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my_own_advocateThe Detective had one of those Newton's cradle things on her desk, with the tiny balls that kept moving endlessly if you gave one enough of a swing. Lucifer stared at it for a while, before he pulled back one of them and let it swing.
Back and forth they went.
The Detective cleared her throat. "How are things with Eve?" she asked delicately.
Back and forth. "Not good," Lucifer muttered. "I tried being a super bad boyfriend, but it failed spectacularily." Oh, it had worked, at first. And then Eve had gotten into it. Made buddies with the ridiculous Fantasy Football people, started playing Mortal bloody Kombat with him, ate half his snacks and made out with his Tinder date.
"Of course it failed, Lucifer," the Detective said earnestly. "It's not who you are."
Lucifer looked up and eyed her. "How do you know who I am?"
Thankfully, they were interrupted by an Amenadiel on the war path. "Caleb Mayfield is innocent, Chloe, you really need to look into it."
He hovered in front of the desk, with a particularly intense frown on his face, for some reason. Lucifer didn't know him to get that involved with police business, but-- wait. Was that the name of that black kid he'd seen Amenadiel hanging around with lately? The high school student.
Lucifer sat up.
"Did he say something to you?" the Detective asked.
Amenadiel nodded. "Yes! That he's being set up."
And out came the file. Trust the Detective to have the relevant details close by. "Did he say by who? Because I've been looking at it as well and I agree, something doesn't add up. It's just too easy."
"Whoever framed him must have known that he would make a really good target."
"You mean they knew he sold drugs?" Lucifer asked.
"Yeah." Amenadiel sucked in a breath. "I had Caleb write down a list of all the kids that he sold to."
"Here's a list of everyone who had access to the golf closet," the Detective said, immediately pulling that out. "If one of these kids is on Caleb's list too, then that person would have means and opportunity to set him up."
They leaned over the files, quickly picking through the names, but none of them seemed to match... wait.
Lucifer pointed over the Detective's shoulder. "Aren't those two dating?" he said, pointing at the names of Nate Benedict, the boy who'd given him the idea to try Linda, and his girlfriend, Lexy.
The Detective blinked as realization set in. "Lexy Shaw and Nate Benedict," she said. "They're each other's alibi." She looked up at Amenadiel. "We're going to go pick those kids up, okay? Thank you for bringing this to us."
Amenadiel gave them a curt nod before he walked away.
The Detective sighed. "I think he's still really shook up," she said. "Amenadiel was there when Caleb got arrested. Apparently the arresting officers pulled a gun on him, Dan had to come in and de-escalate."
"Why would they do that? My brother is outrageously, nauseatingly upstanding," Lucifer said.
The look the Detective gave him was a familiar one - the 'you'd get this if you were human' one.
After a moment, he got it.
[[ nfb, and i'm gonna try playing out this plot with myself in the comments. wish me luck! taken from Lucifer episode 4x08, 'Super Bad Boyfriend', and tw for mentions of police violence against black men ]]
Back and forth they went.
The Detective cleared her throat. "How are things with Eve?" she asked delicately.
Back and forth. "Not good," Lucifer muttered. "I tried being a super bad boyfriend, but it failed spectacularily." Oh, it had worked, at first. And then Eve had gotten into it. Made buddies with the ridiculous Fantasy Football people, started playing Mortal bloody Kombat with him, ate half his snacks and made out with his Tinder date.
"Of course it failed, Lucifer," the Detective said earnestly. "It's not who you are."
Lucifer looked up and eyed her. "How do you know who I am?"
Thankfully, they were interrupted by an Amenadiel on the war path. "Caleb Mayfield is innocent, Chloe, you really need to look into it."
He hovered in front of the desk, with a particularly intense frown on his face, for some reason. Lucifer didn't know him to get that involved with police business, but-- wait. Was that the name of that black kid he'd seen Amenadiel hanging around with lately? The high school student.
Lucifer sat up.
"Did he say something to you?" the Detective asked.
Amenadiel nodded. "Yes! That he's being set up."
And out came the file. Trust the Detective to have the relevant details close by. "Did he say by who? Because I've been looking at it as well and I agree, something doesn't add up. It's just too easy."
"Whoever framed him must have known that he would make a really good target."
"You mean they knew he sold drugs?" Lucifer asked.
"Yeah." Amenadiel sucked in a breath. "I had Caleb write down a list of all the kids that he sold to."
"Here's a list of everyone who had access to the golf closet," the Detective said, immediately pulling that out. "If one of these kids is on Caleb's list too, then that person would have means and opportunity to set him up."
They leaned over the files, quickly picking through the names, but none of them seemed to match... wait.
Lucifer pointed over the Detective's shoulder. "Aren't those two dating?" he said, pointing at the names of Nate Benedict, the boy who'd given him the idea to try Linda, and his girlfriend, Lexy.
The Detective blinked as realization set in. "Lexy Shaw and Nate Benedict," she said. "They're each other's alibi." She looked up at Amenadiel. "We're going to go pick those kids up, okay? Thank you for bringing this to us."
Amenadiel gave them a curt nod before he walked away.
The Detective sighed. "I think he's still really shook up," she said. "Amenadiel was there when Caleb got arrested. Apparently the arresting officers pulled a gun on him, Dan had to come in and de-escalate."
"Why would they do that? My brother is outrageously, nauseatingly upstanding," Lucifer said.
The look the Detective gave him was a familiar one - the 'you'd get this if you were human' one.
After a moment, he got it.
[[ nfb, and i'm gonna try playing out this plot with myself in the comments. wish me luck! taken from Lucifer episode 4x08, 'Super Bad Boyfriend', and tw for mentions of police violence against black men ]]
Lux
Date: 18 Sep 2020 08:00 (UTC)Lucifer found himself at an empty bar, staring into a glass. Everything... everything was coming apart.
No.
Everything had come apart.
No.
He'd torn everything apart. Ripped one hole in a perfectly good life, and a year later, ripped another one in the new one he'd built against all odds. His fault. No one else's.
He barely even heard the Detective come in.
Re: Lux
Date: 18 Sep 2020 08:02 (UTC)Lucifer looked... there was something in his face, something in his eyes. Restless, and searching, but turned inward. She almost felt as if she was interrupting something, but... the club was empty.
Re: Lux
Date: 18 Sep 2020 08:03 (UTC)Re: Lux
Date: 18 Sep 2020 08:04 (UTC)"And how are you doing?" Chloe asked softly.
Re: Lux
Date: 18 Sep 2020 08:04 (UTC)Re: Lux
Date: 18 Sep 2020 08:06 (UTC)"Well, you know, I'm sure, if it's what you wanted, then it's all for the best," she said.
But he didn't look, or sound, like he was okay.
Re: Lux
Date: 18 Sep 2020 08:07 (UTC)Re: Lux
Date: 18 Sep 2020 08:08 (UTC)Re: Lux
Date: 18 Sep 2020 08:17 (UTC)"You see, that's just it, Detective," he said. "Eve sees me in a different way."
As a happy hedonist trickster Devil, having fun and enjoying the torment of the guilty.
"But so do you," he said, and finally looked at her. Words like 'kind' and 'better man', her belief in his sense of right and wrong, this... angelic creature she made of him, saved from the depths of his previous depravity.
He looked at her.
"That's what makes you so... special," he said quietly, and that smile was back on his face. "The fact that you see me that way."
The smile fell away.
"But I don't like how that makes me feel either," he said.
Like he was perpetually fighting to measure up to an image of a man he wasn't capable of being. Like he was staring in the face of some improbable goodness that was so far beyond him he didn't even know where to start. Like he had lied to her without intending to, and now she couldn't let go of the lie, because it was so-- pretty.
He got up. He left her there. He called Linda.