Two days.
Two days had passed since the cases had started. Much to Chloe and Lucifer's chagrin, they were eventually forced to work with Michael and Pierce, since they figured out the cases were connected. Dan had stepped out of the investigation, using his vacation days to spend more time with Trixie. The four of them continued the search for Jackson Steve, while slowly putting the pieces together about their victims. For instance, they'd went back to question Kyle, who had told them that Liam had a girlfriend named Zoe. They pressed further, with Kyle admitting that Liam had told him something about the girl's sister being a bitch, and Liam finding a way to help Zoe out of the situation that would involve "getting a little messy".
They'd gotten more information out of Zoe, who, after learning Liam was dead, had admitted that the two of them had planned Ashton and Liorah's deaths. But she insisted she knew nothing about Alexander. They questioned whether she knew if Liam had killed Ashton himself, but she told them he had "gotten an old friend to help out". Which led them right back to the gang. They'd brought Tommy in for questioning, and the man told them that, yes, Liam had come to him to have someone kill Ashton, and he'd sent Jackson. And then, Liam had come back asking for someone else to kill Alexander, stating he was learning too much.
And, so, Jackson was sent out to murder his next victim. He'd supposedly returned wounded, and after getting medical attention, he'd taken off. But that still left them with two things. Liam was dead, and they had no idea how that went down, and Jackson was still out there. At least, a few hours ago he was. Now, Lucifer and Michael stood in front of him, the interrogation room otherwise empty, and Lucifer was considering just intimidating the poor soul into giving them the information they needed.
They'd worked hard to get where they were, this little gnat wasn't going to ruin it so soon. Lucifer tilted his head toward his older brother, who returned the look, amber eyes sparkling contemplatively. After a moment, the archangel brushed past the Devil and walked over to the window, casually pulling the blinds down so that nobody else could see inside. Lucifer hummed, turning his gaze back to Jackson, who was growing increasingly nervous at that point, his wide eyes darting back and forth between Michael and Lucifer.
"Look, even if you don't tell us what we need to know, you're still going to jail. Your buddy Tommy's already told us that you murdered Ashton Reynolds and Alexander Miles," Michael said dryly, pacing back to Lucifer's side and staring Jackson down, amber eyes flickering with fire. "So you might as well fess up to killing your buddy Liam as well."
Jackson just stared at him, dead silent, his green eyes flickering coldly. He sank back wordlessly, crossing his arms and squeezing his eyes shut. Michael clicked his teeth together before looking over at Lucifer, and the Devil looked up, focusing on his older brother and tilting his head somewhat questioningly at the look Michael was giving him. But, he realized it, when his brother gestured to him and then nodded toward Jackson.
"Riiight," Lucifer cleared his throat and walked forward, slamming his hands down onto the table in front of Jackson. The man jumped, eyes snapping open and flying up to Lucifer's face. "Right, hello, yes. Tell me, Jackson…" He leaned forward, holding his gaze. "What do you desire, hm?"
Jackson blinked, his expression going from hostile to confused in an instant. His gaze held Lucifer's, eyes wide, and it took him a moment to be able to speak, seemingly trying to keep the words from being forced out. "I…" He trailed off, breathing a little heavier - Lucifer was impressed, he was resisting pretty well. "I just…"
"Go on, tell me what you want…" Lucifer growled, leaning a little closer and keeping his gaze locked with Jackson's. The man continued to resist, hesitating for a long, long time before finally spitting it out.
"I just wanted my money, man!"
"Ah, did you?" Lucifer lowered his chin, his voice dropping slightly as he kept his eyes rooted to Jackson's. "And when Liam refused to pay, you killed him, too. And then you ran, like a murderous, selfish, coward."
"That money was mine, and he wouldn't pay up. I was angry!" Jackson exclaimed, shaking his head. Lucifer nodded and leaned back, casting a smug glance toward Michael, who merely rolled his eyes in response. "So, yeah, I- I killed him, a'ight? Don't tell Tommy, dude. He'll be pissed."
"Oh, trust me. Tommy's not the one you're going to have to worry about," Lucifer assured with a chuckle, turning back to his older brother. "Well, there's our confession. Guess the case is officially closed."
"Thank Dad," Michael huffed, running his fingers through his blonde hair and rolling his eyes to the ceiling for a second. "That was agonizing. Really don't understand how you work this job, Sammy. Not one bit."
"It's not all bad. Oh… One more thing, though. I need to talk to you, later. Alone." With that, Lucifer shoved past his older brother and threw the door open, leaving the room. He heard a small hum of acknowledgement from Michael as he followed, the door shutting behind them easily, and he turned to head over to Chloe. The Detective was seated at her desk, going through papers, but she looked up when Lucifer and Michael approached.
"Did you get him to spill?"
"Yup. One criminal ready to be slammed behind bars, courtesy of your favorite Detective Devil," Lucifer replied proudly, earning a smack on the back of his head from Michael. Lucifer flinched, catching the glare Chloe shot his brother's way, but he intervened before Chloe could bring herself into it, giving Michael a faintly annoyed look before glancing away. "And his asshat brother, I suppose."
"Wow-" Michael started, but paused when a familiar voice broke into the conversation. Or, at least, familiar to Lucifer.
"Hey, bitches!"
"Mazikeen!" Lucifer exclaimed gleefully, immediately turning to face his friend. Maze grinned as she approached, idly spinning a blade in one hand and dragging along some terrified-looking dude with the other. She tossed the guy at some random cop as she passed, brushing her hand off on her shirt. "You're back, wonderful. Did you have fun?"
"As always," Maze replied easily, tilting her head and focusing her gaze on Michael. After looking him up and down for a moment, she spoke. "Who's the new guy? He's hot."
"... And uncomfortable," Michael mumbled, sliding a step back and fixing the demon with a wary stare, amber eyes narrowed. Maze just grinned, running her tongue across her lips seductively and finishing it off with a wink before turning back to Lucifer expectantly. The Devil paused, gaze flickering from Michael to Maze and back again. Part of the reason he hadn't just called in Maze to track down Jackson was because he wanted his brother and the demon as far apart as possible, but… So much for that.
"Mazikeen, this is my brother, Michael," Lucifer finally sighed, turning his gaze to Maze. The demon's smile fell immediately, expression changing drastically as she stared at Lucifer, then turned her cold brown eyes to Michael. At that point, "uncomfortable" had turned into "slightly terrified". "Now, before you-"
Too late. Maze literally shoved Lucifer aside, grabbed Michael by the front of his shirt, and turned around, proceeding to literally just drag his now probably extremely terrified brother off. Lucifer opened his mouth, then just decided against it and turned back to Chloe. "That probably won't end well."
"No, it'll end great. Your brother is about to get his ass handed to him by a girl," Chloe scoffed, standing up and brushing herself off. Lucifer hummed softly in acknowledgement and looked away, letting his gaze trail around. "Well, I'm gonna tell Pierce about Jackson's confession and head home, Dan's dropping Trixie off in a few hours," she told Lucifer, pausing and looking up at him. "You need a ride?"
"No, I suppose I have to stop Mazikeen from killing Michael before I can tell him off myself," Lucifer mused, offering her a small smile. "I know where your house is, Detective, I'll be fine." After a moment, his smile faded. "Since Mazikeen is back, do you think me and Amenadiel should go back to the penthouse?"
"Would it be safe?" Chloe narrowed her eyes, glancing after Maze and Michael. Lucifer thought about that for a moment.
"I doubt Michael will be in the mood to mess with anyone after Maze is finished with him," he finally responded, once more smiling at her. "I'll stop by to pick Amenadiel up when I leave here." He tilted his head, chuckling. "Thank you for letting us stay there, by the way."
"Of course, Lucifer," Chloe replied, glancing away. Lucifer looked over, watching Pierce walk out of his office, and stepped back as the man headed over to them. He kept his smile on, despite wanting to punch Pierce in the face from the way Chloe smiled at the man the moment he approached, rage and jealousy boiling up once more.
"I'll leave you two alone," he managed to keep a calm, neutral tone as he turned and walked off. He didn't have much else to do now that Maze had taken Michael, but he did need time to prepare himself before he went off on his brother. So, instead, he headed toward Ella's lab, shrugging the door open. "Miss Lop- Miss Lopez? Odd, I could've sworn she was…" He trailed off, glancing around. The lab was empty, Ella was nowhere to be seen. Lucifer frowned, edging back a little and glancing inside once more to look around more thoroughly before shutting the door and turning away, pulling his phone out to call Ella.
After a few rings, it went to voicemail. The Devil frowned, dropping his hands back to his sides and narrowing his eyes at the floor, thoughtful. But, after a moment, he brushed it off. She probably just took the day off early and went home, maybe she was already talking to someone on the phone… Whatever the reason, he was sure she was fine.
He wasn't going to intervene with Michael and Maze, but after a moment, he decided he probably should. So, in an instant, he unfolded his wings, the precinct being replaced with, surprisingly enough, Lux. Flying was faster, and he needed to be fast to stop his brother from being violently carved like a Jack-O-Lantern. Maze had one of her blades to Michael's throat, and his older brother was doing his best to hide the fear, eyes narrowed down at it wordlessly. He glanced up when Lucifer appeared.
"Call your demon off."
"Let him go, Maze, I need to speak with him before you gut him like a fish," Lucifer sighed. Maze let out an indignant huff, but she shoved Michael away from her and stepped back, dropping the blade to her side. Michael smirked slightly to himself and straightened up, starting to brush himself off.
But that smug smirk was wiped from his face immediately when Lucifer suddenly stormed forward, and, without warning, slammed his fist into Michael's face with enough force to literally send his older brother flying back, crashing into his piano. Which, Lucifer internally cursed himself for, he'd just gotten that fixed, too.
Wasting no time, he strode forward, wings bristling as Michael pushed himself to his feet, seeming stunned. Lucifer simply threw him back again, this time into a wall, and walked forward to grab him by the throat, yanking him down to his level. "Let's talk about Miss Lopez, shall we?"