[Lucifer] Ch: 43 [A Favor for a Favor] (Patreon)

[Next Morning]

[LAPD]

Chloe noticed the looks before she even reached her desk.

Two uniformed officers by the coffee machine stopped talking as she passed. One detective looked directly at her, then shook his head in disgust, while another immediately turned back to his computer as though Chloe had personally offended him by showing up for work.

She kept walking.

'Here we go again.'

Palmetto had already turned half the precinct against her months ago, but something had clearly happened overnight to make the atmosphere even worse.

Chloe dropped her bag beside her desk and sat down.

"There she is."

She looked up as Dan approached with an uncomfortable expression. "What, did I forget to wipe off my 'kick me' sign this morning?"

Dan pulled the chair beside her desk closer. "I wish it were that simple. This is about Malcolm."

Chloe's expression immediately sharpened. "What happened?"

"He's been in that coma for months, Chloe. His wife finally decided she's taking him off life support today."

Chloe leaned back slowly as the pieces fell into place. "And everybody's pissed because I'm still investigating him."

Dan looked around the precinct before nodding. "Pretty much. In their heads, Malcolm's a hero dying after getting shot in the line of duty, while you're still trying to prove he was dirty."

Chloe looked across the bullpen and caught another detective staring at her before he deliberately turned away. "So now I'm supposed to put a halo over his head because he's dying."

Dan sighed and rested one hand against the desk. "There's going to be a living wake here tonight. A lot of people who worked with Malcolm are coming in, so you might want to avoid the precinct."

Chloe looked back at him. "Anything else you came over here to tell me?"

Dan hesitated long enough to answer the question without speaking.

Chloe's jaw tightened.

Dan finally said, "Closing the investigation would make this easier for everyone."

She stared at him in disbelief. "Seriously, Dan? I actually thought we were making some progress lately, and somehow you've ended up right back on Team Everybody Else."

"I'm trying to protect you, Chloe."

"Protect me from what exactly?" Chloe asked, her frustration rising. "Doing my job? Or ruining your rep with the boys' club?"

Dan sighed. "This isn't about my reputation. Malcolm's wife and kid depend on his benefits. If your investigation stays open and ends with him being dismissed for corruption, they could lose his pension and everything attached to it."

Chloe looked down at the Palmetto file sitting beneath several other folders on her desk. After months of suspicion, whispers, ruined relationships, and colleagues treating her like she'd betrayed the badge had started with that case... It was going to end tonight.

She looked back at Dan. "So you want me to forget everything I saw and pretend none of it happened because the timing is inconvenient."

Dan shook his head and lowered his voice. "I'm saying you're running out of time. If you genuinely believe Malcolm was dirty, then find something you can prove before his family pulls the plug."

Chloe studied him carefully.

Dan held her gaze before continuing. "You've got twenty-four hours, Chloe. Do something with them, or finally let Malcolm's family move forward."

He stood and walked away.

Chloe remained behind her desk, staring at the Palmetto file while the hostile looks continued around her.

...

[Later That Day]

Chloe had spent nearly an hour going through old Palmetto statements when movement near the lieutenant's office caught her attention.

She glanced up from the file.

Then her eyes narrowed.

Lucifer Morningstar walked straight across the bullpen like he owned the building.

He wore a charcoal suit, black shirt, and the same irritatingly confident expression he carried into almost every room. Several officers looked up as he passed, while one female detective stopped typing entirely and followed him with her eyes.

Lucifer didn't slow down.

He reached Lieutenant Olivia Monroe's office, opened the door without knocking, and stepped inside.

Chloe stared after him.

"What the hell is he up to now?"

Inside the office, Olivia Monroe had been halfway through reviewing departmental budget reports when her door opened without warning.

She looked up sharply.

Her first instinct was irritation.

Nobody walked into the lieutenant's office without knocking, especially when she hadn't summoned them. She'd spent too many years fighting to make people respect the rank on her door, and allowing some stranger to stroll inside whenever he pleased wasn't exactly helpful.

Then she saw him.

Olivia paused.

Tall, dark hair, expensive suit, ridiculously symmetrical face, and a smile that probably caused problems everywhere it appeared.

For one completely unprofessional second, Olivia had the very strong urge to forget department regulations, climb over her desk, and kiss the man standing in front of her. 

'Oh yeah. Mama's gonna eat him up. Rawr~! Wha- Did I just...?'

She cleared her throat instead.

Lucifer closed the door behind himself and approached with his usual effortless confidence. "Lieutenant! Or is it Olivia? Olivia feels so much less... starched."

Olivia forced her attention back toward his face. "Lieutenant is preferred. But I suppose Olivia will do."

Lucifer extended his hand across the desk. "Lucifer Morningstar. A pleasure, truly."

Recognition appeared almost immediately.

Olivia shook his hand before gesturing toward the chair opposite her. "I've seen the incident reports. You've been tagging along with Detective Decker, though I'm still trying to figure out why a nightclub owner is hovering around active crime scenes."

Lucifer sat down and crossed one leg over the other. "Oh, because the Detective would be dreadfully bored without me. I'm essentially her muse."

Olivia almost smiled. "According to her write-ups, you're a liability who doesn't follow protocol."

"Tomato, tomahto. I get results, don't I?"

Olivia leaned back slightly and studied him. "You have helped close a few strange ones, I'll give you that. But I doubt you bypassed my secretary for a pat on the back. What exactly do you want?"

Lucifer's smile remained, although his attention shifted toward the dark circles beneath her eyes and the untouched coffee beside her paperwork.

"Right to business, marvelous! But before I lay out my modest proposal, a quick question."

Olivia raised one eyebrow. "I'm listening."

Lucifer leaned forward slightly. "You look positively dreadful. Bags under the eyes, tense shoulders... is the crown weighing heavy, or is the local boys' club making it terribly difficult for a woman in charge?"

Olivia's expression changed.

She hadn't expected that question.

"Excuse me? I am perfectly capable of doing my job."

"Oh, I don't doubt your competence for a second," Lucifer replied smoothly. "But that wasn't the question."

Olivia looked at him for several seconds before exhaling through her nose. "It's politics. It's complicated."

Lucifer's eyes darkened slightly as his supernatural influence slipped into his voice.

"Then simplify it for me, Olivia."

She felt something strange move through her.

Her shoulders relaxed.

The office suddenly seemed quieter, while Lucifer's eyes became almost impossible to look away from.

Lucifer tilted his head.

"Tell me, Olivia... what is it you truly desire?"

Olivia's lips parted.

For years she'd learned how to answer questions carefully. Every interview, promotion panel, command meeting, and political dinner demanded the right response.

That instinct disappeared.

"I want to become Chief of Police."

Lucifer smiled.

Olivia continued before she could stop herself. "I want to be the first female Chief in Los Angeles. I have the clearance, the track record, everything. Yet every time the brass convenes, they find some invisible hoop I haven't jumped through."

Lucifer remained silent and allowed her to continue.

Olivia leaned forward, frustration finally escaping after years of being carefully buried. "My own commanders mansplain protocol to me. Politicians swear up and down they have my back in private, then develop sudden amnesia when the appointment hearings begin."

Her fingers tightened around the edge of the desk.

"It's a popularity contest. I need the mayor, the civilian commission, and community leaders singing my praises in unison, or the old guard will block me before I even make the shortlist."

Lucifer's smile became interested.

"And being the Top Cop is what you desire above all else?"

Olivia nodded slowly. "Yes."

The supernatural influence faded.

Olivia blinked and sat back.

For a moment, embarrassment appeared across her face as she realized exactly how much she'd just admitted to a man she'd met less than five minutes ago. "What... what the hell did you just do?" 

Lucifer gave her an innocent smile. "Just a gift of mine. People love to tell me things."

Olivia stared at him.

Lucifer reached into his jacket and pulled out his phone. "Now, your little political difficulty is considerably easier than you seem to believe."

Olivia gave him a skeptical look. "You think securing enough political backing for a Chief of Police appointment is easy?"

Lucifer unlocked his phone. "For a mortal, perhaps. For me, it's just Tuesday."

Olivia almost laughed. "Look, Morningstar, I appreciate the swagger, but you have no idea how many heavy hitters need to sign off on this."

Lucifer began scrolling through his contacts. "The Mayor, a handful of corrupt councilmen, the commission, various tedious community leaders, and the wealthy benefactors who actually pull the strings over overly expensive martinis."

Olivia stopped smiling.

Lucifer looked up. "Did I leave any of the hypocrites out?"

She studied him carefully. "Who exactly are you?"

"The Devil."

Olivia stared at him.

Lucifer sighed. "Everyone reacts like that."

Olivia shook her head. "I'm serious."

"As am I! But let's table the existential dread for later, shall we?"

He found the contact he wanted and made a call. 

Olivia watched silently.

Someone answered almost immediately.

Lucifer's smile widened. "Darling! So good to hear your voice. Yes, ages, I know. Quick question: do you remember Monaco, that yacht, and the deeply compromising photos of the ambassador's husband?"

Olivia's eyebrows slowly rose.

Lucifer listened for several seconds.

"Exactly that one. Well, it's time to pay the piper. I'm calling in my favor."

Another pause followed.

"I need everyone who is anyone in Los Angeles throwing their weight behind Lieutenant Olivia Monroe for Chief of Police. I want the commission drooling over her resume before the day is out."

Olivia stared at him.

Lucifer continued speaking as casually as if he were ordering dinner. "Just set the dominoes up, sweetheart, I'll knock them down. Oh, and if Councilman Reyes gets squeamish, just whisper the word 'Ibiza' in his ear."

Olivia's mouth opened slightly.

Lucifer listened again.

"Splendid. Knew I could count on you."

He ended the call.

Olivia sat completely still.

"Did you just try to rig the Chief of Police appointment over the phone?"

Lucifer slid his phone onto the desk. "Technically, I merely cashed in a marker. The good news should roll in by lunchtime."

Olivia looked at him like she'd suddenly realized she might've underestimated the man in front of her by several thousand miles. "You can't guarantee something like that."

Lucifer leaned back comfortably. "Olivia, I have spent millennia... well, the last five years here, anyway, collecting favors from the exact sort of reprobates who run this city from the shadows."

He smiled.

"Trust me. Your little popularity deficit is solved."

Olivia remained skeptical, although considerably less than before.

"What's the catch? What do you want?" She asked.

Lucifer's smile became brighter.

"Ah, down to brass tacks. Marvelous."

Olivia crossed her arms. "Nobody does favors like this for nothing."

"Quite right! Though my asking price is wonderfully trivial compared to standard political blackmail." Lucifer leaned forward and rested his forearms against his knees. "I want an official spot in the LAPD. A civilian consultant, let's call it."

Olivia blinked. "You want a badge?"

"Good Lord, no. Silver clashes dreadfully with my suits."

Olivia almost laughed despite herself.

Lucifer continued, "I want the paperwork that says I can accompany the Detective to crime scenes, interrogate the guilty, and do exactly what I've been doing without Detective Douche whining about protocol."

Olivia's expression became much more cautious. "You want me to officially pair you with Decker?"

"Precisely."

Olivia leaned back. "She works homicides, Mr. Morningstar. I can't let an untrained civilian treat active murder investigations like a playdate just because you've taken a liking to her."

Lucifer lifted one finger. "Firstly, I've already helped solve several of those investigations. Secondly, people have an extraordinary tendency to tell me things they wouldn't tell your detectives."

Olivia remembered the reports.

That part was difficult to argue.

Lucifer continued, "Thirdly, the Detective is currently a bit of a pariah around here, isn't she? Think of me as a resource no one else wants to touch. And finally, I'd absolutely love to take you out to dinner. I know a phenomenal spot. Tomorrow night?"

Olivia smiled as her heart was hammering hard. "Yes."

Lucifer stood up and extended his hand toward her. "Excellent."

She shook his hand with a dreamy smile.

"I'll pick you up from your house at 8 PM?" 

"Sure," Olivia nodded.

"Now, it'd be great if you could call Detective Decker and let her know."