[Lucifer] Ch: 33 [What Has Become of Me?] (Patreon)

Chloe waited until Dan’s car disappeared around the corner before closing the front door.

Then she turned around.

Lucifer was already walking back toward the kitchen as though the strange exchange on the porch hadn’t happened. He picked up the spatula, checked the eggs, and lowered the heat beneath the pan with irritating calm.

Chloe followed him, still holding the gun loosely in one hand while keeping the towel secured around herself with the other. “Don’t even think about pretending that didn’t happen.”

Lucifer glanced toward her while moving the eggs onto a plate. “I wasn’t pretending anything, Detective. I’m attempting to rescue your breakfast from becoming tragically overcooked.”

“Lucifer, what did you mean when you said ‘after everything you did’?”

His hand stopped briefly above the plate.

Karl had known this moment would eventually come. Dan’s involvement in Palmetto had been sitting inside his memory from the moment he recognized the world he’d entered. Chloe had risked her reputation investigating Malcolm Graham while Dan secretly knew far more than he ever admitted.

Lucifer could tell her everything.

He could destroy Dan’s carefully maintained secret with a few sentences.

Instead, he remembered Chloe leaning against him the previous night after several glasses of whiskey, exhausted and angry enough that years of frustration had slipped past her usual defenses.

That gave him another truth.

Lucifer placed the spatula down and turned toward her. “You told me quite a lot last night.”

Chloe’s expression immediately tightened. “What exactly did I tell you?”

Lucifer leaned back against the counter and folded his arms. “Among several complaints regarding police bureaucracy, unpleasant murder scenes, and the criminal inadequacy of American whiskey, you discussed your marriage.”

Chloe closed her eyes briefly as another piece of the previous night returned. “Of course I did.”

“You were remarkably expressive,” Lucifer continued, though his teasing smile faded when he saw her embarrassment. “You told me Dan frequently put his career ahead of everything else. Promotions, assignments, proving himself within the department. Meanwhile, you were working equally unpleasant hours while raising Trixie and somehow expected to carry considerably more of the responsibility at home.”

Chloe looked down for a moment. She remembered saying some of that, though the details remained scattered beneath the lingering fog of alcohol and exhaustion. 'Arg, I gotta stop drinking.'

Lucifer watched her carefully before continuing. “Then there was Palmetto.”

Her eyes immediately returned toward him.

“You said the department treated you like an infected animal because you dared question another officer,” Lucifer said. “People whispered behind your back, stopped trusting you, and decided you were chasing some absurd conspiracy because accepting your theory would've meant admitting one of their own might be corrupt.”

Chloe swallowed and adjusted the towel more tightly around herself.

Lucifer’s expression hardened slightly. “And the man who was supposed to know you better than anyone didn’t stand beside you the way you needed him to. Instead, you felt increasingly alone while your marriage collapsed around the same bloody case.”

For several seconds, Chloe simply stared at him.

Everything Lucifer had said was true.

Painfully true.

Still, something didn’t fit.

“That’s why you said that to Dan?”

“It’s certainly part of the reason.”

Chloe’s eyes narrowed immediately. “Part of the reason?”

Lucifer realized the mistake the second the words left his mouth.

He couldn’t take them back.

Chloe stepped closer. “You know something else.”

Lucifer reached toward the coffee pot and poured himself a cup, buying several seconds while deciding how carefully he needed to phrase the next answer. “I know your former husband has remarkably little room to judge your personal decisions considering how thoroughly he disappointed you during your marriage.”

“That’s not what I asked.”

“I’m aware.”

Chloe stared at him, every detective instinct she possessed locking onto the hesitation. “Dan looked nervous when you mentioned it. He wasn’t angry anymore. He was nervous, Lucifer.”

Lucifer took a slow drink before setting the cup down. “Perhaps he simply remembered that criticizing someone as stubborn, competent, and frankly ravishing as you while carrying his own collection of failures makes him look like an enormous hypocrite.” His eyes flicked downward before he could stop himself.  

Chloe gave him a flat stare. “Don’t use my boobs to change the subject.”

“Technically, I wasn’t referring exclusively to your breasts, though since you’ve raised the subject voluntarily, they are certainly worthy of recognition.”

“Lucifer.”

He sighed and looked back at her face. “Detective, I haven’t lied to you.”

“That doesn’t mean you’re telling me everything.”

Lucifer smiled faintly. “You’re becoming alarmingly familiar with how I operate.”

Chloe crossed her arms before remembering the towel situation and quickly reconsidered the movement. “So there is something.”

Lucifer looked at her for several seconds.

He could see the frustration building behind her eyes. Chloe hated unanswered questions, especially when they involved people she trusted. One careless revelation could send her directly toward Palmetto before she was prepared to deal with everything surrounding it. And if that happened, Dan might never go through the experiences that eventually forced him to become a better man.

“I think,” Lucifer said carefully, “that your relationship with Detective Douche has a lot of unaddressed wounds. You told me last night how isolated you felt. Whatever Dan's opinions are now, he gave up the right to judge you when he consistently chose his career over your family. And I imagine your little offspring noticed considerably more than either of you realized. She might be clingy, but she's still a kid, and kids shouldn't have to experience that. Believe me, Detective, I know what happens when parents fight. Mum had her disagreements with Father, I staged one tiny rebellion, and suddenly everyone’s being banished to Hell. Well, Mum's situation is much worse. Families can be terribly dramatic."

Chloe’s expression softened slightly, though suspicion remained.

Lucifer stepped toward the table and pulled out one of the chairs. “Now, before you interrogate me until breakfast becomes lunch, sit down and eat. You requested royal treatment, and I refuse to let perfectly good pancakes suffer because your ex-husband possesses terrible timing.”

Chloe remained where she was for another moment.

“You’re hiding something.”

Lucifer met her eyes.

“I’m choosing what belongs to me to tell.”

That answer stopped her.

Chloe studied him closely, realizing the wording had been deliberate. Whatever Lucifer knew involved Dan, but apparently Lucifer believed the truth belonged to someone else.

Her suspicion deepened.

She finally turned toward the stairs. “I’m getting dressed. Then you’re driving me to Lux so I can get my car.”

"What about breakfast?"

"You seriously expect me to sit there eating pancakes and eggs in a towel with my hair still dripping?" She gave him that look.

Lucifer grinned. "I wouldn't mind. It's your place after all. Who am I to judge?"

She sighed before walking up the stairs.

Lucifer smiled as some of his usual amusement returned. “Do hurry, Detective. Pancakes have a distressingly short period of perfection.”

Chloe continued upstairs without looking back. “Somehow I think you’re more worried about the towel disappearing than the pancakes getting cold.”

He watched her disappear around the corner before releasing a quiet breath. Palmetto had just become considerably more dangerous. And judging by the look Chloe had given him, she wasn’t going to forget the conversation anytime soon. 

...

[Later That Day]

Lucifer stood at the very edge of Lux’s rooftop with both hands buried inside his trouser pockets, staring down at the traffic crawling through Los Angeles far below. Cars moved through intersections, pedestrians hurried along sidewalks, and somewhere in the distance a siren complained about something that didn’t concern him.

He was bored.

'Maybe I should get my wings back before that brother of mine creates unnecessary chaos. Or, should I get rid of Malcom? Hmm... Perhaps I should stop Amenadiel from healing that prick. It'd be much easier if I could just beat him up, but the big guy... Oh well...'

Terribly, painfully bored.

Chloe was busy with her work that didn't need his help. Maze went out to beat up the truck driver who stole a crate of booze. Linda was busy with her other people who actually needed her help. And finally, he got a couple of party invites that don't start until 8 PM. 

Lucifer rocked slightly on his heels while considering whether throwing himself off the roof purely for entertainment would be worth the effort when his phone suddenly rang inside his pocket.

He pulled it out, flipped it upward with one hand, caught it neatly, and looked at the screen.

Alexandra.

His boredom disappeared almost immediately.

Lucifer answered with a pleased smile. “Well, this is a considerably better interruption than gravity.”

Alexandra laughed through the phone. “Should I ask what you were doing?”

“Standing on the edge of my building contemplating increasingly irresponsible ways to entertain myself.”

“Of course you were,” she replied. “I’m about to finish a photoshoot in twenty minutes or so, and I was wondering if you wanted to go out afterward.”

Lucifer glanced toward the city again while his smile widened. “That depends entirely on your definition of going out. If this ends with another movie montage, I require advance warning.”

Alexandra sounded amused. “Relax. No movies planned this time. I thought we could go bowling.”

Lucifer slowly pulled the phone away from his ear and stared at it as though the device itself had offended him.

He placed it back against his ear. “Bowling?”

“Yes, Lucifer. People throw heavy balls at pins and occasionally enjoy themselves.”

“I’m familiar with the concept, darling. I’m simply questioning why someone would voluntarily wear shoes previously occupied by strangers.”

“You can bring your own shoes.”

“That improves matters considerably.”

Alexandra paused before asking, “So, are you coming?”

Lucifer looked down at the street, then back toward Lux behind him. His afternoon contained absolutely nothing worth choosing over Alexandra and the night parties are all the same.

He smiled. “I'll pick you up from your apartment?”

"My studio? I'll text you the address?" 

"Sure."

“Try not to show up wearing a three-piece suit.”

Lucifer immediately looked down at himself. “Now you’re asking too much.”

Alexandra laughed. “See you soon, Lucifer.”

He ended the call and slipped the phone back into his pocket before stepping away from the edge.

“Bowling,” Lucifer muttered with an amused smile. “What has become of me?”