Author's Note: Decided to add a Chapter 2! The latter part of the story is directly taken from another one of my works, "Leaving"
I'm okay. I just need some time to think.
Lucifer's eyes almost bulge out of their sockets when he sees the message from the Detective after what seems like an eternity.
He struggles with his response, typing, then deleting, then typing again. This goes on for a full five minutes until he decides with a simple phrase.
Take all the time you need, Detective.
At least, there's some hope. Lucifer can be patient when he wants to be, and he'll give his partner anything she needs so they can both move past this. But, what to do in the meantime?
The club owner isn't interested in anything other than resuming his partnership with the Detective, even though it will most likely be a mere professional one. He'll admit to himself at least that he would have preferred it to be more, but he'll be fine either way.
The next morning, Ella informs the club owner that Chloe's back and at a crime scene, and asks, "Where the hell are you?" via text, to which he promptly responds with, "The Detective and I had an agreement, so I won't be showing up without her explicit approval."
Dude, what are you talking about?Details soonish, Miss Lopez. Let me know how it goes.
Of course, Lucifer will acquiesce to his partner's request if that's what it will take for them to go back to some degree of normalcy.
Meanwhile, the forensic analyst frowns at her phone's screen at the consultant's SMS and gives Chloe a questioning look.
"What was that all about?"
"What was what all about?"
"Lucifer. He said he's not gonna show up unless you ask him to. Did you guys fight?"
"Not exactly a fight. More like an earth-shattering revelation."
"Ahh. Well, I hope you guys patch up soon. The dude's been coming to crime scenes, hovering for the past days, looking for you, and then leaves disappointed when you don't show up. Speaking of, where have you been? Why aren't you more tanned?"
"Well, Trixie and I were supposed to go to Rome but, something came up, so we just traveled stateside."
"I see. Anyhow, are you ready for the victim's details?"
"Yes,"
With Dan and Ella's help, they were able to catch the US Marshall red-handed and apprehended him without further incident.
The following week, Chloe almost makes the call to her partner but decides against it. But when she hit a dead-end and pressure from upper management, and everything else that could go wrong, really, she gives in and asks him to come over.
Lucifer, as always, obliges. He shows up in his usual tailored suit, sticking out like a sore thumb on the set of the survival of the fittest hit show. And, he looks different from before. Like he's bulked up for battle or whatever.
He greets her like usual but maintains his distance, somehow paying extra attention to her reaction about him being there.
They interviewed all the contestants and got nowhere. With her frustration growing, Chloe lashes out at Lucifer after the latter argues with the show's director/producer.
"You are really selfish, aren't you?"
"If that's what you think, Detective. Then perhaps I should make myself scarce."
The Detective calms down and suddenly feels she's gone overboard when he walked out. But now is not the time, so she checks the cameras with the director, hoping to find Kylie's whereabouts as she's considered the primary suspect.
The Director is able to spot the contestant, compromising the gas tank and lights it up. Before the flames engulf the entire cabin, the director points out a familiar face sitting on one of the tables.
"NOOOOOOOO!"
Chloe screams in horror as the cabin blows up to smithereens. In that split second, she realizes that life is short and things happen and wish she could take it all back… when Lucifer walks out of the burning inferno without a scratch.
She catches up to him and says, "It blew up,"
"It did."
"You walk right through it."
"I did." He tells her as if it's common knowledge until he remembers and adds, "Perks of being in a fiery pit. It would have ended differently if you were close by."
"What?"
"You're the only one who could hurt me, Detective. I hope you don't make it a habit."
Kylie gets arrested afterward, but during the interrogation, Chloe finds out she's not the killer. Later that night, after Ella's additional information regarding the murder weapon, the Detective goes back to the set in one of their storage and finds the murder weapon, in turn, revealing the real killer.
She could have been hit with an ax if it weren't for Lucifer's quick reflex. Chloe got a clean shot on the culprit's right shoulder and got the unis to book him while checking on her partner.
"You're okay. It's just your jacket."
"Hardly. It's the second suit I've ruined in as many days, but, yes. Are you okay? I —" He stops blabbering when his partner steadies the ax on the center of his chest.
"If I pushed this into your chest, it would kill you?"
"Yes," He answers straight away without taking his eyes off her while she pushes the ax slowly, deliberately, but he doesn't even flinch.
"Because I'm close to you?"
"Yes."
"But you jumped in front of it anyway."
"Yes. And I would do it again and again. Don't you know that, Detective?"
Chloe's eyes well up with tears as she lifts the ax and sees the imprint it made on his chest. She blurts out a quick apology and caresses the wound. Hope blooms in the Devil as he feels tonight's a step in the right direction.
They parted ways for the night, both feeling a little bit lighter.
Lucifer decides to drop by Frank's church so that he could thank the man once more. The club owner waits for the priest to finish with one of the nightly confession regulars and smirks at the person coming out of the tiny room but doesn't comment.
"Hello, Lucifer. You seem relaxed tonight. Has anything good happened?"
"How come you know me so well, Padre?" The Devil gives the priest a handshake, "The Detective and I are on speaking terms again."
"That's wonderful news. I am happy for you truly. Let's take a seat?"
"After you," He leads them both in front of the altar.
"I'm getting reassigned to Chicago. This is my last night here, actually."
"But why?" Lucifer wouldn't admit it, but he sounds a little upset. "Who do I need to talk to to make sure you stay right here in Los Angeles?"
"Listen, we priests get assigned everywhere. This is a good opportunity to spread the word of God."
"Well, I'm sure the current priest in Chicago will do just fine. You don't need to leave. I need you here — I mean — this community needs you."
"I believe my work here is done, Lucifer. Connor will be alright. You'll be alright. Besides, you can always come to visit if you want to."
"Ugh. You are such a party pooper, Frank." Father Lawrence smiles and replies,
"I'll miss you, too. Send my regards to Chloe, will you?"
Lucifer doesn't think much of it. He doesn't know that Chloe spoke with Father Frank as well; the club owner just thought that the Detective was always the center of their conversations…
"If you change your mind, call me. I'll make the arrangements for you."
"Don't worry; I won't."
Two weeks later.
Lucifer watched from the top of the stairs as the crowd gathered on the dance floor, busybodies grinding and bouncing to the club beats, but truth be told, he was plain bored. The cases they handled recently were open and shut with a hell lot of paperwork, so there was nothing much to be done. He didn't want to bother the Detective, still giving her the space she needed yet making sure he was there the minute she called.
He sees a familiar face as he makes his descent, and even though it was a long time ago, it felt good seeing her in the flesh.
"What are you doing here?" The Prince of Darkness greets her with a peck on the cheek.
"Oh, you know. Heaven got boring."
"Why don't we catch up in the Penthouse?"
"Yeah!"
Pleasantries exchanged and a glass of scotch offered, Lucifer Morningstar would admit he's enjoying the present company. It was refreshing in the sense that she's someone familiar, who knew his old life, and they could talk for hours about nothing and everything.
"Where are you staying?" He asks because it was getting late. And although he misses Eve, he wasn't in the mood to do anything intimate with her.
"Haven't thought of that yet."
"Well, worry, not. I know Pierre at the Waldorf. He owes me a favor, so we'll get you a suite."
Lucifer was on his phone then, and the first woman was a bit disappointed that he didn't ask her to stay. If he only knew the reason she went back to Earth…
"Your Uber ride will be here in a few minutes."
"This must be you," Lucifer opened the car door after walking Eve to the entrance.
"Thank you for everything."
"Anything for an old friend," He smiles at her and then turns his attention over to the driver. "Take her home safely —hold on. You're not Rafael with five stars."
The driver pulls a gun on Lucifer's face and shouts at Eve, looking for a necklace.
"I am canceling this ride." Not at all perturbed, the Devil takes out his phone and starts working on rebooking a ride for Eve.
"Give me the necklace now, or I'll shoot your friend in the face!" Not-Rafael demanded.
"There's no need to be so rude," The Lightbringer once again plays it down and tries to reach for the gun, but the guy pulls the trigger and the former drops to the pavement. Eve immediately alights the vehicle to come to the Devil's aid, screams at the top of her lungs for help, only for Lucifer to bounce back as nothing happened.
"You're okay," The first woman's heartbeat slows down as the onlookers disperse.
"Well, I may need ibuprofen, but what I would love more is an explanation from you, Eve."
"So who the hell was that? It's not every day I get shot in the face for some necklace." Lucifer's voice is irritated more than ever. He hates getting shot, especially in the face.
"I have no idea who that scary driver was. The only necklace I remember was that of Pablo's."
"And Pablo is…?"
"The guy who gave me a ride on his jet. He kept showing me this costly necklace he made for some Arab guy named Buster?"
"That doesn't sound very Arab."
"Bashir?"
"Bashir Al Fassad?"
"You know him?"
"He owes me a favor, claims to be a concierge of crime. Bashir will stop at nothing if he thinks you have his property."
"But I really don't! I swear!"
"Then perhaps a visit is in order to clear things up."
Eve nodded. Just then, Lucifer's phone rang, and his face immediately lit up upon seeing the caller id.
"Hello, Detective. How may I be of service?"
"We have a case. Some guy named Pablo. Has this connection with a Bashir Al Fassad."
"What a great coincidence! I just happen to know Bashir, and I have a witness here who spoke with Pablo."
"Okay, meet me at the precinct."
The Devil picks up his coat and ushers Eve into the elevator.
"Who was that?"
"Oh, that's my partner."
"Oh."
At the precinct, Lucifer found Chloe looking into more paperwork that he just had to shake his head. Why is this precinct giving her so much work?
"Detective!" He calls out, and the latter barely looks up.
"You have the witness with you?" She says almost automatically, still scribbling away on pages upon pages of endless admin work.
"This is Eve. She's an old friend who happened to be on that plane before Pablo kicked off."
Lucifer gets Eve off the hook after cashing in his favor with Bashir. But since the case still needs solving, he had to enlist the latter's help to showcase the actual necklace that's been up for auction. This was a team effort, the Detective finding out the auction's location, and him posing as a buyer.
Even Daniel pitched in.
After the initial price he set, the other bidders just kept on adding, which annoyed the Devil more.
"Ten million!" He stood up and flashed that number 69 and smirked at the other bidders as the auctioneer declared the item sold to his name.
The Devil and Detective then get to meet the item's owner, who turned out to be another acquaintance of both Bashir and Pablo. To make matters worse (rather, irritating for the Lightbringer), he wasn't the killer.
While waiting backstage, Eve meets the actual killer, who turned out to be Toby, Pablo's business partner. A standoff ensues, and in the middle of the chaos (the aftermath of the first woman's ball-crushing technique), the partners did what they do the best and eventually subdued the suspect and retrieved the item.
With the case solved, Chloe and Lucifer temporarily parted ways so that the former can book the suspect and sign the necessary paperwork (another addition to her impeccable solve rate). At the same time, the latter finally rebooked that ride and deposited Eve at the Waldorf.
The Detective was finishing a few more paperwork for the day when Ella approached her desk.
"So, how is Lucifer? He hasn't been that chatty these past weeks ever since he came back. I thought you guys made up?"
"I thought we did."
"Oh, come on! Your overall dynamic is way off."
"You know, I just realized something."
"Okay…?"
"I miss him. I mean, he pisses me off all the time! And there are so many things about him that I find hard to accept, but I just have to believe I can find a way. Because I'd rather have him in my life than not."
"Then, I think you know what you have to do."
With that, Chloe stood up and set aside the remaining work for tomorrow, and headed to Lux. It wasn't opened to the public yet when she got there and found Lucifer sitting by his piano, jacket discarded on the floor.
"Hey,"
The Devil looked up and smiled at her, a bit surprised at the unexpected visit.
"Detective! Fancy seeing you here. I thought you were going to work overtime to finish your backlogs."
"I was. I changed my mind. Where is, uh, Eve?"
"Oh, got her accommodations at the Waldorf."
"I see."
"So, what brings you to Lux? Please don't tell me there's another murder?"
"I'm here for you."
"You are?"
Shit. The Devil thought. Is she going to kick me out this time? But I did everything by the book!
"Can you...show me your other face again?"
Lucifer held his breath for a second, thinking about how to handle the current dilemma. Has the Detective lost her marbles or something?
"That's not necessary, Detective. Once is enough. I don't wanna ruin whatever we have —"
"Please. I need to see it again."
The Devil sighed. Even though he wasn't sure he understood what was happening, he complied and showed his infernal visage without making eye contact. But despite his effort, two hands held his otherworldly facade that forced him to lock his gaze with his red eyes.
"I'm not afraid anymore." She said and went in for a kiss. He reciprocates with the same amount of passion while turning back to his human form to stare at the miracle in front of him.
"This is real, isn't it?"
Chloe nodded, and this time he initiated another kiss.
Weeks later and the Devil had to leave Chloe behind because of what Eve did — summoning demons hoping that he'd go back to how he used to be and be with her again — throwing a wrench once again in their budding romance.
Even though Chloe understood why Lucifer had to leave, it didn't make it any less painful.