A/N: No one touch me! I'm DISTRAUGHT over Lucifer season 5b! Writing Dan in this chapter felt so bittersweet; the show won't be the same without him.
A/N #2: So the first A/N was written back when I first started the chapter...in May lmaoooo that's how long it's taken me to get back into the swing of writing. My personal life has been its own special kind of hell. I work in a hospital and COVID is off the chain, so please, if you care about me or me ever finding the time to finish this story, PLEASE GO GET YOUR DAMN COVID VACCINE AND LET ME REST! So...season 6 huh? I am emotionally distraught over that now, AND THE ENDING OMG! Lucifer being a father isn't such a shocking, scandalous thing now, huh? Canon won't change the trajectory of this story, nor what the baby will turn out to be, don't worry. Just hang on and enjoy the ride! XOXOX
Devil in the Details
Lazy days were a new and thrilling concept.
Never before had Izzy had days to spend doing absolutely nothing. The blank slate of each day was both thrilling and daunting. She tried to keep up an exercise routine, a couple push-ups and sit-ups and shadowboxing until her back started to protest. Morning sickness came and went, and she had never felt so tired doing so little. Every day her belly distended a little further. Whether that was from the baby, days lazing on the couch watching movies, or both, she couldn't tell.
Today was a bit more exciting because Izzy wasn't alone in her laziness.
Clary sat on the opposite end of the couch, feet kicked up on Magnus' coffee table, a mug of half-finished tea cooling on its saucer. She hummed as she reviewed a flashcard, one of the hundreds she had made: one for each of the weapons stored at the Institute. Izzy never needed to study when she took the job; she had been raised alongside weapons. They were a part of her. In time, they would become part of Clary, too.
Izzy raised the next card from the deck: small, circular discs with sharp blades poking out.
"Shiruken, or throwing stars," Clary replied immediately, rattling off the facts bullet pointed on the backside. "Most commonly used for distance attacks, but can be used in close combat. So long as you don't shred your fingers in the process."
Izzy nodded and flipped the next one, a little harder, but Clary was up for the challenge.
"Ummm..." Clary cocked her head to get a different angle. "A scimitar?"
"Close. A khopesh." Izzy leaned forward and traced the blade with her pointer finger. "It's the curve near the top that gives it away. Good for grabbing onto limbs."
"Huh, I've never seen it before."
"We only have a couple in the armory, but if you visit the Cairo Institute, nearly all the Shadowhunters use it as their primary weapon."
Clary took the card from Izzy and read it front to back a few times. Izzy couldn't help but smile when Clary's fingers traced the same path up the photo, committing the shape to memory. These kinds of things may seem inconsequential, but it was the fine details that separated a decent Weapons Master from a true Weapons Master. Clary might have a long way to go before she could call herself master of anything, but she surely got points for enthusiasm.
A buzz from the opposite end of the couch sent Clary scrambling. She pulled her phone from her discarded jacket pocket, took one look at the caller ID on her screen, and frowned. It was too late to answer the call, but the high-pitched and nonsensical voicemail Izzy half-heard was enough to give her a good idea who it was from.
"It's Simon. He's freaking out about something," Clary sighed and stood up, shooting Izzy an apologetic look. 'Something' was probably code for Downworld problems, maybe even that rogue vampire. Izzy tried not to be jealous as Clary shrugged her jacket back on and looked to the door. "I have to go."
"Of course." Izzy wished she could go with Clary, but she would have to settle for passing on a message. "Tell Simon to put in one of those superhero movies he loves so much. That should calm him down."
"He'll be so happy to know you care."
Clary turned, ready to go, but Izzy caught her arm and stopped her half way.
"Hey, just..." Izzy felt silly for even asking, tears pricking at the corners of her eyes for no damn reason other than she already missed her best friend. More than that, she already missed demon hunting with her best friend. But then she remembered the wraiths. Clary's limp, unmoving body on the pavement. How she was utterly helpless to stop an attack caused directly by her.
"Just what, Iz?"
"Make sure to leave some of the excitement for me. I won't be pregnant forever," Izzy teased with a smile, hoping it came out heartfelt and not as pained as she felt.
"I'm sure there will be just as many demons around in nine months as there are now," Clary teased back.
Clary gave Izzy a quick hug and then ran out the door, taking all the adventure with her.
Back to lazing about on her own...
Izzy picked up Clary's cup of tea and took it over to the kitchen sink. Times like these, Izzy envied Magnus' magic. Magnus was currently holed up in his office, catching up on a week's worth of potions for demanding clients. Izzy felt badly that her baby daddy drama had set Magnus back, but Magnus had already told her not to worry about anything. It would be frivolous and selfish of her to call him from his work to clean her dishes.
That's where she was, scrubbing the teacup spotless, when Alec walked into the apartment.
"Hello!" he called into the apartment, as if the sound of his boots thunking by the front door wasn't enough to give him away. Just another person in her life that could go places and do exciting things.
On cue, the doors to Magnus' office rolled open and he emerged in a cloud of literal smoke.
"Welcome home Alexander," he said as he sauntered over and gave Alec a kiss. It spoke volumes how in love Alec was with Magnus that he was able to ignore the swipes of pink powder Magnus left all over his black clothes. "So sorry about the mess. What was supposed to be a simple cleaning spell turned into more mess than I bargained for."
"Looks good on you," Alec said, pulling at the streaks of pink left in Magnus' hair.
"Hmmmm," Magnus hummed as he turned to look at himself in the mirror. "A little nineties, but I've done stranger."
Magnus snapped his fingers and the mess, along with the cloud of smoke, dissipated. He brushed his hands on his ridiculously expensive pants, and both he and Alec turned towards the kitchen, as if only just remembering Izzy was there.
"How was your day?" Alec asked to both Magnus and Izzy, but his gaze was focused on his sister.
"Fine. Clary came by for a few hours for some Weapons Master advice. I helped her study."
"I knew I heard someone else in the living room," Magnus said, taking the tea cup from Izzy's hands and making it disappear. Show off.
"And you didn't think to check who it was?"
"My wards are impeccable at keeping out unwanted guests. Miss Fairchild is far from unwelcome," Magnus clarified, his feathers ruffled a little at the insinuation that he was lacking in any way. "Besides, you are more than capable of defending yourself against intruders."
That was true. Besides, Izzy was literally just clamoring for some excitement. If a stranger had managed to wander into Magnus' apartment, she would have jumped at the chance to fight them alone, head-on.
"So, we have a problem," Alec announced abruptly, his face half way between confusion and mild dread. "Mom called earlier today. She wants to come over for dinner next week."
The blood in Izzy's veins ran cold.
"She doesn't know I'm living here, right?"
"As far as she knows, you've gone on a prolonged mission to the Shanghai Institute, need-to-know basis only. She bought it, but who knows how long that will last." All it would take was one message to Shanghai and Izzy's cover would be blown. Maryse Lightwood was the kind to follow up and check behind everyone, even her own children, and they both knew it was only a matter of time before that story fell apart.
"You could always tell her no," Magnus suggested, pretending like it wouldn't serve his purpose just fine to never have to share a table with Maryse Lightwood. "Or suggest an alternative venue than the penthouse."
"Tell our mother no? Have you met her?" Rhetorical as the question was, Alec chewed on his bottom lip, that pensive expression deepening. "She sounded so strange on the phone, like she wasn't herself."
"She did just finalize the divorce," Izzy pointed out, feeling badly for broaching such a sensitive topic for all of them. They liked to pretend that Dad didn't exist these days, that he didn't cheat on Mom and try to brush it off as finding his 'true love'. It hurt Izzy most of all to discover the man she trusted and loved the most was a dirty, lying cheater. She didn't love Lucifer; she barely knew him. But she hoped that their child never had to experience anything quite as devastating as that. "How did Dad look when you went to LA?"
"A little grim given the circumstance, but business as usual," Alec said, thinking back to his weekend in the City of Angels...and Devils. "Max was there, and he was taking it just fine too."
"These things tend to hit women harder, especially since Robert left Maryse to deal with a broken family and the messy aftermath of war so he could play Head of Institute half a country away," Magnus said offhandedly, his disdain for the elder Lightwoods clear. He glanced up at Izzy and Alec, expecting push back. "No disrespect intended."
"None taken." Alec ran a hand through his hair, messing it up in a way that made him look like a slightly unhinged cockatoo. "You're right. Our father has not made the best decisions."
It was a hard pill for Izzy to swallow: recognizing her dad wasn't the hero she made him out to be. All those years of dismissing her mother, of not even trying to forge a relationship because Maryse just 'didn't understand her'...what a waste. Turned out her father couldn't understand her any better, and she didn't want to understand whatever bullshit excuse he had to rip their family apart in the worst way.
Naturally, her mind started to wander about what kind of father Lucifer would make.
On first glance, the Devil was glib and careless. He pulled no punches and served himself first. But he was also compassionate and understanding, totally supportive (even if said support would have worked in his favor anyway). Izzy didn't want to raise her child in a broken home. Not that she expected to be attached to Lucifer in any kind of romantic way that would need breaking. Izzy was banking on coparenting so long as Magnus was willing to maintain his portal connection. She just didn't want this baby to grow up resenting its father more than it had to. As messed up as things were, Izzy wanted her baby to have as normal and as loving a family as possible.
"Maybe we should just bite the bullet and do it."
"Izzy, are you sure?" Alec asked, visibly worried. "I mean, your condition - "
" - Isn't going to change, and it'll only get more noticeable as time goes on." Izzy rubbed her hand over her stomach, trying to push down her nerves. "Maybe if we do this now, it'll buy me, buy us some more time to figure things out."
"What are you saying?"
Izzy took a deep breath. There was no use in hiding her insecurities. "I'm not ready to tell Mom. I don't know if I'll ever be ready. It's not like telling you. She's...well, she's her."
"You shouldn't have to tell anyone you don't want to tell," Magnus said in support, standing up for her while Alec remained pensive and silent. "This is your news, your body, and no one else's. Maryse will just have to respect that."
"I'll tell her that the Shanghai mission was a success and I've been reassigned elsewhere." Izzy turned to Alec. "It can't be too hard to fake an assignment, maybe London? Don't we still know - "
"No, I cannot forge anymore fake documents, okay?" Alec pleaded, triggered. "I'm still sifting through the mess Jace and Clary left when they went traipsing about the city a couple months ago and I had to cover. We're lucky the Clave didn't do an audit and have all our runes stripped."
Izzy felt irritation surge through her, along with a growing sense of helplessness. "So what? The truth is our only option?"
Alec looked miserable but remained silent. Even Magnus was at odds, gaze flickering between Izzy and Alec, allegiance torn.
"What if...what if I told her I was sick? I mean it's true. It's what you thought," Izzy suggested, pulling this plan out of thin air. It was crazy and deceitful and would probably hurt her mother more than she deserved, but it was something. "I can tell her that no one at the Institute can figure out what's wrong, that I need to go to the Silent Brothers for answers. The Silent Brothers wouldn't give me away, and no one visits the City of Bones on a whim."
"That could work," Magnus mused, the gears in his head turning. "I know someone, Brother Zachariah. He's an old friend; we've been through a lot together. He would vouch for you if I asked."
Wow. So this was real. This could actually work. The thought made Izzy's head spin.
"Or worst case scenario I tell her that I - " Izzy stopped and took a breath, hating herself for what she was about to suggest. "I could tell her that I relapsed, that I'm struggling with Yin Fen addiction and - "
"Absolutely not." Alec was the one to veto that idea. "I will not put you in a situation where you have to lie about that. Not after how hard you worked, how far you've come."
"Alec - "
"No. We will make this Silent Brothers idea work, somehow." Alec always seemed to age ten years after each of these conversations. The lines in his face got deeper and deeper the more he worried. Alec turned to Magnus, grim with determination. "How fast can you get word to Brother Zachariah?"
"Already done," Magnus said with a wave of his hand and a curl of his lips. His fingertips were still glowing with the residual energy of magic. A fire message, then. Sent when she and Alec weren't looking. "I thought it prudent to get a head start while you two kept bickering."
"We weren't bickering - "
"Squabbling then," Magnus amended, running a hand down Alec's arm with a sympathetic sigh. "Whatever you want to call it, it was adorable. Your forehead kept wrinkling like this - "
Magnus reached up to push at the skin of Alec's brow.
"Okay, okay." Alec batted Magnus' hands away, trying to be exasperated but failing when Izzy noticed his smile. "So we're doing this?"
"We're doing this," Izzy said with a nod, not underestimating exactly what they were trying to pull off.
They would lie to Maryse Lightwood and the entire Clave. And there would be no going back.
..._...
As of this afternoon, the Cathedral Cult case was officially closed.
Pierce was an asshole, but he was a fair asshole. Chloe had been chasing dead-ends for weeks now, and she had run out of IOUs. She was lucky Pierce didn't designate her to desk duty for the rest of the month as punishment for wasting his time and resources.
"It doesn't make any sense," Chloe sighed, putting the file back down and steeping her fingers under her chin. "The intel Lucifer got from the funeral was good. It was supposed to be a solid lead. Everything added up. And then - "
"And then no one showed up," Dan finished, a sympathetic smile ready to comfort her. "I get it, Chloe. I do. But sometimes, these things just don't work out. It's nothing against you or how good of a detective you are."
"I don't know, Dan. This whole case has been so confusing, even from the start. It's like I can't see the whole picture."
"Or, maybe you're seeing things that aren't there," Dan suggested. They had walked this particular road before, back during Palmetto Street, but Dan knew better than to mess with her head these days. He was just worried, and he was right to be. "This is LA. Cults are common currency, but that doesn't mean every freaky tattoo equals people drinking the Kool-Aid."
"But Lucifer recognized those tattoos. He said that his brother was a legitimate cult leader."
"Lucifer also says he's the Devil. Do we really trust him when it comes to this?"
That was...a good point. But why would Lucifer make up such an elaborate scenario? What did he gain from throwing his brother under the bus? Besides, that went against the first fundamental rule of Lucifer Morningstar.
"He never lies."
"Maybe he thinks it's true. In that twisted head of his, maybe this all makes sense. But we also know he's a textbook narcissist and will do whatever it takes to get attention, especially from you." That hit a little too close to home. Lucifer was Chloe's blind spot, but even she knew that was the truth. Too many cases were complicated and evidence botched because Lucifer was busy preening like a peacock to impress her. Dan let out a long breath and leaned in a little closer. "I'm not saying he fabricated evidence and got those kids killed, but we all know he doesn't have the best family situation. It took him forever to be civil with Amenadiel. Maybe he's just trying to find a way to stick it to his brother."
"Maybe," Chloe conceded, rubbing at her temples. Her eyes were tired, and the coffee had worn off hours ago. "I should probably head home and relieve the sitter. Who knows what Trixie's done to her."
Dan chuckled and stood up as Chloe did. "Probably coerced her into baking chocolate cake."
They really had created a monster.
Chloe gave Dan a genuine smile. "Thanks, for listening."
"Anytime." Dan gave a little wave. "Goodnight, Chloe."
It really was nighttime, wasn't it? Chloe had been so absorbed in her files that she had missed the sunset. This case had taken over her life. Maybe it was for the best the lead was a dead end. Maybe it was for the best Pierce pulled the plug.
Chloe got up from her desk and turned her lamp off. She was the last one out of the precinct that night, just like all the others before. That had to change. She was going to make a change, start fresh with a new case in the morning.
As she passed Pierce's office, she dropped the closed case files in the box by his door. It was time to move on and chalk this whole thing up to some kind of LA madness.
And if Lucifer was hiding somewhere in the precinct, making sure that those files ended up buried at the bottom of some archive box from 2001, then Chloe was none the wiser.