AN: Hey :) Soo season 5b was crazy and this is just one of my attempts to deal with it all. To be honest, I really missed a scene where Lucifer and Trixie make up, so here it is. There is a slight canon divergence at the end, but otherwise it fits into the plot. I hope you'll like it.
It was quite late - at least for an eleven year old - when Lucifer returned to his penthouse. He sighed exparasted and poured himself a glass of his favorite whiskey only to down it in one go. The alcohol spread through his body like wildfire, warming him from the inside out, but thanks to his supernatural metabolism that was about the only thing the goldish liquor could make him feel.
But even so, his head was still swirling from everything that had happened in the past few hours. His father misplacing his own damn powers and acting like an irresponsible child was only topped when he went missing for hours. All of which brought back feelings that he had spent millennia's trying to forget, feelings he would rather have kept buried. And as if all of that wasn't already enough as it was, it was also the very reason why his only chance at happiness was currently dissolving into thin air right in front of him.
Lucifer poured himself another glass and also gulped it down in one go, before beginning to loosen his suit, as he walked over towards his bedroom. He had just slipped out of his suit jacket and aimed to throw it rather carelessly on the bed, when he noticed that his bed wasn't empty. A small body was buried under his sheets and only a head of dark brown hair resting upon his cushions was visible from his position. When he rounded his bed to get a better look, his suspicion was confirmed: the little person in his bed was indeed the detective's offspring.
A soft, but small smile tugged at his lips, when he saw her so peacefully asleep. But it was only for a moment, until his brain seemed to catch up with his current situation. Lucifer sighed deeply, when he remembered their conversation earlier that day, and placed his now empty drink on the bedside table – albeit carefully, in an effort not to wake the little girl. Even if he would never admit it, not to himself or anybody else, the spawn's accusations concerning his hair and his responsibility had stung a little, because normally she was always in the front row when it came to cheering him on. And he really, really liked that.
It was then that his phone announced the arrival of a new message with a soft pling. The text message was from the detective and explained why the little creature was sleeping in his bed right now: Is Trixie still with you? She wanted to come talk to you earlier… and you know how she gets when she sets her mind on something. Lucifer chuckled at that, because he knew it all too well. She was a lot like her mother in that department. She promised she would call if I should pick her up. But if it's too much right now just let me know.
However, before he could fully process the new information he had just been given, the urchin seemed to wake up and only a few seconds later, he was staring into her familiar chocolate brown eyes.
"Lucifer!" Trixie exclaimed with an enthusiasm in her voice that Lucifer hadn't heard in quite a while, an enthusiasm that was usually (or at least it used to) resonate in her voice whenever she was around him. "Where were you? I have been waiting for hours!"
"Um," Lucifer seemed taken aback for a moment, "Onto a more important question: whatever are you doing here? Didn't I just ban you from the penthouse for a month?"
"You did," she replied and sat up in the bed, before she crossed her arms in front of her chest and a big grin formed on her face, "But I don't care." Her voice was laced with the same sassiness that her mother's did.
Even if he normally appreciated the tone – as it was just a part of the playful back and forth of teasing the two of them had nuanced over the years – tonight, he just huffed annoyed and threw his suit jacket onto the bed next to the girl.
"You wanted me to be responsible and now you cannot accept the consequences? Make up your mind, child." he retorted.
Trixie simply rolled her eyes, before responding: "You do realize that banning me from the penthouse is not a good punishment? And it has absolutely nothing to do with being responsible!"
"Okay, whatever. As much as I usually enjoy our quips, I am very much not in the mood for that tonight. So, if you could be so kind to just call your mother, I would very much appreciate it."
Without any further ado, Lucifer walked over to his walk-in-closet, probably expecting that the spawn would be gone when he came back. But even though Trixie was extremely annoyed with him right now, she wasn't even nearly done. She had learned a lot today, about denial and flaws and how everything was so much more complex than anybody could really comprehend, but in the end it had only reminded her of one vital key when it came to relationships: communication.
"I talked to your father today, Lucifer. He admitted that some of your flaws might be his fault. And I think I understand you better now." Trixie said, sensing that mentioning her conversation with his dad would get his attention, "And I just want to talk."
"To talk? What is it with-" Lucifer started, when suddenly the weight of her words seemed to sink in, and, halfway towards his closet, he turned on his heels. His eyebrow arched, he slowly made his way back towards his bed. "What did you just say? My father, God Almighty, admitted his mistakes? To you, of all people?" he asked and chuckled in disbelief, before sitting down on the edge of the bed. "Do tell." He beckoned her to elaborate.
Trixie smacked her lips, as she was both annoyed and excited at his sudden interest in the conversation. "Yes, he did. Probably because you listen to him about as well as you listen to anybody else!"
Lucifer scoffed. "I remember you calling my hair stupid fairly well!"
The girl bit her lip to keep herself from smiling. "Your hair is great and we both know it." She admitted and felt her heart swell inside of her chest, when she saw Lucifer beam at her. "I realized that it really wasn't about your hair. Just like me locking Todd Drexhage to a lunch table wasn't really about him at all."
"What on earth are you talking about?"
Trixie seemed to contemplate for a beat, before meeting his eye. "You left without saying goodbye! We are friends Lucifer. You don't leave friends without saying goodbye!"
"Friends?" he asked and to her, it sounded almost like he was a little bit surprised, if not slightly flustered by her description of their relationship.
"Yes, dummy, of course we are friends." she replied and shook her head, chuckling softly.
Trixie had liked Lucifer from the moment he had scared that bully of hers. And over the years of him working alongside her mother, they had spent more and more time together: they had their annual game and karaoke nights and he even gave her piano lessons from time to time or let her paint on his cheek. Their relationship came easily, it was filled with teasing and lots of laughter, and at the end of the day, she knew that Lucifer would do anything for her and her mother.
"Well, if it's any constellation, the only person I told about leaving was your mum. It all happened really fast." Lucifer said slowly and looked down at his perfectly manicured hands. While his answer remained true, it wasn't the full truth. Not that he would ever really admit that to himself, but it simply would have been too painful to say goodbye over and over again to the only home he had ever had.
Trixie nodded slowly, trying to piece it all together and maybe nudge him in the right direction. "Sooo, when my mom is the only person you told about leaving then she must be special to you, right?"
The glint of wonder in his eyes betrayed him, before he could have even answered. "Your mom is… the most special person I have ever met." It was raw and honest in a way that Trixie hadn't expected his answer to be, even if she knew how much her mom and Lucifer cared for each other.
"What the hell are you doing then?!" she exclaimed and playfully smacked him against the arm, at which he made a face. "You know, when you came back my mom was so happy, and now… she isn't. I can see it in her eyes. But she deserves to be happy. And I think, deep down, you want her to be happy just as much as I do."
"That is all I want, Trix," Lucifer replied with sad eyes, before exhaling deeply. "But she deserves so much more than I could ever give her. I am… simply not worthy."
"Isn't that up to her to decide?" the girl asked and gave him enough time to let the words sink in, but not enough time to actually reply, before she threw herself into his arms.
He tensed a little at the sudden touch, but he didn't try to escape her embrace immediately, which only made the smile on her face grow even wider. "I mean my mom is pretty amazing, but… you can be too, if you want to, you know?" she whispered into his ear and she meant it. As annoyed as she could be with Lucifer, she really enjoyed having him in her life. Briefly closing her eyes, Trixie could feel how the stress of having carried all those bad feelings with her for months fell off of her and she couldn't help but sigh in relief, before she loosened her hold on him.
"Now can you tell me that story of the one-legged T-rex again? Please!" She gave him her best puppy dog eyes, knowing fully well that he couldn't say no to her now – she had tested it successfully on numerous previous occasions.
Lucifer sighed, pretending to be annoyed, but he was too tired to actually make it sound believable. "Okay, fine." He gave in and laid down on the bed next to the girl. She listened with big eyes and a happy smile, until her breathing evened out and she seemed to have fallen asleep.
"How do you always manage to fall asleep right before the good part starts?" he asked quietly and shook his head, a small smile gracing his face. Tugging her in a little bit more, he got up from the bed and dimmed the lights.
Sitting down on his couch, he remembered the detective's text from earlier and fished his phone out of his pocket. When he clicked on her contact, aiming to text her back, his eyes fell on the profile photo he had chosen not so long ago. It was a photo he had taken rather spontaneously one morning after at her place. She was wearing his white dress shirt – something she loved to do – and her long, blonde hair was falling over her shoulders, as she was laughing heartily. Long story short: she looked ethereal, like a goddess.
Lucifer exhaled deeply, before he began typing: Trixie is asleep. She can stay here tonight, I can bring her by tomorrow morning. Can we talk then? And before he could overthink it again, he just hit the send-button. It was ironic really. He had always been a man of actions. He acted first and thought about it later. But when it came to the detective… it was different. She was different. And he wanted so badly to do right by her.
Her reply came only a minute later: I would like that. Thank you, Lucifer.
Good night, detective. He texted her back, feeling his heart beat speed up, as he was nervous, scared and excited to see her tomorrow.
Good night, Lucifer.