Hello all! I'm truly sorry for my writer's block, and again my English. But this time, I make no empty promises: the last chapter and the epilogue are ready for the Doc Manager ! I let few days between them, to avoid an unfortunate skipping.

In spite of her difficult and scary episode at the hospital, Chloe is not worried for herself but for a silent You-know-Who (No, it's not Voldemort). She has too much questions, and too few answers. What she finds in Lucifer's penthouse is... unexpected but very cute.

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Chapter 18: Sweetie and Wolfenizer

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CHLOE

Behind her room's door was stashed a whiteboard where she had started to write several theories about who Lucifer's family could really be.

It wasn't investigating on a very private subject, awfully touchy for him. It wasn't, no. It was more... thinking about his enigma.

At the beginning of their partnership, she had willingly given up the desire to know more about him. She was incredibly grateful for the help he was inclined to provide when nobody cared – even if he was the worst rookie applicant ever. And she didn't want to push her luck. As much as she had been enjoying to have him as a work partner and nothing more, a part of her still was still hoping he would finally open up and trust her enough to reveal his real past. Why he was effortlessly talented and spoiled, or careless about life and death. How he could be so funny, so silly, and sometimes so ruthless and dark...

The last crazy week, she had felt he might be ready to take a step further. By asking her to "pose as" his girlfriend, by taking lessons with Trixie on how to propose (the girl had dutifully dropped this in just in the middle of breakfast). He was fool enough to throw himself unarmed at a hitman just to save her. Again. All of this must have a deeper meaning. He wasn't able to say more than "he cared for her". Very well. Caring was okay. But why the lustful eyes? Why the teasing about kissing? Why the overwhelming genuine smile each time she was meeting him on some crime scene? Lucifer may not be a liar, but his behavior was telling something and his mouth, something else. Could he still crave for her, despite his so-called epiphany and subsequent denial?

Her cheeks went rosy when the small thought of giving him what he desired crept in her brain. Set aside she wasn't that kind of girl, she liked very much their partnership. The idea of letting him go back to his old empty life as a party goer (or a party launcher), seducing everyone, everywhere, was tearing her apart. Granting him a night of passion wasn't guiding him in the right direction, but only retreating back towards a meaningless life. Nevertheless, a work partnership had no reason to be cold. She had no trouble with knowing better each other, or feeling safe and comfortable around him.

Maybe it was time for her to bridge this gap and join him halfway. So at the top of the board, was written in capital letters:

THE UNSOLVED CASE OF LUCIFER MORNINGSTAR

Actually, she was more pondering about his previous family background. The facts were: he had at least two sisters and a brother, a mother he stopped completely to talk about, and the imposing figure of his father he was insanely obsessed with.

She had outlined five possible backgrounds .

1) The Mob or gangsters. There were too many metaphors about "The Godfather", bad reputation, those "favors" traded, fishy acquaintances in his speech. And money, money, money. Even if his club was very profitable (Dan had checked thoroughly), Lucifer had too much cash and possessions for someone that barely understood the mere concept of working hard to earn it.

2) A religious sect. Considering his father, she was tempted by the crazy guru of a wealthy sect. On the other hand, a polygamous sect would have been practical to explain so many spouses and children not looking the slightest alike.

3) Big business or high-level politics. His father was often referred as powerful or very influent, upon his family and beyond. A serial divorcee could have imprinted in his son's young psyche, romantic involvements and commitments were just breakable "deals", insignificant and temporary.

4) Entertainment industry. Lucifer had some mixed feelings about fame. Oddly, she would have liked to know Lucifer felt connected with her, because he would be the son of an overwhelmingly renown singer (from which he could have inherited his love for music). After all, they met because Delilah's murder. He knew people in fashion... But as they were living in LA, it wasn't very specific. Chloe wasn't sharing Ella's beliefs about a "method actor". As much as she was sick of paparazzi and kept a low profile, Lucifer on the contrary, adored to be the center of attention. Bad point against this theory: acting was pretending, and too close from lying.

Aside from those possible backgrounds, she had noticed a deep bitterness about being abandoned, leading her to a more realistic and less farfetched...

5) Orphanage. Thanks to what he said about his sister Lilith, not being quite a real sister but considered as such, she had worked out this new theory. When she had met Amenadiel, he had hinted at one of them being adopted. Maybe everything was true but in a more poetic or metaphorical way. According to Linda, Lucifer was fond of "metaphors", allowing him to express what he felt but safely. Maybe he had grown up with other abandoned kids; maybe his father was not his real father but the orphanage's director. To some point, the man must have been remarried to a barely adult Charlotte Richards (before she chose to become a lawyer defending criminals). Maybe Amenadiel was the real son, fighting for his father's love, amidst lost suffering kids?

This latest option was perfect, sound, sensible and interesting. Far from the fantasy of a golden boy, it was "fitting". The reason why he needed so much to be notorious if his parents left him behind as someone of little worth. Thus, he could believe he was telling no lies. He had a large group of "brothers and sisters", it was "normal" they were all different. And above all, it could explain a lot if he felt attracted to a slightly older "sister". She could easily imagine him being an already handsome teen. If the Director's had found the two youngsters sharing the same bed, he might have decided to get rid of the problem by "not keeping" Lucifer... It was a really good theory.

But other unsettling character traits were making her thrill the wrong way, because they were implying suspicion of mistreatment or child abuse.

1) Physical injuries. First of all, the ugly scars on his back! She never had the gut to talk about them again. Such raw violence was uncommon among rich people, but not in the Mob. But even though he seemed to accuse his father to be responsible for them, was he necessarily implying direct responsibility? Or had he been for example captured and tortured by people expecting a ransom from his loaded family? Lately, he had been spoking several days about being 'kidnapped' in the desert. Was it triggering very bad memories of a traumatic prior experience? If he had a poor background, maybe his father went to jail and his kid had to be left in an orphanage.

2) Shameless promiscuity. Lucifer was obviously considered as a very attractive man and prone to make the most of it. Reports were made he could cope with a ridiculous number of sexual encounters over a month, but in the meantime fearing non-sexual proofs of affection. He might be skilled at giving pleasure, but refusing happy hugs from Ella, holding Trixie's hand, or hesitating to hold her in his arms... was crying out loud he had not known simple love. And it was highly worrisome and made her eyes starting to wet.

It was another reason why she found tough to dig this matter up: she was afraid of what she could find out. What if she felt pity? Lucifer was very proud; he wouldn't take well her researches, especially if she uncovered a poor, very unhappy or dramatic childhood... Despite his charming overconfident demeanor, she could have sworn he felt insecure sometimes, even if he was hiding it well.

And that's why her whiteboard was useless.

There were too many theories on display and not a single real lead. Adoption papers? Nothing. Articles in an old newspaper? Nothing. Every point had a touch of something genuine – she had even thought of him being a royal of an eastern country with a diplomatic passport – but all of them didn't work well together.

So her very last course of action was to go to and speak with him heart to heart, while she was still feeling a bit bold and brave, and all "Wonder-Womany". She had a little time before picking Trixie at school.

Unconsciously, her left fingers massaged her right wrist. She noticed it was slightly hotter. Under her sleeve, she saw no rash of any kind yet. Her skin looked normal, consequently she quickly forgot about it.

Nobody had given her the tiniest explanation about what really happened to her. The doctors only displayed embarrassment. In her guts, she was guessing Lucifer could have something to say about it. However, her rational brain was struggling; underlying Lucifer had been quite distressed at the news of her being hurt. But he wasn't impressed at all, by the stuff itself. This was strange but she didn't question it because he remained cool and that had helped her a lot. At this very moment, she had felt him utterly reliable. And it was just thrilling.

.°.

LUCIFER

When the elevator's doors opened with a clear tinkle, he was bent behind his bar, bare chest, looking a bit disheveled, hair unkempt, and a ten o'clock shadow... He was rummaging impatiently the cupboards but when he saw Chloe entering his penthouse, his features lightened up instantly.

He had thought he would never have this pleasure anymore. "Detective!"

"I'm sorry, Lucifer, I came unannounced. Is it a bad time? I mean, have you got… hum... company?"

She had whispered this with a slight move of her head towards his bedroom. He noticed she was wearing those very special eyes he loved. The shy-bold spark, expressing more or less: I'm not giving you the joy of making me blush with your antics. I'm going to win the staring contest. I'm a strong confident adult woman. Not jealous at all. Not threatened by all those meaningless shags you have with anyone... Because I know I am special to you.

No, she was certainly not thinking this way. As much he deeply wanted her to be, she wasn't impressed and his fantasies would only ruin their friendship forever. While he was despising lies, he was a bit too enticed by those blatant untrue dreams…

"No, I'm all yours... I came back to my flat less than an hour ago, and found it in this state…"

She cleared her throat. Her blue eyes were trying not to land on his torso... which was vexing, for he had a very good one now. "What happened? Cleaning service on strike?"

"No… I was attending business in town. It took longer than I expected, and Sweetie was all alone here. My bad, the poor critter scavenged the whole place in search of something suitable to eat. Here they are! Nice and round pellets..."

There was no way Lucifer gave away he had just spent several hours, locked up in the fridge-fortress of an abandoned facility. The Sinnerman had finally declared him open war, confirming it was not an empty threat, and he was not "paranoid" to think someone was after him indeed. If Maze hadn't found the facility, thanks to their ancient invocation bond, he would have stayed there forever, waiting to die slowly, worried to death about Chloe being hurt by a madman… As he was deeply selfish, the thought of her dying and going to Heaven – a place out of reach, where he would never be able to see her again – was the worst torment of all.

Unconscious of his grim thoughts, she asked innocently. "Who are you calling sweetie?"

He forced himself to smile happily. "If I can find her, I'd like to introduce you to the nasty little minx that peed all over my shirt, five minutes ago... As females are proverbially all the same, I don't know if it was from happiness to see me again, or anger for having left her alone… If you don't mind, I'm going to grab another shirt…"

Chloe nodded eagerly with a nervous gesture of her hand. "Please do… I find it hard to believe but... am I correct to suppose you're talking about a dog or a cat?"

He opened the door of his impressive cabinet and muttered something about a darker tone of blue. Intentionally, he left it unbuttoned when he walked to his large bed, kneeled, and started to coo: "Ah, here you are, little hellion! Don't you think I wouldn't see you also ate the foot of my piano? It's unforgivable. I had warned you in all fairness not to approach it! » His tone was not angry at all.

Chloe was gaping at him, as he was coming back in the living room, holding a small black rabbit quivering against his heart. He was certain this vision would feel all too familiar to her. Confirmation came fast.

"Does it have wings?"

Lucifer searched for her eyes, not hiding his ardent longing. Yet he seemed to realize, and smiled cheekily as he went to the piano. Some kind of weird tiara was resting on the top. "You are very right, Detective. I made her a birth present. Half necklace, half headband with black fluffy things. Look, if I place this on her back, she's dressed up to the nines to match my own classy suit. What do you think?"

"Please, tell me those shiny gemstones are zircon... you can't have used real diamonds, right?"

He smiled weirdly. "They had to match my cufflinks... But I'm not stupid; I won't let her wear it every day, only in special occasions..." Chloe watched him place the tiny rabbit on the polished dark surface of his piano. "Stay put lovely, I'm taking a picture and posting it on my Insta... Oh, that's a cute girl! No, not your round charming little tail. Over here... Now, now, show Daddy your pink little nose..."

Chloe couldn't prevent a giggle, hidden behind her fingers. Who would have known that Lucifer, self-interested to a nauseated degree, was crazier with his pets than the "arthritic grandma" he accused her to be?

"What? You don't find her cute?"

"Oh, yes. But it's something to see you care about someone who is not yourself... I wonder why you changed your mind about that kind of responsibilities. It's not much like you."

"I know, but my sister offered it to me. And Linda had been adamant: holding a rabbit could make people feel better when they are not well. So, I decided to give it a go for few days..."

"Are you saying you'll get rid of her when your interest will fade?" This was not nice from her to imply what she was implying, but his honest answer was not meant to crush her heart.

"I don't know. I've never had a pet before. But I don't think I could do this. Look at this beautiful melting round eyes... She's so silent and so sweet, I don't want anything bad happening to her..."

She crossed her arms and shifted her weight to the other leg, both being clad with skinny jeans and high heels boots. "Mhh, if you ask me how it looks like, she has you just wrapped around her little paw! Haven't you just called yourself her 'Daddy'? You're done, pal, and welcome to parenthood!"

"No, I'm not. But I sense you're teasing me, Detective."

"Maybe just a bit... You know, sooner than you think, she will start to date, so what will you do then?"

He let his phone aside and stood against his instrument. "Well, that's simple: she won't be allowed to. Do you think the first Peter Rabbit, wearing jeans and tattoos, could have my precious girl, like that?" He snapped his fingers.

He was half joking, and pretty much enjoying this silly game with her. It was so nice to chat lightly. He was so relieved to see her fine and playful:

"Peter Rabbit? Ha ha ha! You'd be too lucky if she could date a nice and proper Peter Rabbit! No! Being the Devil's daughter, she'll be bound to take back at home a huge toothy wolf in a tuxedo, whose real intentions would be very obvious to you... And she will say with her tiny rabbit silent voice: Daddy, meet my new boyfriend Wolfenizer, I love him soooomuch! He's got a really cool black car that goes very fast, and wants me to have a sleepover in his stylish hutch!"

Lucifer had a very wolfish grin of his own, aware she might be talking about an old case – actually one of their first together. "You haven't forgiven me saying in front of four hundred people you didn't want to sleep with me, have you?"

"That's not true. I forgave you."

"Oh, one point for you and zero for my Father. May I ask... why?"

"Well, as Mister Deal, you should know. Maybe I'm counting on your help when my daughter will start dating guys looking and behaving just like you. Because you're her favorite grown-up, I expect troubles..."

"If they dare touching Trixie, I'd be delighted to have them shit their pants. And you could probably count on Maze to hunt them down too, from her own behalf..."

Chloe smiled happily at him and he felt his heart sank. "That's a deal, Partner!"

"Beware missy; you're having a deal with the Devil. He'll ask you to return the favor later."

"I hope so! I'm eager to see if you're good at damage control."

After this cheeky banter, she became serious again and bent her head to inform him she had to pick up the said offspring at school.

"Already? No, please, that's a buzzkill. Can't you stay a bit longer?"

"No, I think it wouldn't be wise. I could be tempted."

"You're still teasing me, Detective... What kind of temptation do you have in mind?"

"Well, boring I guess, you know me."

"Not as well as I'd like to. Will you, at last, tell me at last what is your desire, Chloe Jane Decker? Give me hope. Is it my promised ravishing kiss, haunting your thoughts since the moment I talked about it?"

.°.

(to be continued)