I do not own anything related to Lucifer, DC Comics, Vertigo, or Sandman series, either thru television, written books, or film. Everything belongs to Tom Kapinos, Fox, and mentioned above. I do own all the created characters. I do not own any songs, or literature mentioned. They are included to enhance the written words. Please read, review, and enjoy!

Chapter Seven

Song(s): Offering (Abi Ocia)

May 5th

Los Angeles Police Department, North Hollywood Division, 11640 Burbank Boulevard North Hollywood, CA…

10:12am

Sitting cross legged in the middle of the floor of the Evidence Closet, Miriam glanced around at the stacks of manila file folders before narrowing her eyes.

"I'm sure one day, all this will be all online" she muttered to herself as she rose to her feet, stretching her arms over her head and looking towards the darkness of the Lieutenant's office through the narrow glass vertical window in the door.

He hasn't been here since our blow up in his office

Before he came to my apartment and finally apologized for his shitty behavior

Feeling a shiver running across her shoulders as she looked at the array of plastic sealed boxes and metal locked cases, she moved closer to read the labels and wondered just how far back in years these documents went to.

"Questioned Documents, Interpretation of Evidence, Courtroom Issues, Expert Testimony" she read, wishing she could break open a box to sneak a peek. Hearing soft tapping on the closed door, Miriam turned around and brought her hands to rest on her hips as Ella lowered her eyes onto the piles of files on the floor from the filing cabinet.

"How's it going in here?"

"I wish this room had windows or that I was allowed to bring in a cup of coffee" Miriam joked as Ella leaned against the doorframe.

"Yeah, it's not the best room in the station, but it contains all the best stuff in my opinion," she smiled, moving her eyes onto the open door of the filing cabinet. "If you need a break, you can always take five or even lunch. This afternoon, I'm going to show you the cameras that we use for taking crime scene photos."

Nodding her head as she watched the petite Forensic Scientist leave the doorway, she couldn't help but glance once more towards Pierce's dark office as she clicked her tongue against her cheek.

Stop looking for him for Christ sakes!

…

Break Room

11:43am

Chewing slowly on a bite of her peanut butter and banana sandwich, Miriam scanned her eyes over the stainless-steel fridge and counter littered with packaged snacks, teas, and apples before hearing the room door opening and heavy footsteps walking across the linoleum floor.

Raising her eyes from where she sat against the wall in the corner, she froze as she watched the six-foot three Lieutenant moving straight for the coffee pot while pulling off his black tie. Shoving the tie into his black dress pant pocket, he reached up and unfastened the first top two buttons of his crisp white dress shirt before reaching for a coffee mug in the cupboard.

"You're not as silent as you think Ms. Tyler."

Blinking as she heard his words directed at her, Miriam sat her sandwich down on the Ziploc bag as she watched him turn towards her. Keeping her eyes locked with his as he moved the coffee mug to his other hand, she released the breath she didn't know she was holding as he turned and filled his mug with the scalding hot dark liquid.

"How have your first two days been?"

Uneventful

"Better than my first day."

Narrowing his eyes as he ignored the cream and sugar on the counter, she watched as he slowly stalked his way towards her table before halting behind a chair. Taking a sip of his coffee, he stared hard into her face before lowering his eyes onto her sandwich.

"There is a meeting in the boardroom in less than ten minutes. I'd suggest you eat, before you get your first real taste of police work and how it messes with any sense of normal meal times," he spoke calmly, saying nothing further as he moved towards the break room door, nearly colliding with Lopez.

"Oh, Lieutenant! You have been missed!" Lopez sang as Miriam finished the last of her sandwich.

Was it just me? Or was he actually holding back in speaking to me…

"Lopez, just make sure you and Tyler are in the boardroom in less than five."

Moving slightly to allow Pierce an exit, Ella grinned as she folded her arms across her chest.

"What did you guys talk about?"

Balling up the garbage from her lunch between her hands, Miriam snorted as she stuffed it into her cloth bag.

"He asked me how my first couple of days have been" she replied, catching Ella's frown as she appeared disappointed with the lack of gossip.

"To which I said, better than my first day."

Hearing the woman break out into laughter, as she gave a thumb up, Miriam rose to her feet as Ella smirked.

"Good on you for giving him a taste of his own medicine. I'm still confused as to why he told me to find another summer student, do you two actually know each other?"

Shaking her head as she followed Ella out the door, she watched her footing as they descended the wide staircase back down towards the bull pen.

"I…had a ride along scheduled last month, and he was the one to take me out."

"Lucky you. Wait…are you the one whose ponytail he pulled just outside of the lab?"

Feeling the flush rising to her cheeks as she remembered his fingers wrapping around her hair, Miriam nodded her head as she avoided Ella's curious eyes.

"Yes."

It was all she said as Ella gave her a smile.

"I can honestly say, that you are one lucky girl to have caught his attentions."

Lucky?

More like, why in the hell is he always so miserable to me

"I have no desire to capture his attentions."

"Right then, let's get to the boardroom. Bring a pen and your issued notepad."

…

Taking a seat beside Ella alongside the window, Miriam moved her chair in as a middle-aged Detective moved along their backs, drawing the blinds down halfway as she felt the pressure elevating from behind her eyes. Focusing her eyes on her notepad, her ears picked up the accented voice of Lucifer Morningstar and as she raised her eyes, she found herself staring directly into his dark eyes from across the table.

Why does he always stare at me like I am some sort of Holy being? Or an artifact?

Watching the grey suited man removing a small stainless silver whiskey flask from his inner pocket, she scoffed as he set his eyes curiously on her face.

"I'm sorry, ladies first?" he spoke, holding out the flask as if it was a normal bottle of water.

"Um, no thank you."

Moving her eyes off Lucifer, Miriam scanned around the table as Officers in both plain clothes and uniforms filtered into the boardroom taking seats at the large wooden table.

"Alright, let's get to business."

Hearing Pierce's voice as she raised her eyes, Miriam bit down on the side of her tongue as she caught his eye before he raised a closed file folder.

"Our closing rate in this prescient, is a fucking joke!"

Wincing as she watched him slap the folder down on the table, she could feel the icy cold tension in the boardroom among the Officers as he suddenly addressed a specific individual seated beside Chloe Decker.

"Morningstar, you are only a civilian consultant in this department and therefore, you have no official place at my table."

Feeling the coldness settling over the room as she heard Lucifer's chuckle, Miriam shifted her eyes towards his end of the table as he stared straight at Pierce.

"You are the ass end to Detective Decker, and as such, I don't want you in here."

"Lieutenant, Lucifer is my partner, and honestly, he is a big help in solving cases that I am assigned to. I would appreciate it, if you would allow him to stay" Decker spoke up, rising from her seat as she folded her hands across her front.

Even she is nervous around him

"Anyone here this afternoon that will speak up for Lucifer Morningstar?"

Hearing the room lapsing into silence, Miriam smirked as she raised her arm up straight in the air without hesitation.

"If he is the partner to Detective Decker and she says he has a positive rate, then he should stay."

Feeling Pierce's eyes burning onto her face as she refused to look at him, she found herself looking to Lucifer as he tipped his head in acknowledgment.

Eat it Marcus Pierce. Now, we are even

"Well done lab rat. I guess it's settled then Lieutenant, please, carry on."

Clearing his throat as he pulled his eyes away from the Forensic student, Pierce swallowed his scowl as he got back to the task at hand.

"Like I said people, the closing rate for Homicide is not acceptable. Response time to units called out is also at a shitty number for our borders" he began, motioning for the lights of the room to be turned off. Turning on the projector as he waited for it to sync to his laptop, Pierce slid a stack of stapled statistics roughly towards Miriam as she felt the sharp corners of the papers resting against her hand.

He's pissed once again

Why are you so pissed off with me Lieutenant?

Yet again, I've done nothing wrong

"Take one and pass the rest down" he growled, narrowing his eyes before noticing the welcome message on the projector screen. Clicking through a few pictures, he settled on a sheet covered body laying on an ambulance stretcher before clicking to the next frame.

Staring at the closed eyes of the drowned man, Miriam breathed deeply as she watched Pierce stand alongside the screen.

"This is Randall Carr. His case is still open and has been opened for about seven months. Someone please tell me why that is?"

"Lieutenant, Mr. Carr's immediate family has decided to no longer co-operate with our investigation" a plains clothes Officer spoke up from the far-right darkened corner as Pierce crossed his arms over his broad chest.

"I don't want to hear that. I want to hear that my Officer's have gone above and beyond to solve each and every one of their assigned cases Officer Collins."

Okay, I understand the need for dominance and to be seen as a hard ass boss, but this is just him being a bully

Clicking through the next couple of slides, he settled on a bloodied female body that had been pulled from a pond.

"Next case, we have Nicola Larson who was found face down in a pond near a public park with evidence pointing that she had been strangled before being dumped into the water."

"Lieutenant, I've actually scheduled a follow up…"

Focusing his attentions on Decker, Miriam watched as he clicked to a new slide before moving slowly in her direction.

"So, three months after the woman was pulled dead from the pond, you are now just now getting around to her case?"

That's it

"Lieutenant Pierce, it sounds like to me that Detective Decker has been working on this case since she has mentioned following up" she spoke out, feeling the cold tension now being focused on her.

"Well her everything is not good enough, for me, Ms. Tyler and I'll remind you that you are a student here, essentially a guest, and have no idea what procedure is, and what is going on."

Shutting her mouth hard as she heard a snicker from a red headed female officer sitting next to Ella, Miriam felt herself shaking with anger as she knew he was trying to edge her on.

Come on girl, live up to your rebellious name

Staring straight into his eyes from across the room, she felt a slight pull as she watched his mouth opening. Jumping slightly in her seat as a loud knock banged on the closed boardroom door, Miriam threw her eyes up onto the Officer entering as Pierce felt the growl in the back of his throat.

"Sir, you need to send some units out for a Homicide that just came in through the wire. It's…a bad one."

…

John B. Monlux Elementary School, 6051 Bellaire Ave, North Hollywood, CA…

1:12pm

"I have to say, you were pretty brave to try and stick up for Chloe and challenge Pierce in front of everyone in the boardroom. That took some serious guts."

Hearing Ella's comment as she slipped her sunglasses down onto the bridge of her nose as they drove out from the prescient Miriam tapped her fingers against the car door as she remembered the intense look of annoyance that had radiated from Pierce's eyes when she had spoken up.

"Yeah, pretty brave" she muttered, wondering if all this was to come back and bite her in the ass

Most likely

Staring out her window at the passing houses, foot traffic, and cars, she swallowed hard as she tried to mentally prepare herself for seeing a homicide crime scene.

This isn't going to be as clean as a funeral

Rounding the corner of Bellaire, Miriam's eyes spied the flashing lights of the numerous marked and unmarked cruisers as she half wondered if the Lieutenant himself would make an appearance.

STOP FUCKING THINKING ABOUT HIM!

Feeling the car coming to rest, she opened her door and immediately felt a presence right next to her.

"I just want to thank you for speaking up earlier. It's good to know that there are still some women out there who stand up for others in a male dominant environment" Decker spoke as Miriam nodded her head awkwardly.

You shouldn't have to thank me Detective

Every woman in that room should have spoken up to him

"Ella, we're going to need lots of pictures. Let's try to get this one solved as quick as possible."

…

Following Lopez towards a sectioned off area of the school yard, Miriam removed her sunglasses as the young woman's uncovered body came into view surrounded by yellow police tape. Stopping at the edge of the tape, she watched as Ella ducked beneath with her labelled forensics bag as she followed suit.

Slamming the door of the charcoal grey ghost car behind him, Marcus adjusted the sunglasses on the bridge of his nose as he stood still and observed his Officers on scene.

Good

Halting his eyes as he caught sight of Lopez, he spanned around and spied Tyler kneeling still, her back looking rigid. Walking slowly towards the taped off crime scene, he kept his eyes steady on her back as he lifted the tape and ducked under.

"Lieutenant Pierce."

Nodding his head as the Officer maintaining the scene addressed him, he could see that the young woman had not made any motion at the mentioning of his name. Standing beside the kneeling down woman, he removed his glasses and hung them off the crew neck of his black t-shirt as he opened his mouth to speak.

"It's a lot different seeing a deceased body in person than in pictures."

Blinking quickly as she rose to her feet, Miriam cleared her throat and wished that she had a bottle of water or something.

"Her throat was cut so deeply that I'm surprised her head has not been completely severed" she spoke, staring at the young woman's dead face as she noticed the similar color hair.

You can do this

"Tyler, if you want to put on your foot coverings, we can start photographing from the legs up" Ella spoke, catching herself as she noticed Pierce standing right next to her student.

"Get on with it then."

Turning around as she watched Pierce stalking off towards another group of Officers, Miriam shook her head as she felt his presence leaving her own.

You'll need to talk to him at some point

"Tyler…hellloooo?"

…

Los Angeles Police Department, North Hollywood Division, 11640 Burbank Boulevard North Hollywood, CA…

"Do you need a ride home Tyler?"

Shaking her head as she shut her locker door, Miriam shifted her backpack over her shoulders as she followed Ella out of the Lab, closing the door behind her.

"My roommate is going to pick me up" she answered, shifting her eyes towards Pierce's dark office.

I wonder if he bothers at all to have a life outside of being a Police Officer

"Ahem, you should know that you may have some competition in regards to the Lieutenant if you try to pursue him."

Blinking quickly as she felt her face flushing with Ella's words, Miriam scoffed as she climbed the wide staircase up to the main floor of the prescient.

"I am not pursuing Lieutenant Pierce. Where would you come up with something like that?" she spat, swiping her identification badge against the card reader.

"Officer Denning has been trying to drop him subtle hints, and I don't want to insult his social skills, but the man can not take a hint even if it's right in front of his handsome, boyish looking face."

Stepping out into the California evening heat, Miriam felt Ella's hand on her shoulder as she stared down into her face.

"Do you think you need to talk…about seeing a body today?"

I could see all the way into the back of her fleshy throat

"You know, I think I am okay. It's a lot different seeing a deceased body in person than in pictures…" she spoke, echoing Pierce's words as she took a sip from her water bottle.

"I see. Alright then, but just to let you know, I am always available to talk. Mornings, nights, weekends" Ella smiled as she gave a small wave before walking away towards the parking lot.

Right Dakota, where are you?

Raising her eyes to the sky as she breathed in deeply, Miriam felt her lips parting as she heard the quick chirping of a few sparrows flying around the parking garage structure.

Peace and…

"Get in."

Slowly opening her eyes as she focused on the ghost car idling at the edge of the sidewalk with the passenger window rolled down, Miriam immediately felt her lips falling into a scowl.

"I…said…get…in."

Hearing Pierce's growl as she stared into his blue eyes, Miriam swallowed hard as she spotted Dakota's car rounding the street corner.

Make a choice

…

Please read, review, and enjoy!