Lucifer sat watching as the child, Beatrice, sat on the couch watching some cartoon that Lucifer had managed to find for her to watch. She hadn't said much since he brought her back to his penthouse the day before. She was very quiet, probably fearing punishment if she bothered anyone.
Lucifer honestly wasn't sure why he brought her home with him. He ought to have calling in the authorities and let them take the child, but there wasn't any guarantee that the girl wouldn't be put in an even worse than the one he'd removed her from. There were many humans as bad as and worse than Davis was.
'That's not your problem,' a loud voice in Lucifer's head said. He was the Devil. He was not responsible for some human child's parentage bad luck. He wasn't even sure why he cared. He'd never cared that much about a human before. There were certainly many humans he enjoyed, very many. He would even say he liked a few he considered himself friendly with, but not to this extent. Why did he care what happened to this small human.
Lucifer was actually surprised by how quick the answer came to him. Beatrice had seen almost all of him. He hadn't shown her his devil face, but he'd inadvertently showed her his eyes. Most that he showed that to went insane, or at least ran screaming. Beatrice did not. Much to his chagrin, she clung to him as if he was some sort of savior, which he supposed he was to her, but she wasn't supposed to react that way. No one ever had.
Lucifer's thoughts were interrupted by the ding of the elevator, which caused the child to whimper a bit. "Calm down. It's not your father. He will never harm you again."
Maze stepped off the elevator moments later with a satisfied grin on her face. It wasn't often she got to play with a human. She'd enjoyed messing with Davis.
Lucifer approached her. "Well?"
"That was fun. He was begging by the time I was done. I handed him over to Dante, like you requested," Maze said.
"Excellent," Lucifer said. Dante was a man with many resources and questionable ethics that owed Lucifer more than one favor. He could make the rest of Davis' life hell without killing him. It wouldn't be anything too severe. The man would likely find him in some sort of maximum security prison somewhere for life. It was much more lenient than the scum deserved.
Maze glanced over towards the kid. "You still have her? I figured you'd have ditched her with the cops by now."
"Yes, and how exactly am I to explain how I acquired the spawn?" Lucifer asked.
"Oh, please. You're the Devil, you can find a way," Maze said. She then noticed as the kid wandered over towards where Lucifer kept his alcohol. "Uh, Lucifer, turn around."
Lucifer turned and watched as the child reached for a bottle of his scotch. "Bloody hell she's fast! Child, no! Stop."
Beatrice retreated cried out in fear before putting her hands over her face. "No! Don't hit me! I'm sorry!"
Lucifer winced. He hadn't meant to frighten the child. "Don't cry, Urchin. I'm not going to hurt you. No one will hurt you. You have my word.
Beatrice stopped crying and lowered her arms, but she still seemed frightened.
Lucifer looked around to find something to calm the child. He noticed a stuffed bear on the couch and immediately went to grab it. He'd had one of his bartenders pick up some things that children might find enjoyable. The bear was one of those things. Lucifer didn't understand how something so simple could possibly make a child happy, but the child seemed to like it. "Look. You can play with this. It's yours."
Beatrice reached out and took the offered toy bear. She hugged it to her and went back and sat on the couch.
Lucifer went back over to Maze. "Yeah, you really should call someone. You have no idea what you're doing. Do you even know how old the kid is?"
"The file Davis put together said she was four. She looks awfully small to be four, don't you think?" Lucifer asked. Of course, he had no idea what a four-year-old was supposed to look like, so that might be why. Though, it might also be not being cared for properly by her bloody parents. "I don't know what to do with her. Turning her over to Social Services might see her in a worse situation."
"What do you care?" Maze asked. She got Lucifer intervening when he watched a kid being abused. He was the Devil. He wasn't going to sit back while a human committed such an act, but once he rescued the kid, Maze would've thought that would be the end.
"I gave that child my word no one would hurt her again. I don't go back on my word. That's why, Mazikeen," Lucifer said in a low tone. "I will look into whether or not the child has any relatives and determine if they are suitable."
"She must have a mother, right?" Maze asked.
"According to the records Davis provided me with, his wife has been dead for a year. I suppose it could be a lie, but if so, she is likely unsuitable given that she allowed the child to be abused, and probably knew about her husband trying to see her," Lucifer said angrily. Thinking about what that bastard had done and planned to do with the girl made his devil face want to pop out.
"Well, you have to do something. You're obviously not gonna keep the kid," Maze said a bit loudly.
Having heard them talking, Beatrice ran over and hugged Lucifer's legs.
Lucifer stiffened as he felt the child grab him. He groaned and looked down at her. "We're doing this again? You were fine watching TV. Can't you go do that?"
"Don't make me leave," Beatrice begged. She didn't want to go. She liked the man who saved her, even if she had been afraid before that he might hit her. He was nicer to her than anyone had ever been. She didn't want to leave.
"Child…" Lucifer trailed off. He didn't know what to say to her. He didn't even know why she'd want to stay with him. There were hundreds of people that would be better than him. Then again, there were also just as many that were worse than him.
"Please. I'll be good. I wanna stay here," Beatrice said.
"Why?" Lucifer asked.
"Because you're nice. You saved me," Beatrice said as she hugged him tighter.
"I… Very well," Lucifer said before he could stop himself.
"Promise?" she asked.
Everything in Lucifer said not to agree to that, because once he promised, he would not go back on it. He did not break promises, ever. It was the same as lying. He would not tell his first lie to a child. So, if he promised, he'd have to keep it, which was why he knew he should not promise. And yet, once again, he couldn't stop the words from leaving his lips. "Yes, I promise."
