A/N: Hello everyone.
Firstly, I want to thank my readers all around the globe. I can create things all day, but I am only truly an artist if someone interacts with the things I create. So, Thank you all for making me an artist again. Secondly, the views for Dancing Girl are OVER 9000(!). This is very exciting from both a nerd perspective and as a milestone for this story. I am planning a fun Halloween-themed filler chapter for the 19th of October this year to celebrate the view count and the one year anniversary of the story's initial publication. Since I will be releasing a special filler chapter for October, this chapter is double length. Please feel free to message me (or leave a review) with any comments, questions, or suggestions for this exciting occasion.
Thanks again,
Mint Tea and Skulls
Chapter 14: Working Overtime
"STOP! STOP! I'LL TELL YOU EVERYTHING!"
The cry halted Natalie's hand. Her dull, serrated blade rested gently in her hand as she looked over the bloody mess of a man before her.
"Everything?" She teased, inching the blade closer.
The man tried to retreat into the wall he was bound against and nodded frantically with open tears.
"Good" She said warmly, "Then start at the beginning. Who asked you to jump them and why?"
She plopped down in the nearby chair. The bloodied man stared at her in a momentary horror. She sat with a smile as she used the knife to clean under her nails. It was as though the last twenty-five minutes hadn't even happened.
"Chr-Christenson. He wanted Wonder Detective 'permanently handled'. S-Somethin' about a crusade against The Families since those posers got wiped."
"And Christenson called you?"
"Y-Yeah, said the bitch was known to work with an associate of yours. He didn't trust you to get it done."
The babbling continued in the background as Natalie stood and turned away from the whimpering man. 'Of course it would be the damn cop that makes this difficult. I wonder if Maze has a preference to her roommate or boss ending up dead.' She thought to herself. A sigh tumbled from her as her shoulders drooped. She already knew what the only real option was.
"Well, I guess I'll just have to save both." She said quietly before turning back to her captive. "Who else did he call? You aren't known for reliability, thus there must be a back-up."
The rambling promptly stopped. Her eyebrow raised at the locked jaw he presented her. "Well, that confirms a back-up. But Justin, what happened to 'everything'? Don't worry, you'll tell me." She responded with a smirk, twirling the knife playfully.
0-0 0-0 0-0
Lucifer walked briskly behind the detective as they tried to find where his dancer had vanished to with their would-be attacker. He added another odd trait to his growing list of observations about Miss. Varquez, she could give him the slip. His pace slowed as he waited for the detective to come to the same conclusion so they could look else where, like her loft. Which he wanted to visit for purely business reasons, not to ask silly questions like why she was following him, or what she desired from him. 'Hell, what she desires in bloody general.' He thought with a light growl.
"Well, she's gone. Any ideas were your ninja went this time?" The detective asked as they returned to the scene of the attack. The rest of the pack had been handcuffed for pick-up and questioning.
He smiled sweetly, "Well, I do know where she lives, although I doubt she would take a captive there, Detective. However, we are not completely empty-handed."
As one of the group of attackers began to stir, Lucifer squatted next to him to place them on eye-level. "Hello, you and your friends here just tried to attack the detective and myself. A most unfortunate choice for yourself. Now what I would like to know is what is it you truly desire?"
The man shuddered before speaking, "To finish this last job. The reward was big enough I could retire and leave the country."
"A reward from whom?"
"Christenson." The man said before coming out of the daze. A look of panic etched into his face as he stared at the ground.
The detective stared at the man with a slacked jaw. "Christenson? The Christenson wants me dead? Well, now I know I've made it." She commented jokingly to Lucifer.
"I fear Maze's sense of humor is rubbing off on you, Detective." He said with a smirk.
"Either way, we need to get to the precinct with these guys." She said as she waved down the approaching officers she had called to help with the task.
Upon their return to the station, the last attacker had already turned himself in and confessed. The only odd detail was his complete refusal to even admit to being taken from the scene. However, Lucifer would not be deterred. If one party would not explain, he would try the other. He paid no attention to the smile that graced his lips as he returned to his convertible and began to make his way to Miss. Varquez's loft. With a stop in the new drive-through liquor store that was built last week, of course.
Roughly forty minutes later, he stood before the threshold of her door again. Before his hand could come up to meet the wood, the door swung up. A familiar scowl of annoyance greeted him.
"Good evening, Miss. Varquez. May I come in? I have a gift. Something of a thank you." He said, presenting the bottle of rum.
After a couple seconds, she stepped aside. "I do drink things besides rum." She replied as she took the bottle from him.
He entered the kitchenette behind her, and leaned against the counter to be in the corner of her view. "I would be happy to supply anything you desire." He commented softly.
"Hawt." Evan commented from the couch, slurping a cup of tea.
"Don't you have a date?" Natalie asked, glaring at her roommate.
"At least one of us does." He responded before getting up to leave as implicitly demanded. "I keep condoms in the nightstand drawer." He called before closing the front door behind him.
Lucifer chuckled at the door, and turned back to find the bottle open, tipped back, and firmly pressed to Miss. Varquez's lips. His eyes lingered there, watching how the plump ridge pressed against the rim of the bottle. His gaze moved down to watch a drop of escaping rum slip down her chin, along her neck, and into the valley between those soft- "So, to what do I owe this visit? I work in your bar, remember, this could have waited till tomorrow night." She asked curtly, half empty bottle set on the counter beside him.
"Today isn't Tuesday, but I still hoped to have a question answered."
Her eyebrow quirked at his statement.
After a moment, she responded, "If I can ask one in return."
"Agreed." He said quickly, "Are you following me because Maze asked you to?"
"Busted. Maze never said you couldn't find out, I assumed it would be easier if you didn't know."
"And your question?"
"What was with the 'today isn't Tuesday' thing?"
"Tuesday is the only day you have ever answered one of my questions before, Miss. Varquez."
She blinked at him for a moment, before succumbing to a bout of uncontrollable laughter. While Lucifer did not care to be laughed at, he had to admit the sound was too becoming to scold. A soft smile of his own graced his features. When she regained her composer, she picked the bottle up again. Sure feet carried her to the couch as she attempted to finish the second half of the bottle. He followed behind, relaxing on the couch near by and weaseling the cigar box open.
"Must you always smoke my joints? You'll bring booze, even though you've never drank a bottle I own, but my damn pot you just help yourself to with no return?" She asked, pointing the emptied bottle at him.
"Well, I will have to correct that." He commented as he passed the lit joint to her.
Her plans for the evening could be postponed. After all, Lucifer was here, safe, and out of trouble. That was what Maze wanted right? Natalie slumped on to the couch next to him, half defeated, trading the emptied bottle. 'Still not the strangest boss I've ever had, but damn close.' She thought to herself.
The silence that settled over them was comfortable and softened by the sounds of street that drifted through the open window. A few minutes after the piece had burned out and was placed in the ashtray, Lucifer broke the silence once again.
"Why did you laugh?"
"More questions? Heh, curious creature aren't you?"
"I would be less so if I knew." He said confidently.
She shook her head with another chuckle. "I laughed because I wasn't aware."
"Unaware of your avoidance of questions?"
"No, I'm just private. I meant, I didn't know I only answered questions one day a week."
"Two days a week now it would appear." He teased gently.
Lucifer was greeted with an eye roll. "As bizarre, and arguably fun, as this has been," She started, "I have other plans tonight. You should go find a party to crash. Although if you're on everyone's 'dream guest list' it's not really crashing."
He countered by sinking farther into her couch with a smirk, "I'm sure any party I go to is going to be rather entertaining. Why not join me?"
There was a slightest tone shift when the invitation was extended. A tone shift that spoke to a part of Natalie. For a moment, her traitorous mind considered the unspoken invitation.
0-0 0-0 0-0
Maze strutted up the walkway to her shared apartment. Her hunt had been very successful, and with a few days to spare as a vacation. No Lux to run, no Lucifer to babysit, and plenty of extra cash. It was going to be a glorious vacation. Her great week came to a halt as the sight of the front door kicked in.
"Trixie!" She shouted as she crossed into the threshold.
A pair of tiny eyes appeared from behind a cupboard door. "Maze!" the child responded as she ran to the demoness.
"Good thinking, what happened?" Maze asked quickly.
"A strange man should up wanting to talk to mom, but then a lady in black showed up. They started fighting, and the strange man chased after the lady, and mom followed after making me hide."
"You're mom's right." Maze said, kneeling in front of Trixie. "You need to go back to hiding till one of us comes back for you. Don't worry, I'll protect your mom for you."
With a nod and a brave face, Trixie returned to her hiding place. Maze turned her attention to the front lawn. After a few moments of listening, she could make out the sound of gun fire in the distance and began sprinting in that direction. Catching up to Chloe was easy. Maze found her running down an alleyway, trying to keep track of two in front of her.
"Chloe, what the hell?!" Maze shouted as they ran down the alley.
"No idea, but one of you and Lucifer's ninjas save my ass, threatened to kill the biggest mobster in town, and is being chased by an assassin intended to me. So you tell me!"
Maze turned her full focus to the figures running ahead of them. The assassin looked like some tall twig with a gun fetish, but ahead of him was none other than Natalie Varquez. Through a flow of motion, the daft fool was managing to dodge the firing of her pursuit. As the next bend came into view, the dead-end of the alley became visible as well. Maze surged forward, as a small piece of panic seized her.
Natalie had an intimate knowledge of the back alleys of L.A. When she rounded the bend, she grinned in triumph. Using the dumpster on the left wall as a spring board, she leaped to the right wall, and rotated back toward the left wall before launching herself again. With a solid thud, she landed on the fire escape platform before vanishing up the railway and over the rooftop.
Before the long-coat wearing fool could follow suit, Maze and Chloe cornered him.