It's been awhile since we've read anything about Michael and Chloe, I know, I'm sorry. Would recommend reading chapter 7 again. I know I had to ha. This story is a slow burn I know. We're getting close to Deckerstar. It's coming soon, hang in there. I'm moving as fast as I can.
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Much to Michael's frustration about having to accompany Chloe back to the precinct, he was actually happy to be spending more time with her. It meant he could see more of Los Angeles. It meant he was further away from being cast into the depth of Hell forever.
In saying that, he climbed into the passenger seat of Chloe's car and accompanied her back to work. The two had gotten onto the freeway rather fast, but sadly the drive to the precinct turned out to be longer than he hoped. They had managed to get themselves caught in L.A's famous traffic jams.
With traffic moving at five miles per hour, there was nothing left to do but listen to the local radio station and look out the window.
"Welcome back listeners! This is Ryan Seacrest on 102.7 KIIS FM. In just moments we will be taking calls for our weekly Ryan's Roses. After this song we'll take our first caller… "
The beginning of YG's song Big Bang started playing and Chloe changed the station. She was sure Michael wouldn't appreciate the tone of the song, his sideways look was enough to warrant concern.
Chloe fussed with the stations, every time she stopped on a station Michael would shake his head. After a few attempts, she gave up. She left it on 102.7. Ryan Seacreast's voice came on with his weekly cheater.
"Here we are with Ryan's Roses. We have a caller here who's been married for eight years and been with the guy for forteen. They do not have kids. He's been distant. He travels a lot. He works in pharmaceuticals as a sales rep. The other night she heard her husband in the kitchen whispering to someone on the phone in the middle of the night."
Michael turns his head away from the window and over to the radio. He listens to what the man has to say. Chloe takes her eyes off the road and watches Michael in amusement.
"So we have Julie here, go ahead and say hi Julie…. Hi… so you haven't found any receipts or perfume anything?... no… Okay alright… I just feel something is off… Okay, here's what I need you to do. I need you to say, Ryan you have my permission to call whatever his name is, on KIIS FM…. Ryan you have my permission to call *** on KIIS FM... Alright so we're going to have Marie call her husband and pretend to be a flowers salesperson…"
"They're trying to catch the husband cheating?" Michael asked, Chloe nodded her head.
"Most of the times the person they call winds up sending the flowers to the person they are cheating on their spouse with…"
"That's sad… broadcasting it for everyone. What will Julie get out of this if her husband is cheating?"
"Nothing."
"Then why go on this," he points to the radio, "and exploit their dirty laundry?" Chloe shrugged her shoulders.
"I don't know… sometimes people do it to ruin their spouses reputation. Sometimes their pain blinds their decisions."
Michael hummed.
"If I ever cheated I think I'd be smart enough to send the flowers back to my wife. Women do like flowers right?" Michael looked over to Chloe with a blank expression on his face. Chloe let out a chuckle as she could see Michael waiting for an answer out of the corner of her eye.
"Some of us do, yes." Chloe switched lanes so they could move faster in traffic. As the car came to a standstill she looked over at Michael. "I'm glad you'd send the flowers to your wife. Most men aren't smart enough to do that and get caught... Do you have a wife?" she asked.
"No."
The answer was firm and straightforward. Michael didn't seem to leave any room for more discussion on the topic so she dropped it. By the time they finished talking the investigation on the radio came to an end. Neither one of them found out if the husband was really cheating.
"I think he's cheating, he has to be lying to his wife…" Michael said as Chloe lowered the volume on the radio. "What do you think?"
She gave herself a moment to go over the facts Ryan stated at the beginning of the interview. Michael watched as she skewed her mouth off to the side trying to come up with an answer.
"I think you're right. Married eight years, together for forteen… no kids. I mean they might not want them or can't have them… so cross that off. The husband works a lot, travels too…" Chloe tapped at the steering wheel trying to solve the case. "Pharmaceuticals? As a sales representative… either he's dealing on the side or he's cheating. My money is on cheating."
"Want to find out?" he asked. Chloe looked at him confused. She was pretty sure they had missed the answer while they were talking. Without waiting for her to answer, Michael waved his hand over the radio system.
The phone was ringing over the radio.
"Hi this is Lou... Good afternoon Lou this is Marie from Roses, Tulips, and More. How are you?... uh I'm good. What can I do for you?... I'm actually calling because we are doing this wonderful promotion right now where we're offering a free dozen long stem red roses. They are absolutely free. The only thing we'd need is the name of the person you'd like to send them to as well as what you'd like to include on the card… Ohh, what's the catch?... There's no catch Lou, I'm just trying to promote my business and get the word around about my shop… And you said it was absolutely free?... Correct… Oh okay. And it's completely free?... Yes… Alright. Do you do out of state deliveries?... Of course! Is there a special someone you'd like to send these to?... Uh, yeah. Let's do these for Jamie… That's the girl right?... Yeah ha. Can you write on the card, I love you…"
Michael looked at Chloe and the both of them yelled at the radio. They had guessed it right. Lou was in fact a cheating husband. They didn't bother listening to the rest. They solved the case, it was enough for the both of them.
"That was fun. I can understand why you enjoy doing this."
"You do understand this is not what I do for a living, right?" she asked.
Michael shrugged his shoulders and let the radio station go back to its live feed. Chloe let it slide. She was sure Michael was only joking around.
Once Michael stopped broadcasting the rose interview the station went back to playing music. Chloe went ahead and lowered the volume back down. She wasn't one for radio music, she enjoyed her own playlists.
Frustrated nothing good was playing over the radio, Chloe turned to Michael and let him pick.
"Any song recommendations?" Chloe said with a smile. Michael turned his head and looked at her confused. "Have you never listened to music before?"
"I… no, I have… just no one has ever asked me to listen to music with them," he frowned. "I don't suppose you have something with cellos or anything classical?"
Chloe bit her lip to prevent herself from laughing. Michael was definitely different from Lucifer. She shook her head and offered up her phone.
"I sadly do not have those on my playlists, but you are more than welcome to go through my songs and pick something you'd like to hear. We clearly have time to spar."
Michael took the phone out of her hands and just stared at it. Chloe nearly kicked herself for not showing him what to do. She leaned over and tapped on the app that held her music.
"I have playlists… see," she pointed at the titles. "Feel free to pick from the collection and choose one randomly."
Michael nodded his head and looked at her most played playlist. He swiped his finger up until a song title caught his attention. From Eden… he smiled and clicked on the song. The gentle sounds of a guitar filled the car. Chloe smiled at Michael's song choice.
"I wouldn't have picked you for a Hozier fan."
"I have no idea who this Hozier human is, but he does have a lovely voice."
"He does…"
Michael closed his eyes and relaxed into the seat. Chloe looked over to Michael and found his eyes closed. He wasn't asleep. He was listening to the song. She could see his foot bopping to the music.
With Michael quiet and the song playing over the radio, Chloe let her mind wonder. A lot had happened today. She found it to be the right time to process all the information she'd received. And it was a lot. Twin brother. Guardian angel. God was watching her? It was a lot for her to process.
Chloe pushed it all aside once she fully got her head around it all. The playlist was halfway played. Thirty minutes had passed and Michael was still bopping his foot to the beat of the music.
As the car came to another stop from the traffic jam, Chloe let her eyes rake over Michael. His arms were over his chest, crossed. He looked like Lucifer, but she could see slight differences. First was the outfit. She wasn't even sure where he found the jeans and shirt. If it was from Lucifer's closet, she was sure it was deep in his closet. She'd only seen Lucifer in jean twice and that was rare. Second was his hair. There was no hair product, but if she squinted her eyes it was enough to fill that hole of missing Lucifer.
She shook her head and looked away from Michael. It wasn't Lucifer. He wasn't Lucifer.
She kept her eyes on the road and tried to remind herself that the man besides her wasn't her partner. She kept repeating it to herself until something clicked.
She never had to worry about Lucifer lying because he always prided himself on telling the truth. Michael on the other hand… he was different.
Chloe let the song play out for another two minutes before she lowered the volume down. As the music was no longer audible, Michael opened his eyes and voiced his complaint.
"I was listening to that," he whined.
"Sorry, but… you lied to me…"
"When did I lie?" he was confused as to how the conversation even came up.
"When we were eating… you said you were the strongest of all your siblings."
Michael was taken back by the conversation, he fixed his seating and kept quiet. Chloe watched as Michael fidgeted in his seat. He clenched his jaw and swallowed whatever spit he had in his mouth.
"Weak and cowardly… why did Amenadiel say that?"
Michael tensed up immediately and looked out the window. She had hit a nerve. She hadn't meant to, she just wanted to know why he lied to her.
"I'm sorry… I… you got rather emotional when Amenaidel brought it up at Linda's… I just wanted to know why you lied."
"No it's… it's fine. It's not entirely a lie, really. I'm sure I could flatten Amenadiel if I pleased… if not at least rival his strength."
"Then why did he mention it?" she pressed. Michael rang out his fingers, it was a nervous tick.
"Shame me perhaps…"
"I've never known Amenadiel to be like that… there has to be something else you're not telling me."
Michael turned to Chloe and scowled at her. The nerve of this human. Her features softened as Michael glared at her. He could see she was just curious… he sighed and eased off. She was a stranger to him, but he knew more about her than she knew about him. It was only right that he opened up to her.
He sighed, "it's a saying my siblings like to hold over my head…" Chloe didn't understand so he continued. "I guess a story time is in order… When I was younger… I… I didn't like to do things without Samael. Either of us did anything without the other," Michael ignored Chloe's face and looked out the window. It was better this way. "As we grew up, we kinda drifted apart. Sam wanted to learn more things… I wanted to… I don't know, stay ignorant, I suppose." Michael was having a hard time expressing his emotions. He took a deep breath and opened up more. "When Sam started questioning father, everyone turned to me so I could reason with him. I did the best I could... but you know my brother, he's keen on doing what he wants."
Chloe nodded her head in agreement, she knew how stubborn Lucifer could be.
"One thing led the other and pretty soon my father was asking for me to detain Sam…" Michael looked down at his lap as if trying to recall the memory. "Imagine dozens of your siblings watching you and your twin argue at each other, your father asking you to detain him. Your loyalty is to your father but…"
"Your loyalty is to Lucifer as well," Chloe added.
"Yes… you have everyone yelling at you to put your twin down. Sam looks at me broken and confused… I have to choose and I choose wrong... For a split second, I almost take off with Sam, but I can feel my father's eyes on me. So I knock Sam over the head with a rock. Everyone thinks I'm weak for not ending him there and then. My siblings start to whisper that I'm weak."
"But you were only thinking of Lucifer, you knocked him out… wasn't that enough? They couldn't possibly ask you to kill Lucifer over a failed rebellion?"
"I'm not sure they were calling for me to kill him… I don't know what they wanted actually, I just know knocking him out wasn't enough."
"What happened after that?" Chloe asked.
"I was supposed to take him to Hell… ensure I got him to the gates and tell him that our father wanted him to atone by ruling over Hell…"
"You didn't do that?"
"No… I tried hiding him, until I could plead his case. You see he didn't get a trial… which he should have received… I never got around to it…"
"What happened?"
"Amenadiel took actions into his own hands and cast Sam out. He marked me as a coward and weak from that day on. I gave up after that… set all duties aside and kept to myself. I was mocked by my family since then as a non-closer. "Never send Michael to finish a job" they would say. The family laughing stock is what I am…"
"Michael…" The car was stopped, they weren't going anywhere. The traffic was too bad. She put the car in park and grabbed his hand. He flinched a tad but let Chloe hold it. "I've heard how messed up your family is, and I'm sure Amenadiel feels like crap. I'm sorry your family treated you like that…"
"Oh…" his voice cracked, but no tears came out. "You're sweet to tell me, but their laughs are engraved in my mind. I know how messed up my family is… but I've also seen how time here on Earth has changed Sam and Amenadiel. They are not the same men anymore. I'm not the same man anymore... "
"Then why would you want to hide yourself in Hell? Lucifer didn't seem to like it very much when he was here…"
"Selfish reasons…" he replied. Chloe lifted her eyebrow to get him to say more. "To get away from the whispers. Although I elevated myself, I could still hear the remarks and whispers… it's more of a way to prove myself. I've found a new calling while I was watching over you."
The traffic was starting to move, so Chloe pulled herself out of park and put it into drive.
"What's that?" she asked.
"I too like punishing bad guys…"
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Time had flown by faster than they had thought. Michael spent half the afternoon with Dan instead of Chloe. After their little emotional car ride, he latched himself to Dan.
The man didn't mind, he seemed to like Michael more than Lucifer. The two seemed to bond over Dan's sudden lifestyle change. Michael resonated a lot with the meditation and even went as far as to ask Dan for tips.
"I am done for the night…" Chloe said walking up to her ex's desk. She stopped dead in her tracks when she noticed the two men bonding. "This is a weird sight to see."
Dan shot Chloe a smile and slapped Michael on the shoulder.
"I like Michael. I can't see why can't Lucifer be more like you?"
"Because Lucifer likes picking on you and you make it too easy for him." Chloe tapped Michael on the arm signaling it was time to go. "Ready to go?"
"Where are you guys heading off to?" Dan asked.
"Lux, Michael has to go over some things with Amenadiel…" Chloe clarified. Michael scrunched up his face and lifted his finger up at Chloe.
"I'm going to Lux, you are going home," he said.
"No I'm not… I message the girls and we're having a girls night at Lux." Michael let out a chuckle, he couldn't believe the words Chloe had just uttered. Dan was having a fun time watching the two stare at each other. He knew how stubborn Chloe was, so this was going to be interesting.
"Call it off, I don't have time to watch you and talk to my brother."
"You don't have to watch me, I have Maze." There was confidence behind Chloe's words but Michael just laughed.
"And that worked out so well last time the two of you had a night out." Chloe looked at Michael confused. Before her mind could register the night she got sexually assaulted, but started complaining. "No. Nope. Not tonight!" Michael tried ushering Chloe out of the bullpen but Ella came out dancing.
"I'm ready to let loose and get my freak on!"
"No no, girls night is cancelled," Michael commanded. Ella stopped dancing and showed the biggest frown upon her face.
"What! No! I just came back from my apartment and changed. I look goooood." The small lab tech said as she showed off her dress attire.
Michael gave Ella a quick look over and nodded his head. She did look nice tonight. No! That wasn't the point. The point was Chloe needed to go home so him and Amenadiel could talk. He wasn't prepared to pull double duties tonight. Dan slapped Michael on the shoulder.
"Let them have girls night. You have Linda and Maze keeping an eye on Chloe. Ella can be the look out. You said you were meeting with Amenadiel, right?" he asked, Michael nodded his head. "We'll have a guys night."
"And where will Trixie be tonight?" Chloe asked.
"Friend's house, she has a sleepover over at Kylie's house tonight."
"She didn't tell me this," Chloe crossed her arms over her chest. She was putting on her best mom personality. Ella and Michael moved out of the way and gave Dan and Chloe the room.
"So… how long are you in L.A for?" Ella asked Michael.
"Uh… not entirely sure just yet. Kinda here for family reasons."
"Cool cool…" The two were trying hard not to listen to Chloe and Dan argue with one another. "I… never knew Lucifer was a twin. Do the two of you not talk a lot?"
"Uh…" he scratched at the back of his head, another nervous tick. "No we don't. Kinda stopped talking when our father kicked him out…"
Ella let out a chuckle. With Lucifer's name being associated with the Devil and his twin brother being named Michael, she couldn't help but laugh. Ella knocked a fist against Michael's arm.
"Right, right," she shot him a wink, "Kicked out of Heaven. Is Michael really your name or do you pretend for Lucifer's sake?"
He shook his head confused, "No it's really my name."
Ella winked at him again.
"I… I'm not even going to bother." Michael left Ella and broke Chloe and Dan apart.
"The child is having the time of her life with friends. Which I think she deserves. You can have your girls night," he said to Chloe, "and I guess you can join Amenadiel and I. All I ask is that my brother and I have our conversation privately when the time comes."
"I'm fine with that, are you?" Dan asked Chloe.
"Yeah," she said annoyed.
"Yes! Girls night!" Ella jumped into the circle.
"I hate you," Michael whispered over to Chloe. She smirked up at Michael. She won.
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The club was busting. People were dancing left and right. There were women dancing on top of tables. Men and women were giving into sin. It was like Lucifer never left.
The group had managed to get inside fairly quick. One look at Chloe and Michael and the bouncer waved them into the club.
The first thing Dan and Ella did when they got inside was rush over to the bar to accompany Linda and Maze. There was a line of shots ready for the group to enjoy. Chloe pulled Michael's hand over so they could accompany the group. With a distasteful look, Michael followed Chloe's lead and joined the rowdy group.
"One shot, please," Chloe begged. The shot was already in her hands ready to offer it to Michael. The angel looked from the glass to her face. He wasn't in the mood to drink.
There was a hand on his shoulder that drew his attention from Chloe. He turned his head and found the small forensic scientist smiling up at him. She went ahead and plucked the shot glass from Chloe's hand and tried offering it to Michael.
"Come on Mikey, it's ladies night out." She placed the shot glass in his hand and held up her glass ready for Michael to have a shot with them.
"It's Michael…"
"I'll keep calling you Mikey if you don't take the shot," she threatened.
Michael looked from Ella to Chloe. The Detective shrugged her shoulders at him. There was no way she was going to help him, he was on his own. His eyes fell on the shot glass once more. With a sigh he plucked it from Ella's fingers.
"Fine… one shot and I'm…"
"Cheers!" everyone screamed out.
With everyone already lifting their glasses to their lips, Michael followed their example. His face turned sour as the alcohol went down his throat.
Everyone placed their shot glasses on the table and made their way over to the dance floor, leaving Michael and Chloe by themselves.
"I'm sorry I hijacked your meeting with Amenadiel…" she said.
Michael prevented himself from rolling his eyes. "No you're not. You forget I know you're patterns by now. You did this on purpose."
Chloe shrugged, "It was at least worth an apology." She turned and tapped him on the chest. "I think after you finish up your little discussion with Amenadiel you should come back down and have some fun with us. I think it'd be good for you."
Michael made a face, he wasn't much for a crowd. Especially a crowd of this caliber with drunk humans.
"Oh come on! You said you wanted to get out and enjoy the time here as much as you could. What better way than to dance with us and have a few drinks."
"I'll think about it…" he muttered. Chloe responded with a head nod and left him to his smoldering. It was a nice night to let loose, she wasn't going to let the angel's smoldering get the best of the night. So she left him and joined the group out on the dance floor.
Michael watched the group have fun amongst themselves for a good ten minutes before he felt a presence move over to the side of him.
"Still an observer I see."
"You'd be surprised at how much trouble she gets herself into when I'm not around."
Amenadiel nudged him in the direction of the stairs.
"Charlie is upstairs… I'm sure Maze has it covered for the meantime. Come, we have to talk."
Michael nodded his head. He made eye contact with Maze from across the room leaving a silent message to watch out for Chloe. When the demon nodded her head, Michael backed away from the table and followed Amenadiel up the stairs.
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So it seemed like Michael's plan had developed a hiccup. Things were shaping up to be more difficult than he thought. What was a straightforward plan of switching hands, was now turning out to be a shitshow in the works. Not only was it looking like he'd have to go down to Hell by himself and talk to Lucifer, but he'd have to help fight a battle he knew Lucifer wouldn't want him being a part of.
This was going to be harder than he thought.
Once Amenadiel finished filling Michael in with everything he discovered, Michael stepped out. He had heard enough. He made his way over to the elevator and back into the club. He needed time to think. He needed something to drink.
Michael sat at one of the booths on the side of the dancefloor with a glass of water in his hands. His left hand massaging his forehead. The headache was there yet, but he could feel like coming.
He wasn't sure how long he'd been alone, but when he felt the leather seat dip, he knew he wanted it to stay that way. Michael placed his hand down and looked over in the direction of his visitor. He was surprised to find Ella. He looked at her confused as she had a bright smile on his face.
"You okay?" she asked.
"Yeah…" he let his eyes fall down to his glass.
"You know I'm really good at reading people and that," she tapped the table, "is a horrible cover at reassuring me that you're okay. What's up?"
He pulled his eyes from the glass and looked up at Ella. She had a sincere look on her face just waiting for Michael to let anything off his chest. He pulled his eyes away and looked over at Chloe dancing with Maze. The Detective was drunk already having the time of her life with the demon and ex husband. He shook his head.
"I have a lot of things circling my head right now and it's just…" he sighed, "exhausting."
"I'm all ears… you know if you need someone to vent to."
Michael corrected his seating and looked at Ella. He knew she was a good person. He'd been around Chloe enough to know that the woman in front of him was generally trying to lend an ear to him. The thing that surprised him was the fact she was willing to listen. Nobody liked being around him. Let alone want to be around him.
"Take your time," she added.
"I'm fine really."
"As if. Come on, I'm a really good listener." She tried staring him down, but Michael wouldn't budge.
"It's kinda a family affair… I'm sure Chloe would want to know first before I go telling you. No offense."
"No, totally understand."
"Thanks for the offer though… your thoughtfulness is appreciated." Michael flashed her a smile.
"A bro of Lucifer, is a bro of mine."
"Uh.. thanks?"
"Can I suggest something? Seeing as you're putting on a smile for me."
"I'm not… fine. What do you suggest?"
Ella slid off the booth. She fixed her skirt and held out her hand for Michael to take.
"That you let loose and have some fun. Whatever is on your mind can be forgotten for just the night." Michael looked at her hand and then up to her face.
"What do you want me to do with that?" He directed down to her hand.
"Take me out to the dance floor for a dance, silly." She swayed her body side to side trying to convince him.
"I have no choice, do I?"
"Nope!"
"Alright…" He sighed. He took her hand and in one swoop Ella pulled him onto the dance floor.
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As Michael and Ella walked onto the dance floor, Chloe and Maze cheered on the duo. Their drunk comentation was not appreciated.
Michael didn't know how to dance. He wasn't a dancer. He wasn't even sure what to do. So he just stood there in front of Ella, spinning her around like a dreidel top. She didn't seem to mind, she had fun nonetheless.
The music blasted around them, encouraging Ella to sway Michael back and forth to the beat.
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"Tell all of your friends that I'm crazy and drive you mad
That I'm such a stalker, a watcher, a psychopath"
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Ella moved to the beat and acted out the song. Michael had no other choice but to watch in fascination. He was intrigued by the small human in front of him. She was doing everything in her power to make him laugh and it was working. He finally loosened up and followed her lead. His arms swayed stifly with Ella's and moved with the beat.
"Then tell them you hate me and dated me just for laughs," she sang to Michael, "so why do you call me and tell me you want me back, you maniac!"
He looked down at her perplexed. Her singing caught his attention. Ella grabbed his hands and began swinging them around with the music.
Michael let the smile on his face spread wider. He let his guard down. He gave in and let Ella bring out the fun side of him. He spun her around and let his fancy foot work finally show. From a distance, he listened to the group of women cheer Ella for getting Michael to have some fun.
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After a few rounds of songs and hip shakes, Michael and Dan excused themselves over to the bar. Perks of looking like his brother, the bartender handed the two men "their" usuals. Michael took his glass in hand and clinked it against Dan's beer.
"You and Ella seemed to be getting along," he nudged Michael on the shoulder. Michael hid his face behind his glass, Dan let out a chuckle, "I'm playing with you, man. You need to blow off some steam and have fun. You're tense. I can feel your negativity seeping off of you."
"Apologise… I'm a little off my game. Amenadiel didn't have any helpful news for me and I'm not present."
"Family drama?"
"You could say that." Michael took a sip from his glass.
"I could overhear you and Amenadiel talking…" Michael shot Dan a look, he lifted his hand in surrender. "I didn't hear much… just that Lucifer didn't want to come back."
"Oh he's coming back…"
"As he should…" he let out a sigh and put his bottle down. "Listen, Lucifer tends to run away when things get real between him and Chloe… whatever he's doing for your father is another way of him avoiding facing his feelings. As much as I despise the guy… he and Chloe… I don't know… they get each other. Without him here, she's lost."
Dan looked over to the dance floor and observed at how happy Chloe is with the other women. He noticed how much she'd look over in Michael's direction the whole night. He knew it was out of security to have a Lucifer look alike next to her. Not because she liked him. No one could replace Lucifer. He could see that. One day with Michael around was enough to straighten her out. Dan tapped his beer against Michael's chest.
"Thank you for talking to her and getting her back to the precinct. Lieutenant Jones is a real piece of work…"
"Oh… it was nothing." He brushed it off, "has she talked to you?" Michael asked. Dan nodded his head. He lowered the bottle from his lips after he finished it.
"Thanks for that as well…" he turned so he could face Michael. "You know you're actually a pretty cool guy."
Michael let a smile grace his face, "thank you Daniel. You're not too bad yourself." He held his glass out so Dan could tap his bottle against his.