chapter 9:
Sometime the next morning Lucifer woke up to the sounds of Chloe's snoring. He opened his eyes and turned to look at the woman sleeping next to him. As the sun was shining through the window, it embraced Chloe giving her an angelic look.
He smiled as he watched her sleep beside him. Even her snoring was strangely endearing at this point. He had learned to love the sound, it meant Chloe still chose him every single day, him who was supposed to be evil incarnate. How could such a beauty love him, a monster?
If she could, then maybe there was hope for him yet. Maybe for once, he should be grateful, or at least thankful to his Father for her. He removed a lost lock of hair from her face, carefully not to wake her up. He loved watching her sleep. She was beautiful like this.
Chloe was starting to feel the eyes watching her. She let out a soft sigh of happiness before she opened her eyes. "Hi," she said as she turned to look at him.
Lucifer smiled as he saw the spark in her eyes. The spark of fire he loved so much.
She smiled back loving the way his face lit up in the morning.
Lucifer's face went towards hers slowly, his hand cupping her cheek. He was about to kiss her, as her phone rang.
The moment was broken as she moved to reach for her phone. The devil groaned, "Really? I am going to toss that thing out of the window one day." He grumbled as he watched her on the phone. That phone had a tendency to break moments like this, it happened more than once in the past. He didn't enjoy being "blocked" by the phone. He rolled onto his back and watched her on the phone.
When she ended the call she turned to him and said, "That was Dan. Turns out they found journals in the victim's apartment that showed some kind of money flowing through the zoo, something to do with the animals, and a posted note that had a time, a place, and a person to meet with a few hours before the murder. Turns out that it was the bookkeeper. So we have to go talk with him."
"The moment is broken anyway so best to get on with it. Duty calls." Lucifer sighed
She leaned in and gave him a small kiss, "maybe we can create a new moment later," getting up to get dressed.
Lucifer got out of bed and did the same thing. He had a reputation to uphold, so it took a while to get ready.
Once ready Chloe said, "who's going to watch Trixie? She's still asleep in her room."
"Why don't you ask Caspian and Susan?" Lucifer suggested, "They are just a floor or two down. I can ask them to come up if you like."
Chloe thought for a moment and nodded, "That's actually a good idea, Lucifer. Go ahead and get them."
"Wait here, I will be back in a jiffy." Lucifer smiled
He walked to the elevator and pressed the button to Susan's floor. The door opened, and as he walked out he saw Caspian sleeping on the couch. He walked past him to the room that was Susan's and knocked on her door.
"Who is it?" Susan asked sleepily
"It's Lucifer, darling." Lucifer answered, "Sorry to wake you but I need a favor."
"Wait in the living room, I will be right out," Susan said.
"Alright," Lucifer said as he walked back out to see prince charming still sound asleep.
About ten minutes later, Susan comes out in a robe.
What can I help you with, Lucifer?" she asked.
"Would you mind watching Trixie? We have another lead in our case, and she is still asleep upstairs." Lucifer asked, "We should be back in a few hours. You and Prince Charming here could go upstairs to tend to her till we get back, it would be a great help."
"Sure, I can do that after everything you have done for me. I used to watch over my younger siblings often." Susan smiled.
"Great." Lucifer said, "She's still sleeping for now, but she'll most likely be up before we get back."
"I will be up in a few minutes." Susan smiled
"Good," he said as he entered the elevator to go back up.
They didn't have the time to wait for them, but he trusted Susan. He knew she kept her word. Susan went to get dressed quickly, and went to go and wake up a still sleeping Caspian, "Caspian, wake up, we have to go babysit Trixie." Susan shook Caspian's shoulder.
"5 more minutes", he mumbled, still half asleep. She shook him and recognizing her voice and forgetting where he was for a moment bolted up, "what's wrong? Who's invading?"
She smiled, "No one is invading, we have to go upstairs and babysit for Chloe."
"Babysit?" Caspian asked, still trying to wake up.
"It's a modern term for watching over a younger child while their parents are away," Susan said teasingly
"I know what babysitting is, but when did they ask that?" Caspian asked
"Right before I woke you up," Susan said.
"Alright, I don't mind, they do enough for us," Caspian answered.
"You can go back to sleep up there." Susan said, "Were you back there for a moment?"
"Yes, I was, to be honest, but this time I was married to you, my beautiful queen," Caspian said with a smile. He winked at her and drew her close for a quick kiss.
"Come on, Trixie is alone for the moment, so we can't wait too long." Susan said, "We just have to go upstairs."
Caspian nodded, "Let's go."
They walked to the elevator and went up. As the doors opened to the penthouse. They came face to face with Lucifer and Chloe, as they were heading out.
"Thank you for doing this, Susan," Chloe said.
"No problem, Chloe, for all you've done for me, it's the least I could do," Susan responded.
"You find food and drinks in the fridge and you can watch some television." Lucifer said, "Make yourself at home."
"Sure thing, we might get some more sleep."
"Sure, help yourself, but no shoes on my Italian leather," Lucifer warned them.
"Yes, sir" Caspian said as they each came in and took off their shoes.
Chloe rolled her eyes at Lucifer's comment, "let's go, Lucifer." Chloe said as she entered the elevator. Lucifer followed right behind her.
It was only a short drive in Chloe's cruiser to the zoo. They walked back to the office to find the bookkeeper busy with paperwork.
"Marcos Desanto?" Chloe asked
"Yes, how can I help you?" he said, looking up from the ledger in front of him.
"My name is Detective Chloe Decker, and this is my partner Lucifer Morningstar." Chloe said, showing her badge, "We need to ask a few questions."
"Sure ask away." The man said
"You had a meeting with the victim Saul Quester on the 25th of May 2020 did you not? What was that in regards to?"
"He said he had evidence of some financial weirdness, he was going to show me," Marcos said.
"Do you know what he was talking about?" Chloe asked
"No, I never got to see his evidence he never showed up," said Marco. He sounded calm, and yet Lucifer picked up some body language, saying that he was hiding something.
"Are you sure there is nothing more?" Lucifer asked, "Like for instance what it is you truly desire?"
"To sleep with Pauline, who works with the snakes in the reptile house," Marco answered.
"Well, why don't you?" Lucifer grinned with a wide smile
"I've tried believe me, but she doesn't seem interested." Marco sighed, "she's only interested in things that have scales."
Just then Pauline Farelane walked in and said, "here are the weekly expense reports for the reptile house." Obviously, not happy to be there.
"Nice choice there, Marcos, she looks like something out of a high-class porn movie," Lucifer said. Chloe shook her head and scold him for his remark.
The lady in question was about 5 feet even with green eyes and olive skin tone, brown hair with chunky red highlights. Her proportions were so exaggerated she looked like she just walked out of a comic book, for she was just barely contained by her uniform. The start of a tattoo was peeking out at the edge of her uniform top, which the top button was missing and showing a peek down into her ample bust. She made even Lucifer drool.
He knew heavy-weight, blonde, unshaven Marcos didn't stand a chance with her.
"Marcos, why didn't you tell me you expected such a handsome visitor?" Pauline asked, watching Lucifer from head to toe.
"I didn't know I was. They are looking into Saul Quester's death." Marcos said.
Chloe rolled her eyes and cleared her throat to get the attention of the room. Chloe groaned, she knew Lucifer couldn't switch it off. It made her feel insecure sometimes
Normally she could deal with it, but when a woman like Pauline was involved, it really brought that to the forefront. It also made her feel possessive over her boyfriend.
Chloe took a step closer to Lucifer placing herself between him and the snake girl. "You work here? Just what is your role here?" Looking at her with her best don't mess with me cop face.
"I run the reptile house." Pauline said, "Such a shame what happened to Saul. He was a good man."
Lucifer grinned at his girlfriend's little possessiveness. He rather enjoyed watching her like this. He didn't need to ask Pauline what she desired by the way she was looking at him. She was a beauty, he had to give her that. The old Lucifer would have taken this chance, but this devil was now a one-woman man. He wasn't going to throw all that away for some fling, even for one as shapely as her.
Lucifer placed his hand on Chloe's back to stop her from worrying. To ease her mind that he was hers and hers alone, "Is there any reason you would have been here on the night in question?" He asked Pauline as he felt Chloe relax at his touch. He didn't need words to know what Chloe was feeling, even when she tried to hide it.
He knew she would be threatened by a woman such as Pauline. He was sure most women were. His past as a playboy didn't help his case much. But he has been faithful to his detective from the start.
He had promised her as much and he wasn't going to start breaking promises. Not for a woman who didn't know him, or anyone for that matter. Maybe said snake girl would be a good distraction for Daniel. He needed to talk to Chloe about it before ruining things.
"I was preparing the incubator. One of the snakes is due to lay eggs soon." Pauline answered, pulling him from his thoughts, "I had to make sure she didn't eat them. It would be a first for the zoo to have a boa of this size to do so. She must have come in pregnant because we don't have any others of her kind here."
"What is your relationship with the victim?" Chloe asked, still standing between her and her boyfriend.
"We are just co-workers. But he was friendly, he did repairs around the reptile house." Pauline answered.
"Friendly, how friendly? Was it a benefits kind of friendly?" Lucifer asked.
Pauline blushed and said, "Well, just that once before he started dating Kyra Spellman. He was good though, I still dream about it. Pauline answers. Then looks surprised she said that. Lucifer smirked, knowing that he didn't even have to mojo her to get her to say that.
"He was really good to her, she was a lucky lady," said Pauline before a sigh left her lips.
"Do I hear some envy, Miss Pauline?" Lucifer asked curiously.
"Just little, good men are hard to come by." While she gives Marcos a dirty look, "Those that are that good are even rarer." Pauline said as she looks at Chloe before continuing, "but then I guess you know that, don't you, honey?"
Lucifer had seen the dirty look she had given Marcos. It was enough to know Marcos was not a good man.
"That would have made you mad, wouldn't it? Seeing the woman you desire longing for Saul?" Lucifer asked Marcos before Chloe could respond
Pauline snorts and said, "He lusts after anything with a pulse."
"Did you have some feelings for Saul as well?" Chloe asked before Lucifer could.
"Not the way Kyra did, and she deserved a good man. That ex of hers drove off enough. He's nuts. Besides, Saul knew I cared more for the snakes than him, no matter how skilled he was. So that is why it was only the once, for the ages he used to joke." Pauline answered.
"Would you be jealous enough to kill Saul?" Lucifer asked Marcos.
"Not over a woman." Marcos simply answered.
"So there is another reason you hated him? What about over discrepancies in your work?" Chloe asked, not knowing what to think of the man. "There is evidence that Saul discovered large sums of money going through the zoo. Did he ever mention that to you? Is that what you were supposed to be meeting up with to discuss?"
"I don't know what you are talking about. I would never kill another person." Marcos said way too quickly, as I could even, look at me I'm not the athletic type." As he puts down his bag of Cheetos and wipes the orange dust on his shirt, "I also don't know what money you're talking about, every penny accounted for."
"You and I know that that isn't true. So you tell me now or I will give the proof to the fraud section." Chloe said, not telling him they had already done that and that the warrant was already served and it would be moments before they came in here.
The problem was that Marcos was more afraid of his boss than of the police. Just then Dan came in with the others to seize the files.
"Pauline, let me introduce you to another good man, Detective Daniel." Lucifer said with a smile, "I'm sure he could make you forget saul fairly quickly." Lucifer had a devilish grin on his face.
She looks him up and down, ``Do you like reptiles Daniel?" she asked.
Chloe looked at him in confusion.
"Are you kidding me? I love the snakes here." Dan said with a grin.
"Well, Pauline runs the reptile house and would love to show it to you later," Lucifer smirked.
"Beautiful and she takes care of reptiles?" Dan said, only having eyes for her.
"Yeah, she is in charge of them. Why not head over there now in fact?" Lucifer said with a smile.
Chloe rolled her eyes, "What are you doing, Lucifer?"
"I found the perfect distraction to keep Dan out of our hair and away from Susan," Lucifer whispered.
Chloe rolled her eyes but she knew Lucifer had a point, "Alright, as long as it doesn't interfere with everything beside Susan."
"It shouldn't, but you won't have to worry about telling him about who the babysitter is," Lucifer whispered.
"I guess you are right. It's okay Dan. I will take it from here. If Pauline wants she can show you the reptiles." Chloe said with a smile
Pauline smiled brightly and held out her hand, "Come with me let me show the way." She said in a rather breathy tone which made all the other officers stop to look and drool.
Dan grinned and went with her. He didn't know what he was looking forward to most, spending time with her or the reptiles.
He took her hand and followed. Lucifer could feel the jealousy of every man in the room.
"Okay, back to work," Chloe said once they were gone.
As she was in charge of the men there, collecting everything. This made Lucifer smirk. He loved his detective like this.
Susan and Caspian sat on the couch in the penthouse. Susan was sitting up with Caspian stretched out with his head in her lap. He was back asleep not long after settling there. Susan was watching him, lightly combing her fingers through his hair. Just marveling at getting this chance, and what another life would have been like if they had years of this. She stayed that way for about 30 minutes. Until she fell asleep herself. She was woken up by a young girl, asking where her mom was.
Susan looked at her before saying, "hello, you must be Chloe's daughter."
"My name is Beatrice, but everyone calls me Trixie? Do you know my mom?" the young girl asked curiously
"Yes, she and Lucifer had to go interview someone for a case. They asked us to watch you until they came back." Susan said.
"How do you know my mom?" Trixie asked.
"She and Lucifer found me when I was lost and are helping me find my way back to where I need to be." Said Susan, which while vague, is true, "How old are you, Trixie?"
"I am 12," answered Trixie.
"Nice to meet you, Trixie." Susan smiled.
"Are you and this guy dating like mom and Lucifer?" Trixie asked.
"Yes, I guess that's what you call it here. We have known each other for a long time and care deeply for each other." Susan smiled at the young girl. She reminded her of her siblings, she had Lucy's innocence, and curiosity, Edmund's gift of asking just the right question to get right to the heart of things, at just the right time.
If she had to guess there was most likely a hint of Peter's stubborn determination which rarely let things drop. She was little bits of all of them all rolled into one.
"You remind me so much of my brothers and sister," Susan said with a sigh.
"Really? Are they here too?" Trixie asked.
"No honey, they died a long time ago," Susan said with a sigh.
"Can you tell me about them?" Trixie asked, being as curious as ever.
Susan sighed, this was a painful subject to talk about but maybe it was about time that she told someone her story. Especially someone as young as the child in front of her and with Caspian here, even if he was asleep, "I can do that. In fact, I can tell you about the greatest adventure we ever had."
"Cool," Trixie said with a big smile.
"What I'm going to tell you is going to sound like a fairy tale but I promise it is all true." Susan said in a serious tone of voice but still soft, "You just need to have a little faith. Something my sister had in spades."
"My best friend is a demon and my stepdad is the devil so I don't think that will be a problem." Trixie grinned.
"Good point." Susan chuckled, "Let's make some breakfast and I'll tell you the story while we work." Susan gently slipped out from underneath Caspian and stood up and heads to kitchen leaving him asleep on the couch.
As they go into the kitchen to make chocolate chip pancakes, bacon and eggs, "Can I help?" Trixie asked.
"Of course, you can, you be my assistant." Susan smiled. She was already liking this young girl.
She smiles, "the story starts by me saying I'm not just from out of town but from a different time in general. From years in the past."
"You traveled through time? How did you end up here?" Trixie started her questions.
"I'm not exactly sure how it happened, just that I was suddenly here, but I believe that Aslan sent me here to help me," Susan said.
"Who is Aslan? Is he an angel like Lucifer or Amenadiel?" Trixie asked in confusion.
"I think they are related. I knew him as a great lion, but I think he goes by another name here, but I am getting ahead of myself. Well, my story starts in the early 1940s, in England. During the time of the second world war. Have you learned about that in school yet?" Susan asked curiously as they gathered the stuff to make breakfast.
Trixie shook her head, "we didn't, we are now doing old Egypt."
"Well, you'll get to it soon enough." Susan said, "Germany declared war on the rest of Europe or so it seemed without getting too specific about things. So they were attacking London at night. It's remembered as the blitz or the raids of London. All the children were sent out to the countryside for protection. We were sent to this old professor's house and that is where my story begins." Susan started as the two made breakfast from scratch. She tells the story of how they got to Narnia for the first time. Meeting Aslan, fighting the white witch, and becoming kings and queens.
"Wow, so you are a queen like Lucifer is a king?" Trixie asked
"Yes. Aslan said once a king or queen of Narnia always a king or queen. My siblings and I ruled for about 20 years before we went back to England and the ages we were when we left." Susan answered with a smile.
"Was that it? How did you meet Caspian?" Trixie asked as they finished cooking. They set the table to eat and then sit down for their meal.
"That is another story," Susan said, thinking about her king, who was asleep on the couch.
"It would be amazing to meet this Aslan. He sounds amazing, but don't tell Lucifer that." Trixie grinned.
"He is, and I won't." Susan chuckled before she started the story of how her sister and brothers went back a year later in earth time to find out 1300 years had passed in Narnia.
The Telmerinans took over Narnia, and how Caspian had fled his castle to escape his uncle. He joined the remaining Narniains to fight to take back the throne, using her horn to call her and her siblings back from their world to help them. How they fought a war to free Narnia and make Caspian the next king. He lived a very long life there and was a good king. Then Aslan sent him here as a young man again to help Lucifer help her.
"Don't worry if someone can help you it's Lucifer," Trixie said proudly.
Susan nodded, "I think so too, but having time with Caspian helps as well."
"So you had to leave each other and that was it?" Trixie asked in confusion.
"Yeah, until now." Susan said with a sigh, "We appreciate each other all the more now."
"I think it's not right that you had to wait that long to see each other again." Trixie said a bit sternly
"Well, there was a reason I'm sure. We each had different lives to live, and things we were meant to do before we saw each other again. We were never meant to fall in love, it just happened. But we found our way back to each other." Susan smiled softly.
"That's sounds like a rocky way to start things," Trixie commented.
Susan smirked, "It can't get much rockier than the middle of a revolution. It took a long time to get back to each other, but we are working it out."
"What happened to your siblings?" asked Trixie.
This was even a harder subject for Susan to talk about, it was the root of her guilt feelings.
Susan's happy face fell and her gaze got distant, "After the second time I came home there was so much pain and sorrow knowing I was never to return I did a very silly thing, I stopped believing. Somehow it seemed easier to tell myself that my siblings and I made it all up. Make-believe to cope with the war. It hurt less to think I didn't lose so much cause it didn't exist to start with. I was wrong, but it seemed like the better choice than letting what I felt overwhelm me and swallow me whole. I didn't think I could survive it. So I distracted myself with the silliness of my age at the time. Makeup, dresses and nylons, and party invitations. Where people commented on my beauty. My siblings wanted to try to pierce the little bubble I built around me to protect me from my pain. I got angry with them, we fought and I said horrible things to them. It strained our relationship as I pulled away to protect myself from the truth. So the day they went to help our cousin and Narnia by meeting our cousin at the train station. But that day there was a terrible crash between two trains. They were all killed. Our parents were on the other train and perished as well. It was only my not being there that spared my life, but I lost everyone I loved in one moment. Then the walls that protected me from my feelings crumbled and I nearly drowned in what I was feeling." Susan said.
"It's not too late to make it up to them and make them proud again. You can do that by starting to believe again. I am sure they will forgive you wherever they are." Trixie said.
"I think you're right, I think that is why I was sent here by Aslan to help me work through it all. It was only a short time after it happened that I got here." Susan said, "I really hope I can manage to do so because it was only arriving here that shook me from the pain and delusions to know that it was all real. I have a long way to go, but with Lucifer, your mom, and Caspian here I think I can get there."
As Chloe and Lucifer returned to the station, Lucifer says, "I think Daniel will be so distracted by the snake charmer that he won't have time to ask questions. I hope he appreciates the favor I did him." with a smirk on his face.
"For once, I hope you are right Lucifer, but this is only a short term solution." Chloe said.
"Are you kidding, detective? Miss Pauline, she keeps him entertained for at least a month." Lucifer said.
"I am afraid he could fall for this woman, Lucifer and will get hurt in the end." Chloe sighed,
"Hurt how? Do you think she'll sick the snakes on him? He could do a great deal worse. He let you go so he doesn't have the best judgment when it comes to women." Lucifer responded, "Some fun could do him well."
"Not physically hurt, Lucifer." Chloe sighed.
"So what if he falls for the snake girl? He can spend the rest of his mortal time getting freaky with the snakes." Lucifer said not knowing what the fuss was all about, "He'll be the envy of every man here."
Chloe rolled her eyes and groaned, "Not helping Lucifer. What if she gets sick of him after a few times of fun and breaks his heart?"
"Then he has some steamy stories to tell in the locker room." Lucifer grinned, still not seeing the problem.
Chloe shook her head and rolled her eyes. She forgot for a moment who she was talking to, "Of course, you wouldn't see a downside."
Lucifer looked in confusion at his girlfriend and partner, "What downside?"
"Emotional damage, mental trauma. He could get hurt in other ways than just physical." Chloe explained.
"Isn't that a risk you have to take to be happy?" Lucifer asked.
Chloe stopped at that, realizing he was right, but didn't want to admit it to him.
Lucifer didn't need to hear her say it though, the fact that she stopped was enough for him to know he was right, and his grin said as much.
"Mr. Morningstar, a word please." The lieutenant said.
Lucifer nodded before he left his place at his partner's side. He walked over to the Lieutenant's office.
"Close the door please," the man said.
"You wanted to talk to me, Lieutenant?" Lucifer asked while closing the door behind him.
"My son says you're helping Miss Pevensie, what are your intentions towards her?" The lieutenant asked in a stern voice.
"Excuse me?" Lucifer asked shocked.
"My son is quite fond of her, I want to make sure you aren't going to be a hindrance to her." The man said keeping his stern voice. Lucifer started to sense uncertainty from him, suspicion, and worry.
"I am helping the girl, nothing more. I am a one-woman devil now." Lucifer said, "I don't think my brother would have sent her to me if he thought that I would be a danger to her, don't you think? You're more interested in whether I know about her royal stature, aren't you? Just why are you so interested in knowing?" he asked using his mojo as he made eye contact with the Lieutenant.
"I have a lot to make up for and I don't want Caspian to lose his queen a second time. I started to like them." The Lieutenant said after a few moments, shaking his head as if to clear it, "What just happened?" The man asked confused.
"You were just telling me why you desired to talk to me." Lucifer said, "Don't worry, Lieutenant. I want them to be with Aslan as much as you do." The devil added, "So I will do what is needed to ensure the king and queen get their happy ever after."
"So I guessing that he is not really your son, but you come from that place in time. Just what are you feeling so guilty about?" Lucifer asked being nosy, "You know what they say about guilt, you get stuck with me for eternity. We wouldn't want that now would we? You seem like a decent enough mortal."
"Nothing that I am ready to talk about yet." The lieutenant said.
"Alright, I take it has to do with Caspian. When you're ready to talk about it, I know a great Dr that you could talk to." Lucifer grinned, "Is that all, Lieutenant?"
"Yes, thank you, Mr. Morningstar." The Lieutenant sighed and dismissed the devil.
TBC