've given her credit for, and more understanding. I'm sure that this darkness you're struggling with, is something she understands. I'm sure she's felt the same hatred, the loathing you described, toward some of her suspects on particularly hard cases. You should just tell her what's going on. Don't hide this from her, you don't want anything to sour what is building between you. Even if it means showing her another side to yourself, you should explain the way you distanced yourself from the interrogation." She advises as she watches him.
"And what if I tell her, and she finally understands, sees me... for the monster I really am?" Lucifer asks as he looks at Linda worriedly, feeling a little scared of that after everything that's happened. "She says she has no problem with me being the Devil because she knows me, and she knows that I'm not evil, but what if she's wrong, changes her mind?" He asks, leaning forward toward Linda a little as he watches her with vulnerability he hates showing, but he is learning to open up more in his sessions with Linda.
Smiling patiently at one of her more eccentric patients, Linda nods a little. "You aren't a monster, Lucifer." She reassures after a moment. "Everyone will go to some pretty extreme lengths for those they care about. And from what you've told me in the past, Chloe is the first woman you've felt this way about." She reminds him in a gentle tone, pausing and watching him nod in agreement or acknowledgment before she continues. "Finding someone to connect to on an emotional level, and someone you're allowing yourself to grow close to is all very good, of course, but it's going to make everything more new, more complicated." She considers her next words before she continues. "If she can handle, as you say, the truth about you being the 'Devil'-" She uses air quotes because she still thinks that's a metaphor for something, but the important part is that he's opening up to someone. "- then I think she'll be ok with what you told me. You didn't enjoy it, you didn't do it for fun. You did it to help right a wrong, bring justice for Chloe. In an odd way it's almost sweet." She says but shakes her head a little at the idea that she is calling the torture of another human being, possibly sweet. Her world has certainly gotten stranger since she met Lucifer Morningstar.
"It's not as if she won't find out." Lucifer checks his watch, then says, "The man should be in police custody by now, or at the very least in the next hour. I just hope she doesn't find out before I've had a chance to talk to her." He looks away from Linda, frustrated and sighing a little. "These emotions, relationships.. they're extremely frustrating and confusing, Doctor." he says in an annoyed tone, leaning back on the couch and placing his hands at the edge of the seat on either side of his knees.
"Yes. Yes, they are." Linda acknowledges as she looks at him, reminding herself that while he is a grown man physically, in the realm of emotions and romance he's very much still like a teenager. "But they are worth it. Remember what you told me, how you felt when she finally did kiss you?" She prompts as she looks at him. "Or how you said it felt when she trusted you to keep her safe and sober, and to not take advantage of her at Lux?" She asks, leaning forward slightly over her crossed knees to watch him more intently.
A soft smile crosses Lucifer's face as he remember that and he nods slowly. "Yes, I admit it was quite a rush. And kissing her is..." He trails off, staring at a spot to the left of Linda as he tries to figure out how to describe it. "I've kissed a lot of people, men and women, and my apologies doctor, but kissing her is.. so much /more/. It's... It's like heaven. Or how you humans describe Heaven. Which is nowhere near close to the real thing. So bloody boring, and Uriel's self-righteous welcoming speech-!" He rolls his eyes a little as he thinks of his brothers, shaking his head in exasperation.
"Lucifer." Linda says in a firm tone to bring him back to the matter at hand, and off his tangent. Something she's learned she needs to do occasionally with her ADD man-child of a patient. "Those feelings that you're describing, that's what makes it worth it. All the frustration, confusion, and yes, sometimes pain as well, there's no avoiding any of that. But the happiness I just saw on your face.. That's worth it, don't you think?" She asks, tilting her head to the side a little as she watches Lucifer curiously. Even before when he would talk about Chloe, Linda is sure that he never allowed himself to feel what he is feeling now. She's honestly never seen him express such genuine happiness, and she's so pleased that he's come far enough to be able to experience such emotions.
With a slightly self-conscious smile, Lucifer glances at Linda and then away a few times before he nods, looking down at his lap for a few moments. "Yes. I suppose it is worth it." He says slowly, taking a deep breath. "Thank you, Linda. I knew coming here was necessary before I saw the Detective." He seems relieved, sitting back on the couch and adjusting his jacket a little, seeing much more at ease now. He glances at his watch, "Oh.. I promised I would meet Chloe at the beach at noon. With traffic, I should leave now just to be sure." He says before he gets up swiftly. "Thank you very much, you're brilliant as always, Doctor." He says before he turns and sweeps out of the room. He's still worried, he still has his doubts, but he feels a little more confident at least, and more like himself. Less like the Devil, more like Lucifer Morningstar.
