A/N : Wow, I can't believe that I've actually gotten up to 15 followers now. I'm glad that everyone is enjoying this story. I would like to give a special shout out to one of you in particular. SusanInColorado, I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for your glowing review of my second chapter, and your encouragement. I was amazed that due to your own real life experience, you were able to relate to what Lucifer's going through on such a personal level. I guess my research into the effects of PTSD must have really paid off.

Now, please enjoy chapter 4...

Chapter - 4

A Case In Point

The sun drenched alley was swarming with forensic scientists, investigators and uniformed officers by the time Chloe's car had arrived on scene. Lucifer and herself had only just made it to the sidewalk that ran alongside Linda's office, when she'd received a call from her Lieutenant about their latest murder case. He had been completely cool, calm and collected during the drive over, but the sight of the crime scene and all the other officers seemed to be more than enough to once again put him on edge. Chloe parked her car a few feet away from the yellow tape that surrounded the crime scene and announced with a gentle but serious tone, as she turned to her partner and placed a consoling hand on his shoulder, "Just remember what we talked about, Lucifer. All you have to do is stick close to me, and everything should run smoothly." Lucifer nodded and replied timidly, "All right, detective."

Without another word, they both unfastened their seat belts and got out of the car closing the doors behind them. Chloe led the way over to a uniformed officer with Lucifer following close behind her and asked with an air of professional detachment that had always impressed the club owner, "So, what do we have?" The young officer took a deep breath and replied calmly, "This's a freaky one, detective. The victims body was discovered only ten minutes ago by a homeless junkie who had been scavenging the alley dumpsters trying to find food. She's a 16 year old 5'5 125 lb. Caucasian female who looks to be from the rich side of town. The cause of death seems to be a broken neck, but the interesting thing was the fourth degree burns that we found around the victims throat, as if her skin had been scalded with boiling water."

Chloe took a deep breath and said with a frown of agreement, "Yes, that does sound weird. Where's the homeless junkie that you had mentioned?" The officer sighed and replied matter-of-factly, "He had to be taken to a psychiatric hospital for a 72 hour stay. He was babbling and severely incoherent, when we got here. Nobody could get an intelligent response from him." "Any other witnesses.", Chloe inquired wonderingly. The officer just shook his head and replied casually, "There doesn't seem to be, detective." Chloe nodded in understanding and said seriously, "All right. If you get any new developments, I want to be informed immediately." "Yes, Mam.", the officer replied with an obedient smile and then walked away to rejoin his fellow officers.

Chloe turned to ask Lucifer's opinion and to her surprise found that her partner had disappeared. She frantically looked around and then sighed in relief, after she spotted him over by the dumpster and knelt down beside the body of the dead girl. The homicide detective smiled and said light heartedly as she made her way over and knelt down beside him, "Lucifer, you're in no condition to be just wandering off like that." Her smiled faded when she noticed that his body was shaking all over. Chloe took a deep calming breath and then asked wonderingly, with the hopes of distracting her partner from his obvious misery, "Have you ever seen burns like this before?"

Lucifer's body suddenly calmed, and he replied repentantly, "This's all my fault, Detective. If I would have just stayed in hell to begin with, none of this would've ever happened. My father was right to throw me out, detective. It's become more than obvious that I'm nothing more than a complete screw up." Chloe just stared at her partner for a few moments in stunned silence unable to believe her ears. Finally, the Detective cleared her throat and said reproachfully, "You can't seriously believe that you're to blame for this poor girls death, Lucifer. I can pretty much guarantee that this murder has nothing to do with you. None of my colleagues are going to try to pin this on you. Malcolm's gone now, and he won't be coming back. I know that you believe that the entire human race blames you for all it's short comings, but It seems to me that you're actually beginning to take all that garbage to heart."

The night club owner took a deep shuttering breath and remarked despondently, as he wiped away new tears," I'm sorry, Detective. I don't understand what's happening to me. I can't help how I feel. all of this fear and These emotions are so bloody new to me. For some inexplicable reason, I can't seem to control them. I don't know how to control them." Chloe nodded and replied consolingly, "Yes, I'm very well aware of this. I think that maybe we should get you back to the club. It's obvious that this crime scene is overloading you, at the moment." Chloe got back to her feet and added with a soothing smile, as she help Lucifer get back to his, "Don't worry, Lucifer. Help is on the way."

Meanwhile, back at Lux, Maze stood behind the bar occupied with the important task of taking inventory of the night club's stock of liquor, when she heard the familiar welcomed sound of a nearby door opening and then closing shut again. Maze turned around and with a relieved and grateful smile, found Chloe leading her boss down the short staircase. The ninja/demon bartender put her clip board down on the counter and said cheerfully, as she walked out from behind the bar, "Oh, Thank your father. I'm so pleased that you're back, Lucifer." Maze began to run towards the new comers but stopped short, as Lucifer instantly hid behind Chloe for protection. Maze smile faded, and she looked at the detective with a frown of confusion.

Chloe took a deep calming breath and replied apologetically, "You'll need to forgive him, Maze. Lucifer not actually in his right mind at the moment. He's having a great deal of difficulty with trusting others and controlling his reactions. It seems that Malcolm's really done a number on him. You're going to need to keep a real close eye on this man, at least for tonight." The Homicide detective then turned to her partner and gently added, as she looked directly into her partner's eyes, "Now, Lucifer I want you to get a good nights sleep, all right? under no circumstances, are you to have any liquor what-so-ever. I want you to pack a few suitcases and be ready to go by the time I come by to pick you up in the morning." Lucifer just gave her a confused and silent nod.

Maze took a sudden step back and inquired in annoyance raising her voice an octave, "Oh whoa. Wait one damn minute. I want to know what in the hell is going on here, Detective. Why would he need to start packing anything?" Chloe sighed and replied seriously, "Linda and I had a nice long talk, and it had been decided that the best way to help Lucifer get back to the way he use to be would be to put him into a more stable environment. He's going to be coming home with me for a while." There was suddenly a stunned silence between the two women. Maze then folded her arms and remarked, "You can't just separate us like that. In case you haven't noticed, Lucifer hails from a royal blood line, and I had made a vow a long time ago and my job's to protect him."

Chloe nodded and replied understandingly, "Maze, I'm well aware of how much you care about Lucifer and that you only want what's best for him. This was actually Linda's idea, not mine. However, I do understand where she was coming from. Linda's putting him on a very powerful anti-psychotic , and he's going to need constant supervision, while he's taking it. Linda's making it possible for me to become his temporary legal guardian for a while. She wants me to completely keep him off the liquor and make sure that he gets his meds on time. If I didn't agree to this, Linda was going to put him into a mental hospital. I'm pretty sure that you wouldn't want that to happen."

The Demon/ninja bartender was silent for a long time, as she considered the vital information that she had just been given. After what seemed like an eternity, Maze allowed her arms drop to her sides and asked worriedly, "Will we still be able to keep the club open?" Chloe nodded and replied with a reassuring smile, "Yes, Maze. Lucifer still has to be able to make a living, so, I'm going to find a way to work it all in. You can even drop by every-so-often to check on Lucifer. I know how deeply you care about his well being. Circumstances won't be changing all that drastically for him. This will even give him the chance to get use to being around Trixie.." Maze sighed and replied nonchalantly, "Ok, fine. I'll help Lucifer pack his things, and I'll see to it that he gets a good night sleep. I just hope that his brothers and father don't decide to make their opinions known."

Chloe smiled and replied gratefully, "Maze, I'm sure that everything's going to be just fine. I'll see you both in the morning." Without another word, Chloe turned and calmly strolled out of the night club, as both Maze and Lucifer looked on in sheer amazement.

A/N: Ok, I wanted to let all of you loyal readers know that we're about to start dealing with emotion from the opposite end of the spectrum with some hilarious consequences, especially from where Trixie is concerned. I hope that you're all ready for this shift in Lucifer's behavior. There will still be plenty of drama and there's about to be another murder and a trip to a new crime scene.

So please stay tuned...