Two minutes before the end of the World
NOTE: This takes places somewhere after Amenadiel became God. BTW, I am an ESL writer and use online corrector. Hopefully, the result is acceptable. But if not, I'll refrain. Thanks for your comprehension.
Cold as Hell
Chleo Decker sat heavily on her chair, eyes glued to the pile of files stacked on the desk in front of her. It had been a long day, investigating a curious and suspicious death. Yes, a long day, and it wasn't over yet. The detective rubbed her eyes, refraining from yawning. It wasn't even 6 p.m. yet and she felt like going home, relaxing with Trixie for a while and then going to bed early.
But she could not, at least not until she wrote down some notes about the latest case. That done, she could finish the rest of the paperwork early the next morning.
As she reopened her eyes, the sight of the stack of files had been replaced by one of a cup of coffee. Held by the hand of her partner, Lucifer.
"Thanks, Lucifer," Chloe exhaled, forcing a tired smile to appear on her lips. "If you used your mojo on me right now, I'd answer coffee!"
"Somehow, I'm just plain happy that I can guess just exactly what you desire, Detective," Lucifer replied, smiling lightly with a hint of concern in his dark eyes, "Maybe you should go home now. It has been a long day indeed, even for me."
First thing in the morning, they had both been called to a crime scene. It all started well enough, with one victim lying on the ground in the cold room of the largest butcher establishment – charcuterie, Lucifer corrected – in Los Angeles. And was it cold in that storage! Only after an hour or so of investigating, did they stop shivering, thanks to the large door that had been left to accommodate the investigation. Chloe had some fun poking at the Devil freezing. But the fun ended when he remarked that if any of them was to die of hypothermia, she would be first to go. Of course, he was right, invulnerability or not, he would survive longer.
The joking thus stopped, and Ella Lopez soon joined them on the crime scene. Always a professional, the LAPD lab rat never showed any sign of discomfort at working with Lucifer, even after learning the truth about his real nature. Which was a relief for everyone in the know.
"What d'you have here?" Ella asked, already kneeling by the victim.
"It appears to be a deceased human, Miss Lopez. In this case, I believe the expression cold meat might be in order," Lucifer pipped in, smiling.
"Geez Louise," Ella replied, not even looking up at him, "Thanks for stating the obvious, Luci," she continued, using his nickname, knowing full well that it irked him. Two can play this game! "Not much blood, must have been small caliber," she said, almost talking to herself as she examined the bullet hole on top of the man's head. "He's been dead for a few hours, hard to tell given the room temperature. Damn, it's freezing here."
"Literally. Thanks for stating the obvious, Miss Lopez," Lucifer quipped.
"We didn't find the weapon." Chloe cut in, "Nor any witnesses. He was the only night staff, and his coworkers found him like this in the morning."
And when the ice sticking to the ceiling of the cold room started dripping on them, the trio soon finished processing the scene – actually, there was only the victim to process – and retreated out of the cold to interview the warehouse workers and review the security footage. Ella had returned to the lab, to wait for the first forensic and autopsy results.
Interviews lasted a long time. Way too long for a total of zero new clue on what happened to the deceased man. Way too long, especially for Lucifer, who found no interest at all in this case. The sampling of the charcuterie kept him distracted for a while, but that was it. None of the coworkers knew anything, the dead guy had no known enemy and worst, the security cameras we not in working order that night.
After a few hours, they had returned to follow up on a previous case before arriving back at the precinct in the late afternoon.
By the end of the workday, the precinct was almost deserted. The night crew were starting to come in for their shift.
Right now, Chloe was tempted by the Devil. Rather by his suggestion, that is, to go home and leave the paperwork for tomorrow. She was about decided to do just that, but only once she was finished with her coffee.
"What else do you think I most desire now?" Chloe asked mischievously as she looked up at him, standing by her desk. Just chatting to pass time while sipping her coffee, the detective enjoyed these moments at the end of the workday, when they could relax a bit in the almost deserted precinct.
"A smoked meat sandwich and a foot massage," Lucifer replied seriously, quite certain that at least one of these guesses would match her desires.
"Hrm," Chloe seemed to think for a moment, "No. I was more in the line of twelve hours' sleep."
"And I had no sleep at all in mind," Lucifer replied, leaning down to close the distance between them, his eyes slightly darkening as he looked at her intensely.
"I'll make a deal with you," Chloe announced, still smiling up at him, "Smoked meat it is, and foot massage. Full night sleep." She laughed at the deception showing on his face at the mention of a full night sleep, which was in total opposition to what she knew he had in mind. And to be honest, on her mind as well. But she knew she was too tired. "Oh, and a rain check for a couple sleepless night."
"This is the most enticing deal I have had in a while, Detective" Lucifer laughed, "And one that I am so totally willing to accept."
"Alright then," Chloe replied, standing, "Let's see what Ella has for us, then off we go."
They soon joined Ella in the lab, finding the young woman with her eyes glued to the microscope, not even looking up at them as Chloe and Lucifer entered the room.
"It's amazing, guys!" Ella started, "I mean, hrm, not as amazing as a certain guy, huh." Ella winked at Lucifer while saying this.
"Please, Ella, don't boost his over-inflated ego, will you?" Chloe sighed, rolling her eyes. Ella had definitely taken well the news of Lucifer being the Devil, and puns of all sorts could come from her as well as from Dan. Though the lab tech had more biblical references to use, mostly to nag Lucifer. It was all in good humor, and the detective's partner took it all without complaining one second.
"Thank you, Ella, for recognizing the truth of my amazingness," Lucifer couldn't stop but reply matter-of-factly.
"Anyway, I've got the lab results. You guys won't believe it," Ella added. She glanced at them from the microscope, and continued, pointing at a beaker half full of what seemed to be water. "There."
Chloe moved forward, Lucifer by her side, examining the watery content. "Poison?" Chloe wondered. "But he had a bullet hole in his head, Ella."
"Acid!" Lucifer offered, "Acid can bore holes even in bones." He stopped, nodding at Chloe who was looking oddly at him, "Yes. There are masochists in Hell, but I'll spare you the details."
"Nope, and nope," Ella replied, smiling and all excited as she explained, "Water!" And before they could question her sanity, she explained, "Water in its solid form. Yeah, ok, it's not solid anymore. But in the form of an icicle, falling from the cold room ceiling, hitting the poor chap at the perfect spot on his head, and poof. Gone. Kaput, finito. Man, his brain was practically floating in water." She paused, and concluded, "I guess his Guardian Angel was distracted, or on strike."
Lucifer straightened, frowning lightly, a split second. "Nope and nope, Ella. Guardian Angels are never distracted or on strike. It was simply a matter of the poor guy reaching the end of his mortal journey."
"Funny you would say that, Lucifer," Ella replied, visibly excited by the new topic. The fact that she didn't ask Lucifer to confirm the existence of the guardian angels was a testimony of her belief in them being real. Well, counting the Devil and the Angel of Death as some of your best friends made you a sure believer "I was chatting with this guy at the charity event, and he almost said the same thing. He said, the Guardian Angel can ease your path, but cannot divert you away from it. Destiny."
By this time, Chloe was turning towards the door, rubbing her eyes. A long day, ending with a conversation about guardian angels and destiny over a beaker of killer water. The only destiny she wanted for now, was to go home and sleep. "Thank you, Ella. I'll see you tomorrow. Coming, Lucifer?"
But the detective's partner didn't seem ready to leave quite yet. Something in what Ella just said nagged at the back of his mind.
"Just a moment, Detective, if you do not mind," Lucifer said, nodding at her before his eyes returned to Ella. "Miss Lopez, tell me. Did he say, guardian angels, or the Guardian Angel?"
Ella seemed to think for a moment, to remember the guy's exact words. "THE Guardian Angel," she finally answered, "I remember, because it sounded weird. Don't we all have our own guardian angel? I mean, do you have one, Lucifer?"
"Celestials have no guardian angels," Lucifer confirmed. But the details, although quite interesting, would have to wait. "Was there anything else particular about this man?"
"Oh, come on, Luci," Ella laughed, turning around to grab her bag as she was getting ready to call it a day. "Don't tell me you want a date with a guy singing at charity fairs!" She started packing her things. "I'll have to admit, he looks damn hot, I'll take a pict next time. And he sings… heavenly. Serious, Lucifer, you should have him sing at Lux some day. Anyway, I gotta go. See you guys!"
Chloe drove back home, Lucifer sitting in the passenger seat. They had grabbed the smoked meat sandwiches on their way home, but other than small talk about the specific type of mustard to have in them, Lucifer had been uncharacteristically quiet.
"Spill the beans already, Lucifer," Chloe sighed, knowing that her partner being silent was rarely a good sign.
"I assure you, I did not eat any overcooked starchy meal and even if I did, I would surely not spill them," he replied very seriously. By the tone of his voice, Chloe wasn't sure if he was seriously unaware of this expression or if he was joking.
"You are too silent, since we left the precinct. Was it this conversation about guardian angels that's bothering you? I'm not even convinced they do exist, but hey, I guess I should. Wonders won't cease."
It took some time for Lucifer to reply to this question. As for many events wrongly depicting him in books, stories, movies and folklore, the knowledge about guardian angels was quite mixed up in the mortals' minds. There were many ways humans represented what they conceived as an omnipotent personal protector. Most humans thought of them as simply angels.
Still, some details of the conversation with Ella keep nagging at his mind. Humans didn't think of guardian angels as one being. This ancient notion had not been retained in the stories, probably because it was easier – and way more comforting for humans – to think that an angel was specifically assigned to each of them.
"They do exist," Lucifer confirmed for the second time that night. "In general, mortals have the right conception of them."
"And…?" The revelation that guardian angels existed didn't seem to upset Chloe. Why would it? Still, she knew her partner well enough to know that there was more to the story.
"And," Lucifer sighted, "There are no guardian angels. There is one Guardian Angel." He paused, as Chloe drove to her house, parking the car. "Would you like to go to a charity fair tomorrow night, Detective?"