myLFF - Ella finds out – option A
Ella finds out what Lucifer and Maze really are. Vaguely positioned somewhere after 5x06, not yet knowing what will come after 5x08. (I plan to come up with different/unrelated stories how Ella might find out.)
A blue sky and an already burning sun were foretelling a hot August Tuesday. Hot, even for LA standards. Traffic moved slowly through the streets and Ella Lopez' car was part of that traffic. Ella turned left from 2nd street onto Main. The reflection of the sun on the red car in front of her blinded her for a second. Ella blinked her eye's, then moved to the leftmost lane to enter the parking garage of the LAPD. The car before her had made the same choice and entered the garage just before her. No free spaces on the ground floor. She followed the red car to the next floor. The driver ahead of her waved his hand. Or her hand. Ella could not see who was driving that car, but she waved back. Again no empty spots and they drove together to the succeeding floor. Multiple free spots. The car in front of her chose the first on the left and Ella took the first right.
"Hi, Ella." The heavy emphasis on the last vowel made immediate clear who had been driving the other car.
"Morning, Maze. So it was you in front of me." Maze was dressed as Maze: a top that hardly covered anything, tight leather pants and over-the-knee boots. No doubt a few knives were hidden somewhere, most likely in the boots. Ella threw her backpack on one shoulder and the two woman started to walk in the direction of the LAPD entrance.
"Almost half past ten. You're late today," Maze said.
"I had to visit the dentist."
"Ah, nice." Maze rolled her eye's. "Did he knock some teeth out of your mouth? A lot of blood?"
Ella smiled, but before she could answer a man appeared from behind a parked pick-up truck. A guy with a rifle. He raised the weapon while yelling: "I blame you, Lopez."
The same moment that Ella saw the gun pointed at here, she felt a hard hit against her shoulder that pushed her aside. The next moment she heard the shot echoing through the garage while she was laying with Maze between two parked cars.
"Stay here and stay low," hissed Maze. "I'm going to have some fun." Maze disappeared. Ella heard quick footsteps between the cars, a gunshot, more footsteps and a next shot. She heard Maze laughing and saying: "You're shooting where I was, clumsy. Not where I am." Again footsteps and a third shot. "I haven't even been there, stupid," Maze mocked.
"Confront me, bitch," the man shouted. "I want to witness the fear on your face when I shoot you."
A second everything was silent. "You want to see fear on my face?" Maze asked. She sounded surprised. "Really? Ok, if that makes you happy." Again a short moment of silence. Then Ella heard the man screaming. She raised up to look around the car she was hiding behind. Maze was standing in front of the guy with a knife ready to throw. He had dropped the gun and continued screaming while making steps backwards. He turned to run away… That is: he began to run. A car came down from the floor above. The man stumbled in front of the car. Ella couldn't see what happened with the attacker, but his screams died down.
"You can come, Ella," Maze said. "It's safe now."
Chloe Decker sighed and opened the next form that she had to fill in. It would be useful if Lucifer would come back to offer some more assistance. He had helped her for maybe forty minutes but as often – when the perspective was only paperwork – he had found an excuse to walk away from her desk. Suddenly voices were sounding loud through the stairwell; she though to hear the word garage but couldn't make up more from the fuss. The siren of an ambulance came and stopped close by, maybe even in front of the precinct.
"Detective."
She looked up and saw Lucifer coming her way. He smiled at her and fell in the chair next to her. "Any doubt on Bill and Norman Hedrick being our killers?"
She frowned and thought it over for a moment. "No. Why? Bill is arrested and has confessed and Ella's forensic has proved beyond all doubt the brothers are our culprits."
"Good." His smile became even bigger. "Then you can close the case."
"Well, you forget that Norman is still on the run."
He gestured over his shoulder to the stairwell. "You heard the siren? Our Norman just had a dispute with a car and he lost."
"What happened?"
"I don't have all the details yet. I came here to tell you as soon as I found out Norman Hedrick is dead. One way or another the guy entered the parking garage with a gun. They think he was after Ella…"
Chloe grabbed him arm. "Ella? What…"
"Ella is ok. Maze was with her." Lucifer chuckled. "It is seems Maze was more than poor Norman could handle. That's all I know. We will hear the whole story when either Ella or Maze appears."
It was Ella who came in first. "Chloe, did you hear?" Before Chloe had finished her answer, Ella dragged both Chloe and Lucifer to the lab and opened her laptop. "Let me tell you everything, but while I do, I also want to see the recording of a security camera. I didn't see much of all the activity myself."
"You know the passwords for the security camera's in this building?" Lucifer asked.
Ella nodded. "I'm not supposed to, of course. But I do. This one has full view…" Her story started with her greeting Maze. She pointed at the events on the screen while explaining. "… and this is when Maze asked whether he wanted to see her face." Ella leaned over to the computer screen; it showed Maze with her back to the camera and Norman Hedrick in front of her, facing the camera. There was no sound with the recording, but they saw the attacker screaming, recoiling in terror, dropping the gun and turning to run. The car appeared. The man stumbled and drop on the floor just in front of the car. Ella gestured. "See? The driver tried to stop but one wheel just ended up on his chest. Maze said he would have died anyway: if the car hadn't done it, her knife would have finished him."
Ella scrolled back through the recording and halted were Maze openly confronted the attacker. She studied the scene. "Why is that man so scared?"
"Why not?" Lucifer answered. "Maze with a knife is frightening."
"But that much? Even with his gun pointing at Maze, the guy completely freaked out." She bent towards the screen to look for a clue and then turned to Lucifer. "Why didn't he simply pull the trigger?"
Lucifer coughed and cast a look filled with uncertainty at Chloe.
"Norman could have told us, but he is dead," Chloe said. "Maze saved your life again, Ella."
Ella leaned back and nodded. For the second time Maze had saved her. First when her brother Jay made that mistake with those stolen diamonds and now again.
"Lucky for you she was there," Lucifer said.
Ella shook her head. "No luck. I think the Big Guy sent her to save me." She noticed Lucifer and Chloe exchanging thoughtful glances. "I know you don't believe in the existence of God and the Devil, but I do. Or do again I should say."
Lucifer raised his eyebrows. "Why would I not believe in the existence dad and myself?"
Ella laughed and patted his arm. "You're an incredible method actor, never forget to stay in character. But there are two options: either you believe and then you wouldn't dare to play this role so seriously and so long. Or you don't believe, Lucifer, and only then you will not mind playing this act."
"You are overlooking a third option, miss Lopez," Lucifer answered. "And that is I rea…"
Chloe grabbed his shoulder and interrupted him. "Good reasoning, Ella. I wonder how Maze would react if she realizes God sent her."
"It's even possible she is an angel in secret. That the Bug Guy has sent her as my guardian angel," Ella mused. "But if he has, Maze will deny it when I ask her."
"Angel? Even a guardian angel?" While Lucifer started to chuckle, Chloe gave Ella a big huge.
It was four o'clock in the night when Ella woke up. Why had that Norman Hedrick been so scared? She kept tossing and turning in bed for an hour, thinking that question over and over before she realized there were more security cams that might show the attack from a different point of view. She got up and went for the LAPD headquarter.
Chloe dropped her bag at her desk and decided she needs a coffee first before turning on her computer. She noticed Ella sitting in the lab, motionless behind her laptop with her face hidden in her hands. A few minutes later she came back with her drink and saw Ella hadn't moved. After a brief hesitation she went to the lab to found Ella softly sobbing and trembling. "Ella?"
Ella dropped her hands, looked at her with wide eyes and whispered: "Scared."
"What is wrong?"
Ella half stood up, looked around and asked almost in panic: "Is Maze here?"
"Maze? Normally I would have no idea where she is, but Trixie is on vacation this week and by coincidence she is with Aunt Maze today."
Ella closed the laptop with force and stammered: "Alone with Maze. O my god." She hide her face behind her hands again. "And Lucifer? Is he in the building?"
Chloe sat down next to Ella and laid here arm around Ella's shoulder. She didn't yet know exactly what Ella had found out, but given the two persons Ella asked for Chloe could make an educated guess. Telling that Lucifer was downstairs, telling that officer Wyndham had stopped him to ask advise on buying a piano Wyndham had found on eBay, wouldn't help Ella. So instead of answering the question she whispered: "Try to calm down, girl. You're safe. Just trust me." Ella didn't react. Chloe reached for her phone and called Lucifer. "Hi. You know Ella's favorite coffee?"
"Of course. Caramel triple frap, double whipped cream and rainbow sprinkles."
"Get one immediately…"
"Chloe, who are you talking too?" Ella suddenly interrupted her. "No.."
"Relax, Ella. Everything will be fine. And bring it to the lab, Lucifer." She ended the call.
Ella tried to get up, but Chloe held her down.
"We have to flee before he comes in. Flee as far..."
"Believe me, Ella. Fleeing away is the worst thing to do. I know. Nightmares will come when you are alone and far away from anyone you know and make your fears ten times bigger. Listen." Gentle she shook Ella back and forth. "Remember you once said you would run and jump when I asked you? I now ask you to trust me."
Ella tried to control herself. "You don't know what I found, Chloe."
"Well, let me see."
Ella opened her laptop. "I found another security cam that saw her. From the side." On the screen was the stopped recording. She had zoomed in on Maze from the left. The screen showed a black scull, shreds of burned flesh with some pale muscles and tendons and a white fiercy eye without eyelids. "So scared," she whispered.
Next to her Chloe studied the picture. "Yes, scary."
Something in her voice let Ella look at her. Chloe smiled softly. Her tone of her voice was not scared at all. She was interested, but not afraid.
"She is a demon," Ella wailed. "A real demon."
She felt how Chloe embraced her. "Maze saved your life. Twice already. Think of that. She likes you."
"You did know it already, didn't you?"
"Yes. And I trust Maze and I like her."
Ella relaxed a bit. "You let her be with Trixie. Alone."
"Yes. One tribe, remember? Think of our bar fight."
Ella took a deep breath. Chloe kissed her hair. "Please trust her and trust me."
"Last week when she came in, she greeted you with hello, human and you answered with hello, demon. You both smiled and I thought it was a joke, something you said for fun."
"Maze and I say it sometimes," Chloe admitted. "And we both think it's amusing."
"But it was not a joke."
"It is the truth and it is also our small joke."
The door of the lab opened and Lucifer came in with a mug that he placed on the table in front of Ella. "Take a zip. What's the matter?"
He grabbed a chair to sit down on Ella's other site, but before he could do so, Ella shifted away from him towards Chloe and hid her face against Chloe's shoulder.
"Ella found a camera that showed Maze' demon face."
"Ah. I see."
"Is Lucifer...?" Ella didn't finished the question she whispered in Chloe's ear. Her face still turned away from Lucifer, her eyes closed.
"Yes, he is. Again, don't panic. I panicked when I found out and that didn't help. Forget all stories you ever heard. Only think of your own experiences with Lucifer. Just remember every time he brought you your caramel triple frap. All his humorous comments on the crime scenes that made you smile."
Hesitantly she turned her head to look at Lucifer.
"Your trip together to Los Vegas," Cloe continued softly. Lucifer's hand reached out for Ella. "Even now you know the truth, he is still the same Lucifer." Ella laid her trembling hand in his hand.
"And best of all," Chloe added with a small laught. "Recall you made him go to church to confess."
He had done that, Ella mused. Just for her. She took a deep breath, asked the Big Guy silently to help her do the right thing and then hugged Lucifer. "Who do know what Lucifer and Maze really are?"
"Linda, myself and Dan."
"Linda? Wait. If Lucifer… then Amenadiel…"
"Yes. He is an angel indeed."
"Maze should be more careful," Lucifer said after seeing the recording of the other cam. "Very careless of her to show her demon face. How could she do that?"
Ella saw Chloe turn to Lucifer and use one finger to gently turn his head so they looked each other in the eyes. "Careless of her?"
"Yes." His voice was a bit unsure. Then he bent to Ella and whispered. "What did I say wrong? I know if Chloe looks that way, she wants to make something clear to me."
Although she had accepted what Chloe had said, Ella was still a bit nervous and she had no idea whet Lucifer meant. She looked for help at Chloe.
Chloe smiled. "Neither Linda, nor me, nor Dan did ever see Maze' face."
Ella let that sink in, then finally relaxed and hugged Lucifer again. "Chloe is right. You're still the same guy."
"Of course I am. What do you mean by that, Ella?" he asked.
Thursday afternoon Ella was studying some case evidence under the microscope when someone knocked on the doorframe. The door was open, but most visitors still knocked before entering. She looked up. Her heart skipped a beat when she recognized Maze. She hesitated, not sure what to do, but Maze came to her, her arms stretched to embrace her. "Hi, Ella."
"Hi, Maze," she whispered in Maze's arms.
"I'm sorry. I didn't want to frighten you."
"I know, Maze."
"I really am not your guardian angel," Maze chuckled. "But when you want, I'm available as your guardian demon"