A/N: Here's chapter 2! Enjoy!

Illuminated in Darkness

Chapter 2: Reunited

Dexter stood there at the top of the stairs just staring at Lumen, who had yet to notice him. He quickly snapped out of his daze, tightened his grip on Harrison, and swiftly made his way towards the woman that he thought had left his life forever a year ago.

He stopped a few feet away from her, and she finally turned as she noticed him.

"Lumen?" he asked softly.

"Dexter," she responded with a smile. "You haven't changed much." Her eyes shifted to Harrison and her grin grew. "But Harrison certainly has."

"Not that I'm mad, but... what are you doing back here in Miami?" Dexter asked, feeling what he guessed was confusion, and happiness. It was a weird mix.

"Let's take this inside, I don't think we want anyone to overhear us out here," Lumen suggested and Dexter gave a slight nod. He reached down for his keys, fumbling a bit as he was using his non-dominate hand to try and get them. Lumen sighed at him.

"Here, let me grab the key, you'll take all day at this rate."

"No, really, I have it, you don't have to-" he started, but Lumen's hand over his caused his brain to short circuit for a moment. She wrestled his keys out of his grip and opened the door to 10B, and he followed her inside without saying a word.

"You... remembered which key went to my apartment?" he asked as he gently closed the door behind him.

"Never forgot," Lumen said as she leaned against his computer desk, looking around the apartment. "Nothing much has changed, I see. Aside from more toys." She chuckled a little at that.

"Yeah," Dexter said as he glanced down at his son, who he noticed was getting sleepy. "Looks like our beach day will have to wait. I'll uh, go put him down for a nap. Then we can talk." Lumen nodded and walked over to his kitchen to grab a snack while he did his fatherly duties.

Shortly after, the both of them were sitting on his sofa with a little bit of distance between them. Lumen wanted nothing more than to cuddle up into him, but she knew they definitely needed to talk first. They were silent for a couple of minutes, not knowing how to start the conversation.

"So..." Dexter started, tapping a finger against his left knee. Lumen just sighed quietly as she gathered her thoughts.

"I... I started killing again. By myself," she said in a near whisper. Dexter swiveled his head to stare at her in surprise.

'You... what?" he said in complete shock. "Why? I thought..." Lumen pursed her lips.

"I know, I thought so, too, but I should have known better. I think after I saw Jordan Chase's body disappear into the ocean, my urge just went into a sort of... hibernation of some kind. Best way I can describe it," she explained, ending with a short shrug. "I mistakenly thought it went away completely."

"What... brought it back?" Dexter asked, insanely curious.

"I saw some sicko by the name of Ashton Yates getting away with murder on the news, and the urge just... welled up back inside me. It was like Jordan Chase and his gang all over again, just a little less intense."

'So, her Dark Passenger is based on vengeance and a need to avenge innocent people, it seems. Or at least it transformed into that. From revenge to vengeance.'

"I tried to fight it, I did, but it just wouldn't go away no matter what I did. The longer I fought it, the more irritable and on edge I became, and everyone around started noticing."

'Just like me when I've gone without a kill for a while.'

"I finally just gave in and tracked down the monster and did him in. I felt free from the urge once again," she explained, feeling both sick and elated at the same time.

"Did... did you cover your tracks?" Dexter asked worriedly and Lumen gave a short laugh.

"Of course I did! I employed everything you taught me. Even bought everything from different stores in intervals, all in cash." Dexter let out a silent sigh in relief. Last thing he wanted was for her to get caught.

"How did you dispose of the body? Minnesota isn't near the ocean," he asked, curious. "I assume you went back to Minnesota, right?"

"I did, yeah. Stayed with my parents until I could get an apartment. I suppose that should have been my first clue that I wasn't back to normal- I needed to get away from my parents. I never had a problem staying with them before when I needed to, but being around them, particularly my dad, put me on edge," she said, getting off track. "Anyway, I thought about dumping Yates' body in the Mississippi River, but I felt that would be too risky."

'She would be right. Her instincts are still sharp, it seems.'

"...so I found an abandoned warehouse with an incinerator on the outskirts of the city. Went to an old gas station that hadn't installed security cameras yet and filled up a gas can and bought some kindling, too. Nothing suspicious, just makes it seem like I was ready to go camping. Had to go buy some camping gear to sell the idea," Lumen explained with a wry grin. "I donated it all before I came down here, though."

"Wow," Dexter said, astonished by her planning and forethought. "You did good." Lumen's bright smile at the half-assed compliment sent him reeling. "Your parents never suspected anything?"

"Mmmm, I think they knew something was up when I first arrived. I didn't act like I used to. I was more withdrawn and quiet. My mom asked, but it's not like I could have told her anything, so I just said I was tired from my trip." She shrugged. "Dad wouldn't stop admonishing me about ditching Owen, but I just didn't care at that point."

"Oh," Dexter said with a short bob of his head. They sat in silence for a few short minutes after that.

"I'm sorry, by the way," Lumen murmured and Dexter looked at her in confusion.

"About what?"

"For leaving you, hurting you, over basically nothing," she said with remorse. "When I got back to Minnesota, I thought I could get my life back on track and move on, but I was wrong. The place I used to think of as my home felt like a complete stranger to me. I tried to push through it, hoping maybe I would feel differently after a while, but I never did. I just felt suffocated, like I did as I was about to get married. Then my urge came back and I knew why I felt that way. When I entered Miami yesterday, the suffocated feeling left. I knew I was actually home, hot and humid air and all." Dexter gave a humored huff at her last sentence.

"You don't need to apologize," he started, "I'm just glad you're back. I really missed you, you know. I felt so lost after you left, like it was Rita all over again." Lumen grimaced in shame hearing that.

"I missed you, too," she said softly. She held out her hand to him and Dexter eagerly grasped it in his own. "You want to try again?"

"Yes. I do." With that, Lumen gave in to her urge to get close to him and scooched over until their sides were touching. Dexter reached up with his free hand and gently ran his thumb across her forehead lovingly like he used to do, eliciting a happy sigh from Lumen. They both leaned in at the same time and touched their foreheads together, rubbing them together as they finally reconnected with one another.

Two predators, a lion and lioness, the king and queen of the jungle, together once more.

They both leaned back at the same time before Lumen leaned in once again and Dexter met her halfway as their lips met, a spark of electricity traveling down their spines at the contact. The kiss was soft and sweet, at first, but desire quickly turned the kiss heated. Soon, clothes were flying and they crashed against the couch naked with Dexter on top of Lumen.

He trailed kisses down her body, reveling in the pleasured gasps escaping her mouth as he did so. He paid special attention to the small scars that littered the front of her body, lovingly kissing and licking them, which caused her to cover her mouth to muffle her moans.

"You're the only one I've ever allowed to touch my scars," she whispered before letting out a soft moan.

"I'm honored," Dexter whispered back as he reached her core. And he was. He knew how she felt about her scars, so for her to only allow him to touch them in any way was an honor.

Lumen bit her hand to avoid moaning out loud as Dexter licked and sucked at her core. Last thing they wanted was for Harrison to wake up while they were in the middle of sex. She twitched and shuddered as she met her climax, and Dexter slowly kissed his way back up her body, touching their foreheads together once more.

As he did not have any lube, not having had any need for it this past year, they were gonna have to do this au naturale. He slicked himself up with her juices, which caused the both of them to moan quietly.

"You ready?" he asked with a whisper.

"I've been ready," she said with a slight smirk, which turned into a moan as he entered her for the first time in a year. "Fuck, I've missed this."

"Me too," Dexter panted as he began to pump in and out of her. He grabbed on to her tightly as he picked up the pace, burrowing his head into her neck to help muffle his sounds of pleasure. She had one hand buried in his hair while the other one was scratching at his back, not that he minded. He shifted a bit, pushing up her legs, which were wrapped around him, a bit more so that he could get deeper.

"Shit," he growled out as the pleasure intensified. He could feel his own climax approaching, causing his thrusts to become more erratic.

"You're close, aren't you?" Lumen panted out, lost in the pleasure of their intimate act. She nearly laughed at the grunt she received in return.

He buried his face further into her neck as he moaned out loud, his climax hitting him like a freight train. His whole body shuddered and trembled as he emptied himself inside her. It felt like forever before he finished, but when he did, he collapsed on top of Lumen panting heavily. He was careful not to crush her, though.

"Jesus, Dexter, when's the last time you had release?" Lumen asked as she tried to catch her breath.

"Mmm, not since you left, I think," he said as he panted a bit, trying to calm his racing heart.

"Fuck, you ever hear of masturbating?" she asked incredulously, though with a bit of humor as well.

"Don't really indulge in it," Dexter mumbled. He was getting sleepy.

"Well, you should from time to time, it's a great stress reliever. Besides killing," Lumen said with humor as she had felt him open his mouth to retort.

"I'll think about it," he said with a grunt as he grabbed the blanket that rested on the back of the couch. "Won't really have to now that you're here, though." He gave a small chuckle as he covered the two of them in the blanket.

No need to have someone accidentally walk in on them completely naked.

Lumen just rolled her eyes and shook her head fondly before letting out a yawn. A nap definitely would not hurt right about now.

~IiD~

"Daddy!" Dexter grunted as the sound of his son's voice roused him from his slumber.

"DADDY!"

"Hold on buddy, daddy will be there in a minute," he said aloud with grogginess in his voice. He rolled off of Lumen, which, being sleepy and not paying attention, meant he fell to the floor. Dexter grunted at the impact before standing up and nearly tripping over his own feet.

Lumen got a kick out of the whole scene, though she too was a bit groggy from the sudden wake up call to laugh about it.

"He sure knows how to wake you up, huh?"

"I'm just glad he sleeps through the night now. I didn't know the meaning of the word 'sleep' for almost three months after he was born," Dexter mumbled as he threw on his pants and made his way to his son's room in the other apartment, not bothering with a shirt at the moment.

"Oh, I can imagine," Lumen said as she got up and put on her clothes. She could easily imagine what lack of sleep would do to a serial killer. Nothing pleasant.

Dexter soon returned with Harrison, who was happily babbling.

"Looks like someone had a good nap," Lumen said in a joking way as she grabbed a drink out of the fridge.

"Good nap, clean diaper, I think he's ready to take on the day again," Dexter said as he sat his son down, who quickly ran off into the living room to play with his toys.

"Diaper? Have you started potty training him yet?" Lumen asked as she handed Dexter a glass of juice.

"Mm, Jamie and I started training him, but it's slow going. He only just turned two," he said as he sipped his drink and nuzzled his head into Lumen's, who reciprocated.

"Jamie?" she asked with furrowed brows.

"Oh, right, she's Harrison's nanny. Batista's younger sister. She occupies the other apartment when she babysits him," Dexter explained.

"What happened to Sonya? She seemed like the perfect nanny to me, from what I knew of her." Dexter sighed as he closed his eyes.

"She passed away a couple of months ago. From cancer. She didn't even know she had it until it was too late," he whispered. "Harrison really missed her for a while, but he's gotten to really like Jamie, so I'm thankful for that."

"I'm so sorry, she seemed like a lovely woman," Lumen said with a bit sadness.

"She was," he said and finished his juice before rinsing out his glass and putting it away. Lumen followed his example. "But life is full of surprises. Bad... and good." Lumen scoffed.

"Tell me about it," she grumbled.

"Well, it's late in the afternoon, you feel up to an early dinner?"

"Yes, I'm starving!" Lumen exclaimed. "I haven't eaten since before I got here."

"Great, I know a good restaurant nearby we can go to. It'll be our first official date." Dexter side-eyed his son, who was banging two of his toys together. "Well, with a plus one, anyway."

END

A/N: Wasn't going to end it there, but I felt it was a good place to end. Don't worry, I know what you're probably wanting- the two of them to kill together. And they will, soon.

Also, if you want more detailed sex scenes, I could write them, but they aren't really the focus, lol. They'll just be posted on AO3 in full because doesn't care for them.