This one's a little longer and on the bright side, earlier post!
Chapter 10: Flying to New York on angel wings
Chloe rode the lift to Lucifer's penthouse. It was still early enough in the evening that Lucifer was likely to be at home. She had checked the main part of Lux before she came up and the bartender had reported that his boss was yet to descend.
Chloe still wasn't entirely sure how she was supposed to convince Lucifer to go to New York with her. If it was any other murder case it would be easy. Lucifer seemed to enjoy working murders. The Punisher in him she supposed. However it was the New York part that Chloe was sure was going to be the stumbling point. Lucifer liked LA.
As the doors to the lift pinged open Chloe stepped into the penthouse and looked around. There was a glass and an open bottle of bourbon on the piano, usually a good sign that Lucifer was home. "Lucifer?" She called, dropping her keys and coat on the end of the bar.
"Detective?" Lucifer appeared from his bedroom. His hair was damp and tousled and he was only wearing a robe. She had obviously caught him getting changed for the night.
"There you are." She said unnecessarily. She really wished that he was fully dressed, it was much harder to concentrate like this.
Lucifer arched an eyebrow at her. "If I didn't know you better detective I would say you were nervous. Not scared of little old me?" A crackle of hellfire danced through his eyes as he wriggled his eyebrows at her.
Chloe chuckled despite herself. "Of course not. I just have something I need to discuss with you."
Chloe went and leant against the piano and contemplated the open bottle. Lucifer settled himself on the piano stool and offered her his glass.
Chloe shook her head and decided to just press on. "You know that case from the NYPD?"
"The one with those garish Enochian sentences written in blood?" Lucifer supplied, he prodded a few piano keys thoughtfully. "Rings a bell."
"Well Lieutenant Singleton had a call today from Captain Gates of the NYPD requesting that you go down to New York to help them on that case. They apparently would like your expertise with the language." There it was out in the open.
Lucifer looked disgusted. "Why would I go to New York? It's bloody cold and full of stuffy people with no sense of fun." He poured himself another drink. "If they have more of the writing I can translate it from here."
Chloe bit her lip. It might not seem like much, but it was a good start, Lucifer was willing to help. As she had expected it was the locale that was the problem. "I'll be going too." She added, hopefully that would be enough to sweeten the deal. Lucifer had admitted a long time ago that Chloe was the main reason he liked working with the LAPD.
"Why would you want to go? Besides don't you have your offspring to look after?" Lucifer didn't look any more convinced. Chloe winced. Thankfully Dan was being super supportive of the opportunity to work with the NYPD.
"Dan is going to look after Trixie and Maze will help…" She paused, "I still can't believe I'm happy to rely on a demon for babysitting." Chloe shook her head and got back to the point. "Lucifer there is a killer out there who is going to keep killing until he gets his message out and you're the only person with any kind of sense of what's going through this guy's head. Please." Right, she was down to begging now.
Lucifer looked thoughtful and picked out a soft tune on the piano. "How do you expect to get down there? I'm all for a road trip, but there will be a hell of a pile of bodies by the time we get there."
Chloe steeled herself for another argument. "We're flying. The LAPD will pay, but we have to fly economy or you can buy us tickets and we can fly first class." Make it look like he has options, let him make the decisions. She could see Lucifer wavering.
Lucifer flicked a glance at her out of the corner of his eye. "We want to get there quickly don't we?"
"Yes. So you'll come with me?" Chloe asked, her eagerness edging into her voice.
"Of course detective, you only had to ask. But I'm not flying commercial." The disgusted look was back on Lucifer's face. "I'm not getting stuck in a metal tube with a bunch of sweaty, grumpy ingrates and screaming children."
Chloe pondered the other options. "So what a private jet?" She tried, it was ridiculously extravagant which was exactly Lucifer's style.
Lucifer chuckled darkly and closed the lid on the piano. "Try again detective. Why pay to fly when there are cheaper and much faster options." He shrugged his shoulders suggestively. It took Chloe's brain a few moments to catch up with the suggestion and when it did she could feel the blood drain from her face. "You can't be serious." She gasped.
Lucifer had turned to go back into his bedroom. "Why not detective. Pack light, there's only so much 'Air Lucifer' can carry." He vanished back into the other room with a musical laugh.
Chloe stood and stared after him then numbly returned to the lift. At least she had convinced him to go. Chloe had to clamp down on a hysterical giggle. What a ridiculous situation; flying to New York on angel wings to solve a murder with the devil.