N/A: I'd rather avoid having to many parts in a single chapter, so Reverend Ecbert won't be featured in this conclusion, sorry. I hope you will enjoy the addition that I made, however. Thanks again for reading and for all your support following and reviewing the story.
Let there be Truth – Taste no evil / Conclusion
"You went alone on a stake out regarding one of your investigations and ended up injuring no less than seven mobsters, which were all arrested once the reinforcements arrived. Your weapon jammed in the middle of the firefight, as you secured the civilian involved, and you kept going with your spare piece, saving his life as well as yours. You also identified the lieutenant of the Kashirin Bratva operating in LA." The chief of police put the report back onto her desk and looked at Chloe with wide eyes. "Where have you been hiding all this potential, Decker? A seedy little record producer sent you to the hospital, you investigated a lead while being on leave, and you got a civilian injured during an investigation. Suddenly, you're the FBI equivalent to a war hero. They'd give you a medal for this if they could, and about two days ago, they'd have buried your carrier instead."
Chloe lowered her head, both humble and uneasy because of the strange kind of flattering her boss was dispatching today. It almost felt like she didn't want to congratulate her but had no choice. Still, Chloe knew where she came from. She had been asking herself the same question: how come this had gone so smoothly?
And the answer was annoying as hell, literally. Since the moment he had met her, Lucifer had expressed a certain confidence in her and most importantly her ability as a detective. Smart and with instinct, he had said, or something like that. Her parents had always been supportive, of course, but her father had never seen her go to the academy, and once she got there, she still was the girl from Hot Tub High School. Nobody had ever told her that she was a good detective, now that she thought about it. Even Dan hadn't been that supportive and he was the father of her child.
"You know what that means, right?" the chief said.
Chloe straightened her back. Lost in her thoughts, she hadn't really paid attention at her boss's speech. Luckily enough, the question was rhetorical.
"You are officially out of the no man's land, Decker. Your partner will be there tomorrow. I count on you to show him the ropes and make him as good a detective as you are." She extended an open hand. "Well done, Officer."
My what? Chloe bit her tongue to stifle the exclamation and shook her boss's hand without a word. She had no idea what had just happened, but for some reason she didn't trust it. She'd been running alone for quite some time now, and as she finally started to accept Lucifer's involvement in her investigations, someone else was ushered in her affairs.
In a way, she was glad she would finally get a partner, the natural state of any self-respecting cop, but something didn't bode well. Lucifer seemed like the jealous kind and his status as a teenager did nothing to reinsure her.
Lucifer strutted down the stairs of the Lux and ended with a little entrechat under Maze's unamused eyes. The demon turned bartender poured them both a heavy drink and walked to him with her usual feline gait.
"So, did you finally bed the woman?" she asked with a sigh.
"Which one?" Lucifer asked, obviously in a playing mood. "No, no, Maze. I didn't bed anyone tonight, although the night is still young." He winked and smoothly spun on the back of his heels to reveal the bullet holes in his expansive costume. "I've been shot. Multiple times. By multiple men. With multiple weapons. It seems I'm back to my old self, so you see, there's no cause for alarm. We can stay here for as long as we want."
Maze was taken aback, but while he thought it was his sudden return to immortality that surprised her, the demon was in fact stunned by what seemed like idiocy. She knew better than to think Lucifer an idiot, however. The angel was probably the smartest being in the whole of creation, or at least he was when he reflected on anything but himself and his tantrums. Self-aware, the devil was not.
"Don't you see what that means?" she exclaimed.
"Well, I just told you. It means we can stay."
"No, Lucifer. It means that she is the reason you bled. She is the one who can harm you, and we both know what that means." He'd made her swear not to ever talk about the time she took his wings under his orders, but Maze was a demon, she didn't care about keeping her word the way he did. "The only reason my blades could cut your skin, Lucifer, was your own will. You are in control."
He shook his head. "That's nonsense." Lucifer sounded just as angry as dismissive, and she knew him enough to understand that the only person he could lie to was himself.
"Tell me you didn't come here to die," Maze felt a bitter taste in her mouth as she spoke the words. The only thought of losing him brought a sharp pain, a clue to the devastating feeling that would take hold of her if he disappeared.
"What?" Lucifer chuckled. "Of course not. I'm well aware of what happens to the suicidal. I have no intention of experiencing that, trust me."
"I trust you, Lucifer," she came closer and put her hands on his hip after she got rid of her glass. "I went to hell for you and I followed you to this miserable place as well. I would swear my servitude to you if you were interested in having servitors, give away my freedom." She clenched her fist and her nails scratch his skin, leaving an ephemeral mark under his shirt. "But I will not give you away. I won't let Him take you back."
Lucifer laughed clear and high. "You think my father wants me back? Oh, Mazikeen, how childish a thought!"
"Of course I think he wants you back, Lucifer. I don't know a being in this world that doesn't love you as much as they hate you." She put her palm on his cheek, and although she didn't have the strength or the influence to force his eyes down onto hers, he was kind enough to meet her gaze. "Your word is your bound, Lucifer. Promise me you aren't looking for a way out of eternity."
Lucifer gently grabbed her hand and grinned as he placed it on his firm buttocks. "If there were a way out of eternity, I wouldn't want you to find it, my dear. And there is nowhere I would want to go without my most precious friend." He closed his eyes and the music suddenly started playing. When he opened them back, they were bright with hell's fire but instead of wrath, Maze saw the warmth of his true power. "Let us dance."