Chapter 10

Troubled Interference

Linda Martin was many things. Most notably, she was the Devil's therapist. She was also his demon companion's sort-of therapist/friend. She was even friends with Lucifer's brother, Amenadiel, and somehow this must have all added up to her being the go-to person for the rest Lucifer's family.

"Dr. Martin, I'm glad to see you're feeling better," the angel greeted her right as Linda was about to step into her office. This angel was the same one who… helped her that night that Lucifer showed Linda his true face. Kemuel, if she remembered correctly.

"Better, yes," Linda responded somewhat hesitantly, opening the door enough to let Lucifer's sister in. "Thanks to you, I'm sure, though I doubt anything will ever be back to normal, knowing what I know."

Closing the office door behind her, Kemuel gave Linda a reassuring smile. "Oh, all I did was help your mind process what you saw. The rest was you… And nothing is ever truly normal, is it?"

Linda mulled over the question as she sat down in the chair behind her desk. "No, I guess not." She moved around a few of her things, rearranging them to the way she liked. "Did you have a particular reason to be visiting me?" she asked, glancing up momentarily as the angel sat down on her couch.

"Humans are sometimes able to sort through their problems by talking to an outsider, are they not? I was hoping to give it a try, if only for this single occasion," Kemuel answered sincerely.

Linda looked down at her schedule for the day. It appeared that she didn't have any appointments for another hour or so. She supposed that listening to the angel would repay any favor that she owed her. So Linda picked up her pad, readjusted her glasses, and moved over to the chair closer to the couch.

"Well, start anywhere you'd like," Linda said, settling in for the session.

A wistful half-smile crossed Kemuel's face at that, and a reminiscent look took over in her eyes. "Ah, you see, it all began a rather long time ago…"

—o~O~o—

Lucifer quickly strode into Chloe's home as soon as she opened the door. "I owe you an explanation."

"Really? Why?" Chloe wondered, sarcasm touching her tone. She moved to follow him as he stopped in the midpoint between her living room and the kitchen. "Was it for leaving me all alone at the restaurant until your brother showed up to keep the busboy from giving me pitiful glances? I know what your explanation is, and I don't want to know her name, especially not today."

"Actually, Detective, that isn't what I was going to say, and did you say bro—?" Lucifer tried to cut in, but he was cut off instead.

"Look, Lucifer, I don't have time for this. I was just on my way out. Besides, this is my fault. I should've known how selfish and thoughtless you can be."

And before he could input anything to contradict Chloe's statement, Chloe's mother came into the room with an announcingly loud, "Lucifer!"

He let out a halfhearted chuckle, responding with the woman's own name. A slight look of confusion crossed his face as Penelope began to go on about something difficult for them… And he racked his mind about what could possibly be happening today that was so important as he covered his lack of knowing by repeating phrases of leading hints from Chloe.

Oh… It was the first day of the trial of Chloe's father's killer… Right. Bad thing to forget.

It was on the way out the door that Chloe stopped him, separating them from her mother. "Look, if you're going to just skip out on something like last night, don't send your brother."

"I didn't send anyone, not that I would send Amenadiel either way—"

"No, not Amenadiel, your other brother." Lucifer gave her a confused look. "The one with the ginger hair, green eyes?" The look turned blank. "Zadkiel?"

"Why on Earth was he there?" Lucifer scoffed.

Chloe rolled her eyes. "As far as I could tell, covering for you and being nice about it, too."

Stunned, Lucifer could only stare as Chloe walked out the door to her car.

Zadkiel? Since when did that feather duster visit Earth? Surely, Kemuel (or Dad, for that matter) hadn't been the one to send him. Lucifer knew that Kemuel was acquainted with both Chloe and Trixie. Unless she was still 'grounded' in Heaven, there was no reason for her to not have gone herself… Perhaps she was in more trouble than Lucifer had realized.

But Zadkiel? Why him? Okay, so Lucifer could admit that the oldest angel right after Kemuel was a bit of a charmer himself. That still didn't explain why he went to 'cover' for Lucifer. He vaguely remembered Azrael telling (yelling at, really) him that the other angels didn't care about what he did on Earth, but clearly some did. But in a more supportive manner than what he'd assumed.

Not that Lucifer could even begin to guess why. It wasn't like he was the best, archangelic, big brother ever. (No, that kind of went to Gabriel, or Raphael, or Michael…)

He knew that some of the angels had taken an interest in Chloe – that was now a given because of Kemuel and Zadkiel's interactions with her. And there was definitely something special about Chloe Decker that Lucifer couldn't quite put his finger on. Taking any supernatural factors out of consideration, she was… well, she was Chloe.

Lucifer frowned. There were several emotions he didn't want to confront surrounding that last thought. He knew that Dr. Martin was trying to get him to realize what it all meant or whatever, but to be perfectly honest—

The sharp honk! of a car horn scattered his thoughts, making him jump a fraction of an inch. Stiffening a moment before relaxing, he snapped his gaze in the originating direction of the noise. Only to see Chloe looking at him exasperatedly as if she were waiting on him.

And then she waved her arm, beckoning him towards her and the car. "Well?" she called over to him. "Are you coming or not?"

Lucifer paused. Something warm fluttered in his chest. He liked Chloe. Like, really liked Chloe. Maybe even the other four letter L-word… the important one, not the sin.

"Right! Yes, yes, of course!"

—o~O~o—

Chloe was beginning to feel a gnawing worrying in her stomach. Okay, maybe it had been there ever since yesterday morning, but right now it was reaching new heights. Lucifer had given an excellent statement and reenactment of his encounter with Boris and he had even said that she was truly good. She didn't want to think too much on how much that meant to her, just simply that it did.

But then Charlotte had called Lucifer back to the stand, and there was no way of him lying about her not being the first officer on the scene—

"You misunderstand," Lucifer protested. "Yes, Detective Decker was the first officer there, but she wasn't alone."

"And what does that say about the official police report? That it's wrong?" Charlotte questioned.

"Well, I haven't read it myself, but I'm telling you, you can't think the detective killed Joe Fields because there would have been a witness, who was there when Daniel and I arrived."

Kemuel. The name stuck out like neon wording in a dark room within the walls of Chloe's mind. She must not have stayed to have her statement taken, but that didn't explain—

"So why is this person not mentioned in the report?"

"I wouldn't know. She was leaving when I got there," Lucifer answered as best he could.

Charlotte's eyes narrowed. Chloe barely registered the defense's final words with Lucifer on the stand before he was dismissed. She glanced over to see the prosecution whispering amongst themselves and then stopping Lucifer before he could sit down. Recess was called.

"What did Stedman want?" she asked Lucifer, pulling him over to the side once they were in an area that gave them a modicum of privacy.

Lucifer's gaze flickered away momentarily before he replied with a huff. "He asked who was with you when I arrived. I couldn't exactly give him anything besides her name…"

"Kemuel," Chloe finished once he trailed off. But something wasn't right. "How did you know she was with me?"

"It's what she does, detective. I doubt there was any other reason for her to be there."

Chloe shook her head, his words not aligning with what she knew. "She said she was there to find you."

"Let me guess, I stumbled across her first, hmm? Again, it's just something she does," Lucifer informed her with not a small amount of irritation.

"And that is..?"

Lucifer rolled his eyes, shifting his weight as he began to explain. "She puts herself in the path of her targets so when she confronts them, it seems like they found her and not the other way around."

"Do you know where she is?" Chloe asked suddenly. "Or at least where she might be?"

Lucifer looked hesitant before he looked away. "Supposedly she's been grounded, but Linda mentioned seeing her yesterday," he said, still looking away.

Chloe put her hand on his arm in a hopefully reassuring way. "Thanks, Lucifer. I'll find her."

"Not that I'm sure why you'd want to do that," Lucifer muttered, "but this is where we will be parting ways for the rest of the day. I have a meeting with Detective Douche about who killed dear Boris."

"You do that," Chloe called back to him as she rushed off.

She had an 'angel' to find.

—o~O~o—

Ishmael turned his watchful gaze away from the couple he was assigned to for the day. It had been a while since he'd heard the arrival of a fellow angel, but that distinct rustling of feathers born on divine wings was not a sound one forgot. Though, who it was that came to see him was a surprise in itself.

"Brother, I didn't know you were still on Earth," his sister called to him.

Ishmael let out a soft chuckle. "And I didn't know you still visited Earth," he replied.

A sad smile graced her lips. "You haven't been home in a while. You've missed a couple decades worth of news."

"It comes with the job," Ishmael said with a shrug. He didn't mind being away for such 'long' stretches of time. His dark brown eyes shifted off to the side, taking in the appearance of his sister's wings. "You shouldn't make the trip here and back so often, sister. You'll wear yourself out like that."

"Come on, Ishmael, drop the formalities," Kemuel insisted, adding some light into her smile.

"What? And join you for a spot of nectar while we gossip about the latest divine coupling?" he teased, a grin spreading across his face as she rolled her eyes. "I'll pass, thanks."

"That's not all we do during our free time," she huffed, crossing her arms.

Oh, Ishmael was familiar with what angels in Heaven did during their 'free time'. And while, yes, it wasn't entirely gossiping, there was a fair amount of divine plotting. It was a hard thing to ignore when your main angelic talent was listening.

But that was why he liked his job on Earth. He didn't have to listen to their indirect schemes to put 'the perfect couple' together. Don't misinterpret Ishmael's opinions – his brothers and sisters weren't wrong more often than not concerning the pairings, he just didn't like hearing "oh my goodness, they're so cute together" and "ugh, those two are so not right for each other" and "you just walked past them! No, turn around!"... Yeah, he could deal without hearing that every day.

Still, he did miss the singing. Just a little bit. It had been a long time since he'd heard any of his brothers and sisters' voices bring to life a melodious composition in the heavenly choir's main symphony hall (which had some of the best acoustics anywhere ever). He briefly wondered if Israfel had expanded her repertoire to include the latest human hits. Knowing her, though, she probably already learned songs that hadn't even been released yet.

Ishmael could listen to her all day long…

"Ishmael, hello? Earth to Ishmael!"

The male angel swatted at the hand that waved in his face, glaring at its owner. "What?" he huffed.

"Daydreaming on the job?" Kemuel murmured in a teasing manner.

"I'm not exactly doing anything with you bothering me," he shot back. "What do you want anyway? There's no way you're only here for me."

"Fine, fine…" Kemuel relented, moving on from pleasantries. "What's the word on Mom?" she asked quietly.

Ishmael frowned, looking back towards the happy couple – one of whom was about to propose to the other (he was there to make sure nothing interrupted the two's special moment). "From what I've heard, her current priority is that case you've taken an interest in. Though, on the side she's been looking for a way home."

"Tell me something I don't know," Kemuel sighed, leaning back in her chair across from him.

There was a strange light in her eyes that Ishmael didn't like. It wasn't a defeated look, but it was the beginnings of one. Why his eldest sister would harbor such a look, he didn't know. Nor did he think he would anytime soon. At the very least, he could wipe it from her expression for now.

"Chloe Decker is looking for you," he informed her.

A blank expression of surprise crossed her face before her eyes snapped upwards toward the sun high above them. "Already? I thought I'd have another hour or so," she muttered, a finger tapping against her thigh as she contemplated something (probably the timing of her 'sudden' appearance).

"She's currently trying to see if she can locate you through following where you went after you left Dr. Martin's office, though I figure she knows by now that it's a dead end," Ishmael replied with a shrug.

His eyes narrowed as one of the couple stood up to go to the restroom. The other, staring after her partner, nervously pulled out a small, inconspicuous black box, opening it to reveal the diamond ring. Ishmael let himself smile a little. He had subtly helped her pay for the ring. (The jeweler had been selling it at a ridiculous price even for the ring's unique beauty; let's just say the buyer had gotten a very generous and miraculous discount.)

"I'd better be off then… Hey, wasn't Anael supposed to take over for you?"

Ah, there was the protective older sister he knew and appreciated (most of the time, mainly whenever she wasn't being overbearing). "I redirected her to Poyel. She's been needing a break more than I do," he said, placating any unnecessary concern.

"Does Barachiel know?" Kemuel asked, taking her brother's word for it.

Ishmael waved a dismissing hand. "He'll find out eventually. Besides, he knows I kind of like it down here."

Kemuel let out an agreeing huff. "It's looking like that's the general consensus," she muttered under her breath.

"What?"

"Nothing to worry about," she assured him before taking off, leaving him to his work.

He almost rolled his eyes. He was the angel of listening. Of course he'd heard what she'd said, but why on Earth would he call her out on assuming otherwise? Who knew? Certainly not him. Whatever. He wasn't salty (or whatever the human kids used for pissed or upset nowadays… though irritated would have worked better for this situation). Nope. Not one bit.

His foul mood was quickly displaced by the other woman coming back to the table, an unknowing smile on her face as she sat down. The one with the ring took in a deep, steadying breath while brushing a stray hair out of her face, and then she got out of her seat and moved to the side of the table only to get down on one knee.

Ishmael was too far away by human standards to hear the shocked but happy gasp of the woman still sitting over the soft underlying murmurings in the restaurant (he would have gotten them into a five-star, but that was a little much for them, so four-star with stellar reviews it was), too far away to see the way her eyes brightened with absolute joy in the dim (romantic) lighting. Still, he casually moved his foot slightly forward to trip the visiting/out-of-state homophobic gentleman who may or may not have been about to ruin the moment.

As a few of the waiters cleaned up the minor mess the tripping had caused, the angel waved over one of the staff, putting on a genuine smile and pointing towards his charges as he spoke. "Would you send one of your best bottles of wine over to the happy new couple? I'll be paying for it."

"Of course, sir."

—o~O~o—

Chloe couldn't believe her ears.

After failing to find Lucifer's mysterious sister, she had all but given up on the crumbling case against her father's murderer. Practically everything had fallen through, and with Charlotte Richards trying to make 'subtle' accusations against her while using Lucifer to do it… Chloe didn't know how much more she could bear.

It was all so wrong. She couldn't do anything to make it stop without making a fool of herself, and it was just absolutely frustrating. The judge had called for a short recess after Chloe's testimony, which the prosecutor had asked to be disregarded since Chloe had apparently made it sound like she'd been alone at the scene. On her way out of the room, Chloe had seen Stedman and Judge Estrada speaking and then Estrada nodding. That nod had been the allowance to let Kemuel Waren make her statement before the court, announcing that she was in fact there with Chloe. Kemuel claimed, rightfully, that she actually found the body of Joe Fields first and that to her knowledge Chloe had done nothing but her duty in calling the case in. Kemuel even made an apology for leaving without staying to give her official statement.

There was this one moment, though, as Kemuel turned to look at the jury. Her eyes seemed to turn violet – just for the briefest of seconds, but still. Chloe shook her head, dismissing the odd image as some kind of light playing tricks with the color of Kemuel's eyes.

And now… Perry Smith was going to jail.

But for the life of her, Chloe couldn't find Kemuel anywhere (again) after everyone was let out of the court room. Strangely, she didn't see any sign of Charlotte either. She was able to catch Lucifer though.

"Hey, can you thank your sister for me?" she asked him. "I can't seem to find her."

"Neither can I," he said with a frown, which he quickly masked with a grin. "But I will do that as soon as I'm able. I'll have to include it into the little chat she and I need to have."

Chloe nodded a few times as she took a mental note of his words. "I'll see you later then?"

"Most likely," he answered, grin only growing. And then it faltered slightly. "You meant it? All of it?"

Chloe paused. What did he— oh, that… "Every word, Lucifer."

—o~O~o—

"Well, if it isn't my husband's favorite lackey."

"As if you can say anything as His ex."

"Oh, please. That won't stop me from coming back."

"Even so, you're not welcome in Heaven. Not after what you did."

"What? Lucifer gets a pass, and I don't?"

"Lucifer was misguided by you."

"Misguided— More like shown the truth. And, you know, I'm surprised he and Amenadiel don't know yet. Then again, you have no earthly proof to give him now."

"He'll see you for what you really are soon enough."

"We will see, won't we."

A/N: Disregard the question since I'm not really in either fandom at the moment. I'm just leaving it because there was a review or two made to it.

Oh, quick question: how interested would you people be if I made a crossover between Supernatural and Lucifer after I finish this fic (which I will hopefully do before the end of season three)?

Last edited: [1/15/2020]

shipwreck321: Thank you, and I won't. I promise. And I have a few ideas for the crossover I think both sides of the fandoms might like.

Guest: Uh... I don't know about including everyone, but for you, I put Kemuel into Forevermore (she's getting her own little cameo - if by cameo, I meant like whole part, though she's not super involved or anything). Not too sure about any wars either, because I'm kind of bad at writing those. As for Luci being at full power. We'll get there. Just you wait.

LUNA: I'm trrryyyyyiiinng. I wanna know how it ends too, but I don't. I have an idea, but not anything solid. Hint: The angels of Heaven all start to get involved. This is why this is getting hard, because I have to keep track of everyone. (I don't know why I picked a project this big. OCs are hard. Writing is hard. Ack!) I will finish this fic though. No story left behind.