[Lucifer] Ch: 22 & 23 [Searching for Karl Jenson] (Patreon)

AN: 5k words. Little smut at the end of the first part. Really big chapter. Unedited. Let me know if you find any mistakes.

I have changed the date of the party in the previous chapter, which will kick off the next episode. Chloe should be on active duty, and I miscalculated the dates. Anyway, I hope you like this chapter.🫡

--

[Linda's office]

“So, she looked at you differently than all the girls you’ve been with?” Linda asked, watching Lucifer from the armchair while her pen rested against the open notebook on her knee.

Lucifer stretched one arm across the back of the couch and considered the question. “Exactly. But the fun part is we didn’t even have sex. We might have if she hadn’t passed out from too much alcohol. And we could’ve had some morning fun, but we didn’t.”

Linda tilted her head slightly. “And how does that make you feel?”

Lucifer opened his mouth with the obvious intention of making a joke, though the answer never arrived. He thought for a moment. “It was strangely satisfying,” he admitted. “We had breakfast, talked for nearly an hour, and kissed inside the elevator before she left. Somehow, that felt rather enjoyable.”

Linda wrote something in her notebook. “You sound surprised that you enjoyed spending time with her without having sex.”

“I enjoy conversations,” Lucifer replied, looking mildly offended. “I’m exceptionally charming during them, and I am a good listener.”

“You usually treat conversation as the path toward sex,” Linda said. “This time, you enjoyed the connection even after sex was removed from the situation.”

Lucifer’s fingers tapped once against the couch. “She thanked me for taking care of her. Then she looked at me like I’d done something remarkable because I didn’t take advantage of an unconscious woman.”

Linda’s expression softened. “Perhaps she wasn’t only reacting to what you didn’t do. She saw that you respected her when she was vulnerable.”

Lucifer looked down at his hands. “Most people see whatever they desire when they look at me. They see pleasure, freedom, danger, money, or someone willing to indulge their worst impulses. Alexandra seemed to see something else.”

“What do you think she saw?” Linda asked.

Lucifer leaned back and released a quiet breath. “A man she could trust, perhaps. The idea is deeply unsettling.”

Linda smiled faintly. “Why would being trusted unsettle you?”

“Trust creates expectations,” Lucifer replied. “Once someone believes you’re decent, they begin expecting you to remain decent. Eventually, you’re trapped beneath an exhausting mountain of responsibility and emotional honesty.”

Linda studied him for a moment before placing her pen against the page again. “You protected Delilah, saved Chloe, helped solve two murders, and cared for Alexandra when she couldn’t care for herself. Responsibility seems to keep finding you, even while you complain about it.”

Lucifer narrowed his eyes. “You make me sound disturbingly heroic.”

“I think you’re beginning to see yourself differently,” Linda said. “Alexandra’s reaction mattered because it reflected a version of you that you’re still learning to accept.”

Lucifer went quiet as the words settled inside him. Karl had spent most of his old life feeling invisible, while Lucifer had spent eternity being seen through fear, desire, and blame. Being trusted felt unfamiliar to both sides of him.

Linda leaned forward slightly. “Do you want to see her again?”

Lucifer’s smile returned, though it carried less arrogance than usual. “Yes, I believe I do. Preferably while she is conscious for the entire evening.”

“That sounds like progress,” Linda said while closing her notebook.

Lucifer glanced toward the office door before looking back at her. “Excellent. Does progress mean we’ve reached the part where you remove your clothes so that I can eat you?”

"Oh, yes, please," Linda quickly stood up and began to take off her clothes.

Lucifer also began to take off his clothes...

A few minutes later, they were on the floor, clothes scattered around them. Lucifer lay on his back with Linda straddling his face, her knees pressed into the carpet on either side of his head. She leaned forward over his body, one hand braced on his thigh as she took his cock deep into her mouth.

'Oh yeah. I missed him so much even though we fucked two days ago,' She thought while sucking his cock.

She sucked him with slow, deliberate pulls at first, then pushed farther until the head nudged the back of her throat. "Kuuggg!!" A wet gag followed, saliva spilling from the corners of her lips and dripping onto his skin. She didn’t pull away. She stayed there, throat fluttering around him while she rocked her hips against his mouth.

Lucifer’s hands gripped her ass, holding her steady as he licked her pussy. 'Holy shit! She is so good and tasty.' His tongue dragged slow and firm over her clit, then pushed deeper in the pussy hole, tasting her gushing arousal. Every time she gagged around his cock, the sound made him groan against her, the vibration drawing a shaky moan from her that only made her suck harder.

“Wow, Linda,” he muttered, voice muffled against her. “That’s it. Keep going.”

She hummed in answer and sank down again on his cock, saliva stringing from her lips as she pulled back just enough to breathe before swallowing him once more. Her free hand stroked the base of his cock in time with her mouth, wet and messy. Spit ran down his shaft and over her fingers. She kept going, gagging softly every time she forced him deeper, the wet sounds filling the quiet office.

Lucifer’s tongue never stopped. He licked her pussy, sucking lightly on her clit whenever she ground down harder against his face. Her thighs trembled around his head. She pulled off his cock with a slick pop, gasping.

“You’re so fucking good at that,” she said, voice rough. Then she dove back down, taking him to the root again until another gag spilled more saliva across his stomach.

He answered by tightening his grip on her butt cheeks and working her faster, tongue flicking and pressing until her hips started to stutter. She moaned around his cock, the sound vibrating through him, and kept sucking through it, messy and deep, refusing to ease up even as her own pleasure built.

They stayed locked like that, trading wet, hungry sounds until Linda’s thighs shook harder and Lucifer’s hips began to lift against her mouth. 

"Fuckkk Cumming" Linda moaned in pleasure as the orgasm slammed through her, and she squirted hard across Lucifer’s tongue and chin. Warm fluid pulsed out of her in strong, rhythmic waves, flooding his mouth and running down the sides of his face in slick trails that soaked into the carpet. The scent of her hit him thick and musky. She kept grinding through it, soft wet flesh dragging over his lips and nose, thighs clamped tight around his head and trembling.

Lucifer felt her come and lost it a second later. His hips jerked up, and he came hard, thick pulses shooting straight down her throat.

"Mhmmm~" Linda held him there, lips sealed tight at the base, swallowing around every spurt even as her own climax kept rolling through her. She gagged once from the force of it but didn’t pull off. She took everything he gave her, throat working steadily while more of her own slick poured out over his face.

For a few long seconds they just stayed locked together like that.

Lucifer’s hands dug into her hips, fingers flexing as the last aftershocks ran through him. He could feel how hard she was still trembling, could taste her on his tongue, and hear the wet little sounds she made while she kept him deep and swallowed.

She gave one last slow and hard suck as the final pulse left him, then eased off with a soft, wet pop. A thin, glistening string of spit and cum still connected her swollen lips to the head of his cock before it broke.

Linda slowly stroked his cock before kissing the tip.

She stayed straddling his face for a moment longer, panting, forehead resting against the damp skin of his thigh. Lucifer turned his head just enough to press a slow, open-mouthed kiss to her inner thigh.

[10 minutes later...]

Both of them got up and put on their clothes after cleaning up. 

"Was it enough?" Lucifer asked.

Linda's legs were still trembling. Although she wanted to have sex, she had another appointment in a few minutes. "Yeah, I'm good... for now."

"Well, I guess I should leave now," Lucifer said as he turned around and walked to the door. 

"Wait! Lucifer," Linda called back.

He stopped and turned around. "Yes, Doctor."

"I... I was..." She stuttered. "Umm... Nevermind. Maybe another time."

After Lucifer left...

Linda sat in her chair, looking stunned. Then she let out a heavy sigh. She wanted to have him over at her apartment for a little dinner, but she couldn't say it for some reason. 

...

[That Noon]

Lucifer drove the Corvette into the small parking area beside the Subway and switched off the engine. He remained behind the wheel for several seconds, staring through the windshield at the painfully ordinary restaurant.

The green-and-yellow sign above the entrance looked exactly as he remembered. Large windows faced the parking area, cheap tables filled the interior, and promotional posters near the door promised meal deals that had probably been designed by someone who thought adding chips made anything affordable.

People walked in and out carrying paper bags while employees moved behind the counter in familiar uniforms.

Lucifer tightened his fingers around the steering wheel.

Karl had spent six hours inside a place almost exactly like this every day. He had stood behind glass, sliced bread, spread sauces, and smiled politely at customers who treated him like part of the furniture.

If this world had its own version of Karl Jenson, he might be inside right now.

Maybe he was still twenty-seven, exhausted, and working two jobs to survive. Maybe he was complaining about rent, skipping meals, and wondering whether buying a pack of cream soda would ruin his weekly budget.

Lucifer stepped out of the Corvette and locked it behind him.

As he turned toward the restaurant, he noticed a homeless man sitting near the edge of the parking area beside a short concrete barrier. His clothes were worn and dirty, while an old backpack rested beside him with nearly everything he owned stuffed inside it.

A thin brown dog sat close against his leg.

The dog looked tired, though its tail moved weakly when Lucifer glanced toward it. An empty paper cup rested near the man’s shoes, and a handwritten cardboard sign asked for food rather than money.

Lucifer paused for a moment.

The man noticed him looking and gave a small nod, though he didn’t call out or ask for anything.

Lucifer returned the nod before walking toward the entrance.

A few pedestrians looked toward the Corvette, then toward him. He ignored them as he crossed the parking area with both hands inside his coat pockets.

The familiar smell reached him as soon as he opened the door.

Bread, processed meat, vegetables, cleaning chemicals, and the faint scent of frustration trapped beneath fluorescent lights.

Lucifer stopped near the entrance.

For a brief moment, the memories felt strong enough to replace the room around him. He could almost feel the uncomfortable uniform against his old body and the ache inside his feet after standing for several hours without a proper break during rush hour.

“Welcome to Subway,” an employee called from behind the counter. “What can I get started for you?”

Lucifer looked up.

The man behind the counter appeared to be somewhere in his early twenties. He was thin, tired, and wearing a name tag that said Miguel.

No Karl stood behind the counter.

Another employee waited near the register, while a young woman refilled containers of vegetables near the back. Lucifer examined each face carefully, though he already knew none of them belonged to the man he used to be, and he didn't know who they were.

He approached the counter.

Miguel pulled on a pair of gloves. “What kind of bread would you like?”

Lucifer ignored the question for a moment and looked toward the kitchen entrance.

“Does a man named Karl Jenson work here?”

Miguel paused and thought for several seconds. “Karl Jenson?”

“Yes,” Lucifer replied. “Twenty-seven years old, painfully average face, slightly overweight, permanent exhaustion beneath the eyes, and the general appearance of someone being crushed beneath capitalism.”

Miguel stared at him.

The woman near the vegetables looked over and tried to hide a laugh.

Miguel shook his head. “Nobody named Karl works here.”

“Has anyone with that name worked here during the last few years?”

“I’ve been here for almost three years, and I’ve never met anyone named Karl.”

Lucifer’s expression tightened slightly.

“What about before your time?”

Miguel glanced toward the employee standing near the register. “Hey, Tanya, have you ever heard about somebody named Karl working here?”

Tanya thought for a moment before shaking her head. “There wasn’t anyone named Karl. We had a Carl with a C, though he was the assistant manager at another store.”

Lucifer looked toward her. “Was his surname Jenson?”

“I’ve got no idea,” Tanya replied. “He was around fifty, completely bald, and always smelled like onions.”

“That is definitely the wrong Karl.”

Miguel rested both hands against the counter. “Are you looking for an old friend?”

Lucifer considered the question for a moment.

“Something like that.”

Miguel nodded toward the bread display. “Would you like me to make you something while you’re here?”

Lucifer glanced toward the window and saw the homeless man still sitting outside with the dog beside him.

“Actually, I’ll need one footlong chicken sandwich,” Lucifer said. “Add plenty of vegetables, keep the sauces light, and cut it into four pieces.”

Miguel reached for the bread. “Anything else with that?”

“Several bags of chips, a few cookies, and four bottles of water,” Lucifer replied. “Also, place some plain chicken in a separate container. No sauce, vegetables, cheese, or anything else likely to upset a dog’s stomach.”

Kayla looked through the window and noticed the homeless man outside. Her expression softened when she saw the dog sitting beside him.

“That’s for those two?” she asked.

Lucifer followed her gaze. “The man appears hungry, and his companion looks like he’s been surviving on optimism and whatever falls beneath restaurant tables.”

The employees began preparing the order together. Miguel handled the sandwich while Kayla packed the chips, cookies, and bottled water into a large paper bag. Tanya placed a small portion of plain chicken into a separate container and secured the lid.

Lucifer watched them work with familiar efficiency.

They moved smoothly despite looking exhausted. Miguel kept glancing toward the clock near the kitchen. Kayla occasionally checked something on her phone between tasks, while Tanya rubbed one shoulder whenever she thought nobody was watching.

Lucifer recognized every movement.

Karl had checked the clock the same way, counting how many hours remained before he could leave one job and travel toward the next. He had checked his phone for overdue payment reminders and rubbed aching muscles while pretending nothing hurt.

Once the food had been packed, Tanya entered the total into the register.

Lucifer reached inside his coat and pulled out a thick roll of cash. He separated several bills and placed them on the counter.

Tanya counted the money before looking at him. “You gave me far too much.”

“I’m aware,” Lucifer replied. “Keep the change for the order, though that isn’t your actual tip.”

He rested one elbow against the counter and looked at the three employees.

“Tell me something. Are you all students, or are you pursuing some grand dream while pretending this place isn’t slowly draining your souls?”

The three of them exchanged uncertain looks.

Kayla gave a nervous laugh. “That’s a pretty personal question.”

“I have a talent for those,” Lucifer replied. “Go ahead and satisfy my curiosity.”

Miguel shrugged before answering. “I’m in college studying business management.”

“Why are you working here?”

“Tuition, books, rent, and everything else,” Miguel replied. “My scholarship doesn’t cover enough, so I work here and deliver food on weekends.”

Lucifer nodded before looking toward Kayla.

She rested both hands against the counter. “I’m studying nursing. I’ve still got two years left, assuming I can afford next semester.”

“What happens if you can’t afford the next semester?”

Kayla gave him a tired smile. “I take fewer classes, work more hours, and graduate sometime before I turn forty.”

Lucifer’s expression tightened before his attention shifted toward Tanya.

She looked slightly older than the other two, perhaps somewhere in her late twenties. The exhaustion in her face ran much deeper than one difficult shift.

“What about you?” Lucifer asked.

Tanya hesitated before answering. “I’ve got a four-year-old son.”

Lucifer glanced toward the child’s drawing taped beneath the register. He hadn’t noticed it earlier. A smiling stick figure stood beside a woman beneath the uneven words MOMMY AND ME.

“You’re raising him alone?”

“His father isn’t around,” Tanya replied. “I work here during the day and at a twenty-four-hour pharmacy during the night. My mother watches him while I’m working.”

“You work two shifts every day?”

“Most days,” Tanya said with a small shrug. “Rent doesn’t care whether I’m tired.”

The words landed harder than she could possibly understand.

Karl had said similar things countless times. Rent didn’t care whether his feet hurt. Electricity companies didn’t care whether he had eaten properly. Bills arrived with perfect punctuality while every paycheck disappeared before he had time to feel relief.

Lucifer reached inside his coat again and removed a large bundle of cash.

He counted several bills, added more, then placed five thousand dollars on the counter.

The thick wad immediately silenced all three employees.

Miguel stared at it. “What’s that for?”

“You’ll split it between the three of you,” Lucifer replied. “Pay your bills, buy textbooks, cover part of your tuition, or spend one glorious evening eating something that wasn’t assembled behind this counter.”

Kayla looked from the money to Lucifer’s face. “Are you serious?”

“Painfully serious.”

Tanya shook her head and pushed the cash slightly toward him. “We can’t take this much money from a stranger.”

“You can, and you will,” Lucifer replied as he pushed it back. “I’ve been in your shoes before. I know how it feels to work until your entire body hurts and still wonder whether the next paycheck will cover everything. I also know what it’s like to calculate whether one small comfort is worth risking an unpaid bill.”

Their expressions changed as they listened.

The perfectly dressed man standing before them didn’t look like someone who had ever worried about rent, groceries, or tuition. Still, nothing about the way he spoke sounded like empty sympathy from a wealthy stranger.

Lucifer pulled out another wad of cash and placed two thousand dollars beside the first bundle.

“That is your tip for preparing the order.”

Miguel’s mouth fell open. “You’re giving us a two-thousand-dollar tip and that?”

“Yes,” Lucifer replied. “You’ll divide that as well. I’d rather the money enter your pockets than disappear into whatever corporate pit claims the rest of this restaurant’s profits.”

Kayla looked close to tears. “I don’t even know what to say.”

“You could say thank you and avoid wasting this peculiar moment by attempting to return anything.”

“Thank you,” Kayla whispered as she wiped beneath one eye.

Miguel nodded quickly. “Seriously, thank you. This is completely insane.”

Lucifer gave them a faint smile. “Sometimes insanity is considerably more useful than reason.”

He reached into his pocket and pulled out three Lux business cards before placing one in front of each employee.

“If either of you wishes to continue your education and needs additional support, come to Lux and ask for me.”

Miguel picked up the card and stared at the printed name. “Lucifer Morningstar?”

“The one and only.”

Kayla looked at the address. “You own Lux?”

“I do,” Lucifer replied. “Come during the afternoon when the club is quiet. Bring your tuition information, academic records, and whatever other tedious paperwork proves you’re genuinely studying. I’ll see what can be arranged.”

Miguel continued staring at the card. “You’d help with our tuition?”

“I said I’d see what could be arranged,” Lucifer replied. “However, I’m exceptionally wealthy, so your chances appear rather promising.”

He turned toward Tanya and pointed at the card in front of her.

“You’re coming to Lux as well.”

Tanya blinked. “I’m not attending college.”

“You’re getting a new job.”

Her eyes widened. “What kind of job are you offering?”

“Drink server at Lux,” Lucifer replied. “The hours will be better, and the pay will be considerably higher than whatever insult they call a wage around here. The tips alone should exceed what you earn between both current jobs.”

Tanya stared at him as though he had started speaking another language.

“I don’t have any nightclub experience.”

“You can carry food, handle customers, remember orders, and survive two jobs while raising a child,” Lucifer said. “Serving drinks to intoxicated celebrities should feel relaxing by comparison. And don't worry, we've pretty good guards there. So, there won't be any funny business there.”

Tanya looked down at the card. 

“You’ll receive staff quarters,” Lucifer replied. “There are several furnished apartments in the building reserved for employees who need them. Yours will be large enough for three people to live comfortably, which should provide sufficient space for you, your son, and your mother.”

Tanya’s eyes filled with tears before she could stop them.

Lucifer noticed and immediately looked uncomfortable.

“Please don’t start crying,” he said. “Humans become extremely difficult to manage once the tears begin.”

Tanya laughed through the tears and covered her mouth with one hand. “Why would you do all this for people you don’t know?”

Lucifer glanced around the restaurant.

For the briefest moment, he could almost see Karl standing behind the counter with tired eyes, aching feet, and a polite smile hiding the desperate wish that someone might walk through those glass doors and change everything.

Nobody had ever walked through them for Karl.

“I understand what it’s like to wish for something absurd,” Lucifer said quietly. “Sometimes people imagine a wealthy stranger entering their miserable workplace, handing them money, and offering a way out. It sounds ridiculous until the stranger actually arrives.”

Miguel looked at the cash on the counter. “I’ve imagined something like this before.”

Kayla gave a shaky laugh while wiping her eyes. “I think all of us have imagined it.”

Lucifer nodded as though that settled everything. “Then today appears to be your lucky day.”

He collected the bag of food and walked toward the entrance.

Tanya hurried around the counter and caught up with him before he reached the door.

“Mr. Morningstar?”

Lucifer looked back at her.

“I’ll come to Lux,” she said. “I don’t know how I’m ever going to repay you, but I’ll work hard.”

Lucifer gave her a small nod. “Excellent. Ask for Mazikeen when you arrive. She manages the employees, though I recommend avoiding phrases such as work me to death because she tends to interpret them literally.”

Tanya looked uncertain whether he was joking, but Lucifer opened the door and stepped outside before she could ask.

The homeless man remained near the concrete barrier with his dog resting against his leg. The dog lifted its head when the smell of food crossed the parking area, and its tail immediately began striking the pavement.

Lucifer walked over and placed the bag beside the man.

The homeless man stared at it. “What’s all this?”

“You wanted food, no?” Lucifer replied. “There’s enough for a proper meal now and something sealed for later. The separate container holds plain chicken for your little companion.”

The man opened the bag and looked inside before turning back toward Lucifer with disbelief. “You bought all of this for us?”

“I certainly didn’t purchase it because I enjoy carrying paper bags,” Lucifer replied. “Eat the sandwich while it’s fresh, keep the packaged food for later, and remember to drink the water.”

The man’s eyes became wet as he reached toward the food. “Thank you, sir. I mean that.”

Lucifer nodded before crouching beside the dog.

The animal sniffed his hand cautiously. Once it decided Lucifer wasn’t a threat, it leaned closer and allowed him to rub behind its ears.

Lucifer smiled while patting the dog’s head. “At least one creature around here possesses proper manners.”

The dog’s tail struck the pavement faster.

Lucifer stood and looked through the restaurant’s glass windows. Miguel, Kayla, and Tanya remained gathered near the register, staring at the bundles of cash and talking with expressions that shifted between shock, relief, and disbelief.

Lucifer knew he couldn’t help everyone.

He couldn’t walk into every restaurant, pay every tuition bill, provide every exhausted parent with a home, or rescue every person trapped beneath the same crushing routine Karl had endured.

The world contained too many people and too many problems for one generous afternoon to change everything.

Helping a few people still felt unexpectedly satisfying.

He returned to the Corvette and paused beside the driver’s door. The homeless man had already opened the small container for the dog, who ate the chicken with enthusiastic bites.

A small smile crossed Lucifer’s face.

He drove off...

,,,

The old address remained inside Lucifer’s memory with perfect clarity.

A narrow apartment building in a poor neighborhood, squeezed between a laundromat and a convenience store. The plumbing had rattled whenever anyone used hot water, the elevator had been broken for eight months, and the landlord treated repairs like personal betrayals.

Karl had lived in a one-bedroom apartment on the third floor.

Lucifer drove across the city while the image remained sharp inside his mind.

Twenty minutes later, he turned onto the familiar street.

Then he slowed down.

The neighborhood looked different.

The convenience store existed, though the sign had changed. The laundromat was now a small pharmacy. Several buildings had been renovated, while others seemed older and more neglected than he remembered.

The apartment building was gone.

Lucifer pulled the Corvette toward the curb and stared at the space where it should have stood.

A brightly decorated ice cream shop occupied the address.

Large windows displayed colorful tubs behind the counter, while cartoon fruit covered the walls. Families sat at tables outside, and several children ate cones beneath a striped awning.

Lucifer checked the address again.

The street and building number matched his memory perfectly, though everything else belonged to another life.

He stepped out of the car and crossed the sidewalk slowly.

A bell rang above the door when he entered the shop. Cold air brushed across his face, carrying the smell of sugar, fruit, chocolate, and freshly made waffle cones. A woman behind the counter smiled at him.

“Welcome. Let me know if you want to try anything.”

Lucifer looked around. There was no narrow staircase leading to upper floors. There were no apartments, mailboxes, or broken elevators. The whole building seemed to be designed as a store.

“How long has this place been here?” he asked.

The woman looked surprised by the question. “Are you asking about the shop?”

“Yes.”

“My parents opened it about sixteen years ago.”

Lucifer’s eyes moved toward the ceiling.

“What stood here before that?”

“An old parking lot,” she replied. “Why are you asking?”

Lucifer remained silent for several seconds.

The apartment had never existed.

There had been no third-floor room, overdue electricity bills, dying laptop, or cracked kitchen window that refused to close during winter.

Karl Jenson hadn’t lived here.

Maybe he had never existed in this universe.

Lucifer looked through the window toward the street while something complicated settled inside his chest. He had expected relief at the thought of finding Karl alive. He could have given him money, found him a comfortable home, and made sure this world’s version of himself never reached the same exhausted ending.

Instead, there was nobody to save.

The woman behind the counter waited patiently. “Were you looking for someone?”

Lucifer turned back toward her.

“I thought an old friend used to live here.”

She offered him a sympathetic smile. “Maybe you’ve got the address wrong.”

Lucifer looked around once more before releasing a quiet breath.

“Perhaps I do.”

He bought a large cream soda float before leaving the shop. Then he sat at one of the outside tables while children laughed nearby and their parents struggled to keep melted ice cream from covering their clothes. 

Lucifer took a slow drink from the float.

There was no Karl waiting behind a sandwich counter, and no miserable apartment stood at the old address.

His former life had left no shadow here.

Maybe God had taken Karl completely from another universe and placed him inside Lucifer Morningstar. Maybe this world had never contained anyone remotely like him. Every memory of his old life belonged only to the man sitting at this table.

Lucifer looked down at the cream soda float.

He lifted the drink toward the empty seat across from him.

“To Karl Jenson,” he said quietly. “That poor bastard deserved considerably better.”

Just then, a familiar voice came from his right...

"Lucifer!" Trixie yelled with a large smile as she left Chloe's hand and ran toward him. She stopped right before him and since he was sitting, she couldn't hug him. She really wanted to hug Lucifer.

"Hello, little human," Lucifer said, patting her head twice. He looked up at Chloe. "Now, don't say, 'What are you doing here, Lucifer?'" 

...

Somewhere far away... On top of a building, Amenadiel watched Lucifer. He had followed him all day, but couldn't figure out the reason behind his sudden change. He also tried to talk to his dad, but didn't get any response. So, at this point, all he could do was figure this whole situation out all by himself.

"I will figure out this trial, father."