[Lucifer] Ch: 37 & 38 [Breaking the Canon] (Patreon)

Chloe and Lucifer walked side by side along the sidewalk outside the precinct, weaving around officers, pedestrians, and people moving toward the courthouse across the street.

Chloe held Lindsay Jolson's file beneath one arm while Lucifer walked beside her with both hands inside his trouser pockets, wearing the same irritatingly pleased smile he'd had since answering her phone call.

"Her name's Lindsay Jolson," Chloe said. "She's twenty-two, and she's been missing for almost three full days."

'Alright, time to get shot by her and enter LAPD and maybe guilt trip her on the way. But nope. Let's break the canon again. It's more fun that way.' Lucifer nodded slowly while looking at her instead of the file. "Mm-hmm. Tragic circumstances, mysterious disappearance, possible criminal conspiracy. All terribly serious."

Chloe glanced sideways at him and immediately noticed the smile still sitting on his face. "Why are you smiling?"

Lucifer's smile widened. "Because I'd like you to ask me again."

Chloe frowned. "Ask you what again?"

"To accompany you tonight."

Chloe stopped walking for half a second before continuing. "Lucifer, there's a girl missing."

"Yes, Detective, I'm fully aware of that," Lucifer replied while matching her pace. "I'm simply appreciating the historic importance of this moment."

Chloe looked at him suspiciously. "What historic moment?"

Lucifer turned toward her with theatrical delight. "You've finally asked me out."

Chloe stared at him before releasing a disbelieving laugh. " It's not a date. It's a work thing."

His expression immediately fell. "Oh. How disappointing."

"And are you going to help me or keep making this difficult?"

Lucifer considered the question with exaggerated seriousness before giving her a small nod. "I'll help, although only because your little investigation happens to coincide perfectly with my own plans."

Chloe tightened her hold on the file. "What plans?"

Lucifer glanced ahead while speaking casually. "I was considering asking you out myself. I've spent the last few days trying to determine the most effective approach. But you beat me to it."

Chloe laughed before she could stop herself, then quickly tried to recover. " Okay. Wait, you and I... well, there is no you and I. There's a professional situation, and I just need you..."

Lucifer immediately turned toward her. "You need me."

Chloe looked kinda annoyed. "The department needs you."

"Because I'm special."

"Because your name is on the guest list for the Players' Club event," Chloe replied through growing irritation. "That's the only reason we're having this conversation."

Lucifer smiled as he watched her become increasingly frustrated. "You're rather adorable when you get flustered."

"I... I'm not flustered."

"Your cheeks are changing color."

"I'm nauseous."

Lucifer tilted his head and examined her face with obvious enjoyment. "Definitely blushing. I'd say I'm making considerable progress."

Chloe stopped walking and turned directly toward him. "Okay, let me make myself perfectly clear before we go any further."

Lucifer stopped as well, looking genuinely interested now. "Please continue."

Chloe pointed one finger toward his chest. "I will never, ever, ever sleep with you.Never. Okay? Got it? There isn't going to be some magical night where you flirt enough, annoy me enough, or somehow trick me into changing my mind. Do you understand?"

Lucifer blinked once.

Then his eyebrows lifted.

"I never said I intended to sleep with you."

Chloe froze.

Lucifer's smile slowly returned as realization spread across his face. "Detective, have you been thinking about sleeping with me?"

Her eyes widened. "Ha. That's completely different from what I said," She stuttered, realizing what she just said.

Lucifer looked delighted by the entire situation. "You introduced the subject entirely on your own. I was discussing a date, and suddenly you're imagining us naked together."

"I... I wasn't imagining anything."

"Of course," Lucifer replied with absolutely no conviction. "Although if you do eventually decide you'd like to have sex with me, there's really no need for all this emotional turmoil. You could simply ask."

Chloe stared at him, visibly fighting several possible responses before settling on the one she liked most.

"When Hell freezes over, Lucifer," She said, and then she began to walk again. 'Darn it! Why did I say that?'

Lucifer's smile became almost thoughtful.

"I could arrange that, actually."

...

.[Player's Club].

The Players’ Club event occupied the upper floor of an expensive hotel, where polished marble, low lighting, loud music, and an uncomfortable amount of confidence had been gathered beneath one roof.

Men wearing expensive watches crowded around cocktail tables while attractive women moved between them with drinks. Large banners displayed the Players’ Club logo beside photographs of Carver Cruz smiling like a man who had personally invented sex.

Lucifer walked through the entrance beside Chloe and immediately looked around with approval.

“Well, hello.”

Music rolled through the room while a beautiful woman behind the registration desk smiled at him.

♪ Ain’t nothing wrong with this chemistry... ♪

“Mr. Morningstar,” she said, checking the guest list before reaching for a name tag. “Here you are.”

She stepped closer and attached it carefully to the front of Lucifer’s jacket.

Lucifer gave her one of his practiced smiles. “Thank you, lovely.”

Chloe stood beside him and watched the exchange with growing irritation. She should’ve been used to women reacting this way around Lucifer by now. 

Apparently knowing that didn’t make it any less annoying.

The woman glanced toward Chloe before quickly writing something on a napkin. She folded it once and slipped it neatly into Lucifer’s pocket.

“And here’s something else you might need.”

Lucifer pulled the napkin out and saw a phone number written across it.

His smile widened. “I imagine this could come in rather handy. Pardon the pun.”

The woman laughed while subtly adjusting her arms beneath her chest, which only made the neckline of her dress considerably more noticeable and made her boobs kinda pop up.

Chloe rolled her eyes and continued walking.

Lucifer caught up beside her.

They hadn’t made it more than several feet before an impressed man stepped into Lucifer’s path.

“Dude, did you seriously just number-close the nametag girl?”

Lucifer looked at the napkin, then at the man before casually placing it inside his jacket pocket.

“Use this wisely.”

The man stared at him.

Lucifer gave his shoulder an encouraging pat. “You’re welcome.”

Chloe waited until they were moving again before giving Lucifer a disbelieving look. “I can’t believe you just gave some random guy her number.”

“I sensed tremendous potential.”

“She gave it to you.”

Lucifer glanced toward the registration desk. “And I’m currently occupied.”

Chloe gave him a suspicious look. “Since when has that ever stopped you?”

Lucifer smiled while his eyes moved toward her legs. “Don’t worry, Detective. I’m available for you. Whenever you finally say the word, you’ll receive my complete attention.”

Chloe scoffed. “You’ve seriously never been rejected by a woman, have you?”

Lucifer thought about the question.

“No.”

The complete lack of hesitation made Chloe shake her head. Before she could respond, shouting erupted near the entrance.

“Get your hands off me!”

Several people turned toward the commotion.

A young man struggled against one of the event’s security guards while pointing toward the main room.

“I want to talk to Carver Cruz!”

The guard stepped between him and the crowd. “Sir, you need to leave the property.”

“Carver!” the man shouted. “Get your ass out here!”

Chloe’s expression changed immediately. She recognized him from Lindsay’s file. “That’s Kevin Jolson. Lindsay’s brother.”

Kevin continued struggling with the guard. “What did you do to my sister?! Carver!”

Lucifer looked toward Chloe, then gave her a reassuring smile. “I'll handle it. And be ready for a surprise.”

Before she could stop him or ask what surprise he was talking about, he walked toward the confrontation.

Lucifer approached the guard and rested one hand lightly against the man’s shoulder. “It’s perfectly fine. I know him.”

Kevin immediately looked at him. “I don’t know you.”

Lucifer glanced toward him. “You will.”

The guard shook his head. “I’m sorry. He has to leave.”

Lucifer looked at him for a moment. His expression changed as his amusement faded. He focused directly on the guard's eyes and said, “Oh, surely that isn’t what you want to spend your evening doing.”

The guard’s shoulders relaxed. "No."

Lucifer smiled. “Great. Look around you... There are several lovely ladies milling around out there. Which one do you desire?"

Chloe sighed softly behind him. She recognized that look now.

The guard stared into Lucifer’s eyes before his expression became strangely peaceful.

“You. I'm gay.”

Lucifer blinked.

Chloe’s eyebrows rose. 'Hahaha. Serves you right.'

The guard continued staring at him.

“I want you.”

Lucifer looked genuinely flattered. “Oh.”

He briefly adjusted the front of his jacket before giving the man an apologetic smile.

“Well, that’s extremely kind. Unfortunately, I’m currently engaged in a work-related relationship with this gorgeous creature.”

He gestured toward Chloe.

She stared at him.

“Don’t drag me into this.”

Lucifer turned back toward the guard. “However, the room behind you contains hundreds of possibilities. Statistically speaking, more than a few gentlemen out there should share your interests.”

The guard glanced toward the party.

Lucifer leaned slightly closer. “Why waste your evening throwing this poor man into the street when you could be finding someone significantly more entertaining?”

The guard thought about it before smiling.

“Yeah.”

Lucifer stepped aside and gestured grandly toward the crowd. “Go forth and conquer.”

The guard immediately walked away.

Lucifer watched him disappear between several guests and gave a satisfied nod.

“Off you pop.”

Chloe approached while rubbing one hand across her forehead.

“One day, you’re going to explain how you do that.”

“I already have.”

“The Devil explanation doesn’t count.”

“It will eventually.”

Chloe turned toward Kevin before Lucifer could continue. “You’re Lindsay’s brother.”

Kevin looked at her sharply. “How do you know that?”

“Because she’s a cop,” Lucifer answered.

Chloe immediately looked around at the nearby guests. “Great. Say that louder next time. I don’t think everyone in the building heard you.”

Lucifer leaned closer to Kevin and lowered his voice dramatically. “She’s a police officer, and we’re here undercover investigating your sister’s disappearance.”

Chloe closed her eyes.

“Much better.”

Kevin barely seemed to care about their argument. The anger that had carried him through the door disappeared beneath exhaustion almost immediately. “If you can help me, I’ll tell you what happened. Carver killed her,” he said.

Chloe’s expression sharpened. “You know Lindsay’s dead?”

Kevin hesitated before speaking. “No, but I know my sister. She wouldn’t disappear without calling me. She wouldn’t just run away.”

His voice became rougher as he continued.

“We came here together. She doesn’t know anyone else in Los Angeles. I’m all she has here, and she’s all I’ve got.”

Chloe’s posture softened. “Kevin, listen to me. If somebody hurt Lindsay, I’ll find out what happened. I promise you.”

Kevin nodded, though fear remained behind his eyes.

Lucifer watched him quietly. He already knew everything. Lindsay wasn’t some innocent caterer who had randomly disappeared after stumbling into Carver Cruz’s orbit.

His smile slowly returned as he watched Kevin. “Although perhaps we should discuss why you and your sister came to Los Angeles intending to blackmail Carver in the first place.”

Kevin went completely still. His shoulders tightened, and the nervous energy that had been hiding beneath his anger suddenly became much easier to see.

Chloe immediately turned toward Lucifer. “What are you talking about?”

Lucifer barely acknowledged the question. His attention remained fixed on Kevin as he stepped closer, studying the young man’s expression with growing interest. “There it is. That lovely little look people make when someone mentions the secret they were absolutely certain nobody else knew.”

Kevin stared at him, his breathing becoming noticeably heavier. “I... I don't know what you're talking about?”

“Revenge, Detective, with a considerable amount of money thrown into the arrangement,” Lucifer said, finally glancing toward Chloe before looking back at Kevin. “Carver Cruz slept with Lindsay years ago. She was young, naive, and completely taken with him. He seduced her in a library, took her virginity, discarded her once he got what he wanted, and then decided the entire experience would make excellent material for one of his pathetic little books.”

Chloe’s expression changed as she looked toward Kevin. She expected him to deny it, demand proof, or at least accuse Lucifer of making things up, but Kevin did none of those things. He flinched while his hands curled at his sides, and the silence told her Lucifer had struck dangerously close to the truth.

Lucifer saw the reaction as well and continued, his voice losing more of its usual playfulness. “He used her real name and described intimate details about what happened between them. He took one of the most humiliating experiences of her life and turned it into entertainment for strangers desperate to learn how to manipulate women.”

Kevin swallowed hard and looked away, though the movement only confirmed more of what Lucifer was saying.

“So you hated him,” Lucifer continued as he slowly moved around Kevin. “Both of you did, and I can hardly blame you for that part. Lindsay spent years carrying what he did to her, while you watched your sister deal with the consequences. Eventually, the two of you decided Carver deserved to experience some consequences of his own.”

Chloe shifted her attention between them. She didn't interrupt.

Lucifer stopped a few feet away and slipped one hand into his trouser pocket. “Lindsay came here with a plan. She’d get close to Carver again, except this time she wouldn’t be the inexperienced young woman he remembered. She’d make him interested, make him trust her, and keep pulling until the great Carver Cruz became completely wrapped around her finger.”

Kevin’s eyes flicked toward Lucifer for the briefest moment.

That was enough.

Lucifer smiled faintly. “And she succeeded rather spectacularly. Carver didn’t simply want her this time. The poor little self-proclaimed seduction expert actually fell in love with her.”

Chloe’s eyes narrowed as she started putting the pieces together. But right now, it was all Lucifer's words and Kevin's guilty expression. She needed more proof.

Lucifer continued. “Once Carver cared enough about Lindsay, the two of them intended to use that attachment against him. A fake kidnapping, ransom demand... You were going to make him pay because you knew he’d do almost anything to save Lindsay. Rather ironic, really. The man who built his career teaching insecure fools how to avoid emotional attachment ended up becoming precisely the sort of desperate idiot he mocked.”

Chloe stepped closer to Kevin, watching him carefully. “Is any of this true?”

Kevin’s breathing grew faster. His anger had begun mixing with panic, and Chloe noticed his right hand slowly moving behind his back.

Her entire posture changed. “Kevin, keep your hands where I can see them.”

Lucifer saw the movement as well, though he remained perfectly calm.

Kevin suddenly pulled a handgun from behind his back.

Several nearby guests screamed and scattered away from them. Chairs scraped across the floor as people rushed toward the opposite side of the room, leaving Kevin standing in an open space with the weapon shaking badly between his hands.

Chloe’s hand immediately moved toward her own gun, but Kevin raised his weapon before she could draw it properly. “Stay back!”

Lucifer looked at the handgun and released an irritated sigh. “Oh, bloody hell. There’s always a gun eventually.”

Chloe slowly raised both hands, keeping her movements careful and deliberate. “Kevin, listen to me. Put the gun down before you make this situation worse than it already is. Nobody here needs to get hurt.”

Kevin’s arms trembled as he tried to keep the weapon steady. Lucifer noticed the poor stance, the awkward grip, and the way Kevin’s finger hovered uncertainly near the trigger. He had seen enough violence to recognize the difference between someone comfortable with a weapon and someone holding one because fear and anger had pushed him beyond his limits.

He was terrified, furious, and dangerously close to making the worst decision of his life.

“Everything he said is true. Carver deserves everything that’s coming to him,” Kevin yelled. “That bastard used her. Lindsay trusted him because she thought he actually cared about her. She was young, and Carver knew exactly how to make her believe whatever he wanted. Then he slept with her, dumped her like she meant nothing, and wrote about the whole thing like she was some fucking story he could sell.”

His grip tightened around the handgun as his eyes became wet.

“He used her real name and even posted our address,” Kevin continued, his voice cracking now. “Do you understand what that did to her? People figured out who she was. Kids at school knew about it. Guys laughed at her and treated her like she was some cheap whore because Carver Cruz wanted another chapter for his stupid fucking book. She stopped going out, stopped trusting people, and spent years hating herself because that asshole decided her humiliation was useful material. She even tried to take her life.”

The room had gone strangely quiet around them. Even Lucifer’s expression had become serious as he watched Kevin struggle beneath years of anger that had finally found somewhere to go.

Chloe slowly lowered one hand by a few inches, keeping every movement visible. “I'm sorry for everything you and your sister went through. I understand why you hate Carver, and I understand why Lindsay wanted revenge. But this isn't the right way.”

Kevin looked toward her, but before he could answer, Lucifer stepped slightly to the side.

“The money was never going to be enough.”

Kevin aimed his gun at him.

He tilted his head slightly and looked directly into Kevin’s eyes. “You and Lindsay didn’t come to Los Angeles merely to blackmail Carver.”

Kevin said nothing.

Lucifer’s voice became colder.

“You wanted him dead.”

Kevin took a few steps back, pointing at Lucifer. The handgun continued trembling in his grip as he tried to keep the barrel centered on Lucifer's chest.

Lucifer watched him without moving. “Committing one crime in the form of revenge for another crime... How does that make you any better than Carver?” 

Before Kevin could answer, Lucifer stepped closer.

Kevin was already only a few feet away, while the remaining guests had backed off behind them after the gun appeared. Nobody had a clear view of Lucifer's hands except Chloe.

Kevin barely had time to blink.

One second the handgun was trembling between his fingers, and the next Lucifer was holding it.

Kevin stared at his empty hand. "What the hell?"

Lucifer looked down at the weapon with mild disappointment before casually holding it out toward Chloe. "You really should confiscate this, Detective. He clearly hasn't been taught proper firearm etiquette."

Chloe took the gun without looking away from Lucifer.

She had no idea exactly what she'd seen, but Kevin had been holding the gun and then Lucifer suddenly wasn't where he'd been standing. The movement had happened so quickly that her mind hadn't properly registered anything between those two moments. 

'Just like before...' She thought.

Before she could question him...

"Kevin."

Everyone turned toward the employee entrance.

Lindsay stood there with another handgun clutched between both hands.

Kevin's face immediately changed. "Lindsay?"

Chloe raised Kevin's confiscated weapon. "Lindsay, put the gun down."

"Don't." Lindsay's voice shook as she looked directly at Lucifer. "Nobody move."

Lucifer sighed. "Oh, bloody hell. Does everyone in this family carry a gun?"

"Lindsay, listen to me," Chloe said carefully. "Nobody has to get hurt. Put it down."

Lindsay ignored her and started walking forward. "Make a move, and I'll shoot."

Kevin swallowed hard. "Lindsay, stop."

She kept moving until she was standing directly in front of Lucifer. Lucifer watched her approach without the slightest concern. Lindsay pressed the barrel firmly against the center of his chest.

Chloe's grip tightened around her weapon. "Lindsay."

"Bring Carver here," Lindsay said, staring up at Lucifer. "Right now."

Lucifer glanced down at the gun touching his chest before looking back into her eyes.

Then he smiled.

Lindsay frowned.

Lucifer's hand moved.

The handgun disappeared from her grip before she even understood what had happened.

She stared at her empty hands.

Lucifer casually turned the weapon around and offered it to Chloe by the grip. "There you are, Detective. Another one for your collection."

Chloe slowly took the gun from him while staring at his face.

Lindsay stumbled back a step. "How did you..."

Lucifer straightened his jacket where the barrel had been pressed against it.

"Practice."