Chapter 4:
They park in front of a very high-class store. Chloe said, "Why here? Why not target that was ten minutes from the scene?"
"Don't be absurd, detective. I'm not going to make her wear bargain clothes on top of everything else that happened to her." Lucifer responded., "That would be a real crime."
Chloe rolls her eyes on that remark, "Lucifer, we need a whole new wardrobe." She countered back.
"I'm aware of that detective." Not seeing or not caring at what his girlfriend was getting at, "You know I don't care about money, love. She is under my care, so she needs to be dressed accordingly. She is a queen after all, it's only fitting."
That's when they hear Susan say, "A disgraced one. I don't deserve expensive clothes."
"No one deserves to be dressed poorly, no matter what they have done. That's a punishment that's just too severe in this case." Lucifer replied at what Susan had said, "one you certainly don't deserve. Maybe Daniel, but not you"
At this comment, Chloe rolled her eyes, "Leave Dan out of this Lucifer. Why do you hate him so much?" Chloe asked, a little irritated.
"In case you forget, he did shoot me, detective," Lucifer growled back.
"Yes, Lucifer, I know, but my reaction wasn't good either, and you forgave me." Chloe countered back.
"I actually enjoy your company. Besides, I stopped calling him Douche, and I even wore that bloody bracelet he made, what more do you want?" Lucifer was still irritated and angry at Dan.
"For you and him to be in the same room again. He is still the father of my daughter, Lucifer." Chloe said in an angry voice.
"Alright detective, I will try harder with your ex-husband." Lucifer was seriously agitated now.
"Babe, you don't have to be mad for it. I mean he will always be in Trixie's life no matter what." I don't ask you to have a drink together, I just want the both of you to be civil with each other when Trixie is in the room." Chloe tried to explain.
" Alright, for you and your offspring I will try, you have my word." and smiled at the love of his life, "Maybe a drink is in order, he might be more palpable that way."
"Lucifer Morningstar, are you going to get him drunk?" Chloe asked with a grin.
"Maybe, you say that like it's a bad thing, detective," Lucifer said with a rye grin. As he holds open the door to the store. "After you ladies."
Chloe smiled at him while she walked inside, followed by Susan, who wasn't smiling at all. She just let everything happen.
There was so much sorrow, depression, and guilt rolling off her, it was almost tangible to him.
He wasn't sure how to crack through all of that to get to her. He hoped that the help his brother had hinted at finds them quickly. He wasn't sure he could reach her on his own, even with the detective's help. For the first time, the devil felt helpless in helping an innocent human with her guilt. A pang of guilt that seemed to be deeper than any soul he came across.
"It will be okay Susan. My brother wouldn't have sent you to me if there wasn't still hope for you to be salvaged, even if sending you to me was a desperate move." Lucifer said.
"I am the one punishing the guilty ones, so I am probably the only one that can help right now. So you are under the protection of the devil."
She looked at him with a strange look. , and he said, "I know how strange that must sound to you after spending time with my brother. So trust me when I say that you have done nothing deserving of punishment yet."
She shrugged at that.
"Surely they couldn't make it this easy." Lucifer groaned, whispering to no one in particular. As he saw that she was most likely placating him for the moment.
"Good morning, Mr. Morningstar. How can I help you today?" A nice man with a French accent asked when he saw his favorite customer walking in.
"Hello Philip, this young woman here needs a whole new wardrobe. We are looking for classy, elegant, nothing trashy. We want her to be comfortable in what she is going to be wearing." Lucifer smiled.
"Of course, Mr. Morningstar. Let's take her measurements and let's see what ideas I can come up with. What do you like, young lady?" Phillip asked.
"Modest when possible, nothing too confining. I believe the word is vintage style, from the period of the 1940s, and something with fairytale elements, like the Renaissance and medieval period. Nothing too short." Susan said.
"Isn't it better that it would be more modern yet modest?" Chloe asked, "It's easier to blend in that way."
"Whatever then. He asked what I liked and I answered him." Susan's tone was flat and very defeated.
Lucifer sighed, "Phillip, can you do what she likes, but with a more modern twist?"
"I can give it a try, it will be a challenge, but I enjoy a challenge," Phillip said. For his best customer, he would do a bit more than usual.
"Thank you, Phillip. I know you will pull it off. You see, we found her this way, and she sort of always lived the way they lived in the '40s. We want to help her, but we can't shock her too much with the kind of clothes humans wear nowadays." Lucifer explained.
Phillip nodded, he wanted to keep this customer happy. He made enough money from Lucifer alone to make his year, pay his people, and live a luxurious life with his husband, "Understandable, needing to walk the line. I get it." He headed off to do just that.
It took Phillip only a small amount of time to take the measurements and write down the order, "I suppose all skirts? Or a few pants?"
"A few pants will be needed. Maybe one or two pairs of jeans, since most wear them nowadays, but a few dresses would be nice." Lucifer answered. He would soon need to explain to Susan how to live in this time.
Phillip says, "of course, I'll go pull out some pieces. So we can see what will work."
Lucifer looks at Susan, "I have to explain that life is a bit different now than it was in your time.""
"I think we could do that at Lux, babe." Chloe placed her hand on his arm, "That might be too big a conversation for the moment." She said while looking at her boyfriend.
"You are right, love. That conversation is best held in the penthouse." Lucifer whispered, "The conversation will be too strange for human ears."
"Exactly," Chloe responded.
"What do you want to do after this?" Lucifer asked.
"We can take her to the penthouse to talk to her. Then I have a case to work on unless you have forgotten." Chloe replied to her boyfriend.
"She needs some temporary clothes, love, and some underwear," Lucifer said. "Maybe you can take her to do that while Phillip is pulling clothes."
"Good point," Chloe said. She didn't know what else she could answer him, he was the expert he had known how women of that period thought about everything.
"That's going to go over well," remarked Chloe. She looked at Susan, who was staring into the store as if she was lost in thought, not paying attention to anything. Seeing the girl so lost was painful, " Chloe sighed, "Babe, I understand about the undergarment, but can't you help us with the clothes?" I mean you have been there at that time. I don't believe I am saying this, but you are better to handle that sort of thing." Chloe said, a bit worried.
He smiled a little at hearing her admit that, "as you wish, detective."
Chloe led Susan into the store towards the clothing department. The other woman looked shocked at the sort of clothing. What it meant to wear modern things. Things she hadn't seen before, but the length and lack of things surprised her most as they moved towards the undergarment section.
"We need to get you some undergarments, bras, and underwear." Chloe tried to get a response from her, "My daughter is not old enough to take her bra shopping yet, but I should still be able to help." She really did her best to make a conversation with Susan.
Susan was way too shocked to listen to what Chloe was saying. She just looked around at all the garments, "things really have changed."
"Yes, and this is still modest." Chloe responds, "There are even smaller things to wear, bras have changed a lot since your time, but they are still worn under clothes. They are more comfortable now. I'm sure you might want to try some on."
"I guess I don't have a choice now, do I?" Susan sighed defeated.
Chloe shook her head, "Not in this, you want it to fit right. Do you know what size you normally wear, we can start from there and adjust where needed?"
Susan tells Chloe, and she grabs a few that would be comfortable, and brings them to Susan to try it on. She took the most modest models she could find, maybe even grabbed a few bralettes that were more sporty and easier to wear without clasps and mostly elastic.
Chloe helped her with a few of the bras not knowing how to wear them.
After about 30 minutes, they found about a dozen that worked well and were comfortable for Susan to wear.
"Okay, I think we have enough." Chloe said to Susan, "Now let's see if we can buy some comfortable clothes to wear until Phillip is done with yours."
"For now it's easier to blend in," Chloe explained.
Outside of the undergarments, they found a pair of black high-rise jeans and a black t-shirt with a black cardigan. Upon wearing that, Chloe was surprised how well Susan did blend in and what a beauty she was. She got some socks as well, but Susan refused to part with her shoes.
Chloe told them to put them on Lucifer's account, before they headed back over to where Lucifer was. Susan wearing the new clothes and holding the bag with the undergarments and her old clothes.
When they got back to Lucifer, he noticed that dressed in more modern clothes instead of blending in, she stood out more, as a beautiful woman, even if she was still dressed all in black, at least this was a start.
"Well, this is a lovely surprise." Lucifer smiled
Susan thanked Lucifer, but still seemed rather disinterested in much around her.
"Phillip will have everything ready in a few days. He was going to give it his priority after the nice tip I gave him." Lucifer said, "So we can go to the penthouse and have that conversation before we continue to our case, detective."
"Alright, Lucifer, but you will have to help me explain everything to her," Chloe whispered.
"Of course, detective." Lucifer said to her before he turned to Susan, "come along, Miss Pevensie."
She turns and nods. He can feel just how lost she is, and it made him groan all the more. It felt like every moment for her was her own personal loop.
What was he to do for someone who saw just being alive as such a crime punishable by such crushing guilt?
Once in the car, Chloe turned to Lucifer, "You know, she's going to need more than just clothes, at the moment she has no record, no ID, she's a ghost in the system."
"Don't worry about that, love. I know just the guy to go to. He doesn't ask questions. He gave me my papers after all." Lucifer answered, "I will make her as legit as anyone else."
"I am sure you can. You, my dearest devil, are incredible." Chloe grinned, "I will close my eyes for it this time."
"Why thank you, detective, the only thing we are going to have to worry about is Daniel, he is not going to let go of the fact that she is not part of the case, or digging around about her is he?" Lucifer said to his girlfriend, "We still need to figure out how to explain Susan to him and Miss Lopez. Even though I'm guessing Miss Lopez should be far more accepting and less likely to question."
"Still, Dan will want to figure it out, so what do we tell them?" Chloe sighed
"I don't know, detective, somehow my half brother sent a young woman forward in time and right into his crime scene doesn't naturally roll off the tongue. I say the less we tell him, the better. I doubt he'll connect her to a 70-year-old missing person case from another country." Lucifer answered.
"Don't underestimate him, Lucifer." Chloe warned her boyfriend, "I know you are right, I mean we can't tell him who your half-brother is either without showing him certain sides of yourself." Chloe sighed again, "but something going to come up."
"Well, like you said, she is not in the system. She is from before the system in a way, so he's going to get a lot of dead ends." Lucifer said before something dawned on him, "We could at least say she is a descendant of Miss Pevensie if by a miracle he finds something. The only thing we now need is to make sure that she doesn't become a suspect."
"I'll just tell them the truth, I was walking down the street, and the next thing I knew, things went dark and I woke up there." Susan suddenly said.
"I am afraid, even though it's the truth, he won't believe you, and it will make you a murder suspect." Chloe tried to explain.
"I've dealt with worse, I once had to escape from a hostile country with my convoy to avoid a forced marriage. While pretending, I was still interested in such a cruel man, if we managed that, I can manage this." Susan said while she looked at them with a steely gaze.
"I like your spirit, Miss Pevensie." Lucifer suddenly said, she smiled a little, and the change it made on her face was incredible.
"You should smile more, Miss Pevensie. It looks good on you." Lucifer used his charm to make her feel better.
"Thank you, but there hasn't been much to smile about in a long time." Susan sighed.
"That sounds like a story worth hearing about if you would care to tell it." Chloe smiled at Susan.
"I don't mind, turns out the memories I've pushed away for so long are the only things I have left of them." Susan started before launching into the story of her and Lucy and Mr. Tumnus, and a few others in a small convoy to Calamar, the desert kingdom.
"The hope was maybe if an alliance could be struck through marriage. My family was not going to force me into anything, so we had visited them to see if I liked it there and if it was suitable. What I saw in my time there, showed me that I did not want to be their queen or Rabadash's wife. We had to be cunning, scheme, plot, and plan a way to sneak away, because if we tried to just leave we would go from guests to prisoners in a heartbeat. So I had to play the still interested woman to a possible suitor. The plan went off without a hitch, and we managed to get away by the sea, but they followed us over land, and my brother and some of the army marched off to meet them before they got into our kingdom. There was a battle, it was brief, but we won. After several warnings from Aslan himself, Rabadash still ranted about being done wrong, and threatening vengeance against not just those involved but on the country and Aslan himself. Not being able to accept he had been defeated. So Aslan changed him into a donkey. Then told him that to be human again, he had to present himself at the altar of Tash in Tashbaan during the Autumn Feast. After his transformation, he was not to go more than ten miles from the temple at Tashbaan or the donkey's form would come upon him and from that transformation there would be no return." Again, as she spoke of those memories, she took on a regal air to her. You could see that she had once been a queen.
Chloe and Lucifer were speechless at such a fantastical tale. Lucifer laughed at Aslan's trick though. A side of his brother he didn't know, "I didn't know he had it in him."
"It was said he was quite a changed man. He was the most peaceful ruler in his country, mostly because he couldn't go out to lead his armies in battle, but also for the fear of the donkey form overtaking him again." Susan continued her story.
Lucifer huffed, "Aslan and his magical tricks."
"Well, he did warn him several times before he did so. Rabadash brought it on himself." Susan said without any sympathy for what had happened.
"That is something," Chloe responded to the story, not knowing what to say.
Susan stopped talking with shock when she saw where the car stopped, "Do you live here?" as she saw the huge building.
"Yes, we just have to pull into the garage over there," Lucifer said while pointing to the right turn they were waiting to make.
She was shocked at just how big the building was.
"Come on, let's go to the penthouse, so we can talk properly," Lucifer said with a charming smile, as they pulled into the underground parking garage and parked the car. They walked into the building and into the club where again Susan was left speechless.
"I am staying above a nightclub?" She asked stunned.
"Yes, you are quite fortunate." Lucifer smiled, "Welcome to my club, Lux."
"Wow!" was the only thing Susan could say while looking around at all the sparkle and shine of all the gilded decor.
"Come on, wait until you see the penthouse." Chloe smiled.
Susan let Chloe guide her to the elevator that would take them to the penthouse.
TBC