I do not own anything related to Lucifer, DC Comics, or Sandman series, either thru television, written books, or film. Everything belongs to Tom Kapinos, Fox, Netflix, and mentioned above. I do own all the created characters. I do not own any songs, or literature mentioned. They are included to enhance the written words. Please read, review, and enjoy!
Chapter 19
Song(s): Terrifying (Rolling Stones)
LUX Nightclub, 6868 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, California…
"Where, would you like me to start Mr. Morningstar?"
Flipping up the edges of the two face down cards that rested in front of him, Lucifer felt his lips twitching as he reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. Pulling out a fifty dollar bill, he tossed it down towards the center of the table as Piper sat back in her chair.
"You know I don't have any money right?"
Grabbing the rest of the bills that rested in his wallet, the Devil tossed the bunch haphazardly onto the table before nodding his head.
"Take your fair share for now, and we'll see what you leave with at the end of the nig…beginning of the morning" he corrected, looking down at his watch.
Moving her eyes down onto the thick stack of bills, Piper reached forward and dragged back to her side of the table a generous mix of tens, twenties, and fifties, not bothering to sort or count any of them.
To the Devil, money means nothing. Just interesting currency that is coveted by the human population. The difference between life and death for some
Jumping slightly in her chair as Lucifer loudly clapped his hands together, Piper peeked at her cards and furrowed her brow.
"Your tell, gives you away."
"So does yours. Automatically tossing a fifty dollar bill into the pot right off the start, shows that you have really shitty cards and are trying to win by sole intimidation" she chirped as Lucifer wiped at the corner of his mouth with his index finger. Reaching down with his free hand, he flipped one card over with the corner of the second as Piper felt her stomach sink.
Twenty-one
"How's that for intimidation Miss Harlow?"
Hearing the Devil's low chuckle as he reached forward and slid the fifty back towards him, Piper stared at his fingers before setting her eyes on his face, watching his grin growing into a wide smile.
"Trust me. If my aim was to intimidate, you'd know it right off the bat," he added. "Now, tell me about your little dream."
It wasn't just some little dream
It had some meaning
But, I just don't know what
"Um, it was just…it was about you and…you had finally had enough of me and dumped me off at the airport with a one way ticket to Toronto," Piper lied, lowering her eyes in the bid to show off the hurt and betrayal she would have felt had it actually been the subject of her dream.
"You're a lousy liar."
"I'm…not lying," she coughed as Lucifer expertly shuffled the deck of cards between his hands.
"While speaking, you kept looking up and to your right. You kept fidgeting with your hands. Therefore, indication of conjuring up a lie" the Devil presented as he dealt out new cards. "I work for the police department remember?"
"I'm not going to tell you my dream."
"Quite juicy was it?"
Tossing a single ten dollar bill down, Piper tapped a single finger on the table top as Lucifer tossed her a third card.
"No. Just, confusing and I am not talking about it if you are not going to answer my questions."
I want to talk to a professional before I let you into my head Mr. Morningstar
"Fine. Be that way." Flipping over both his cards, Lucifer leaned back in his chair as he stared at her face down cards.
"You didn't put any money in the pot."
Pushing in every single bill that was in front of him, he watched with wide eyes and a scowl as Piper flipped over each card separately with a smirk.
"Pretty sure twenty-one beats your twenty."
…
LUX Nightclub, 6868 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, California…
Five days later
3:12pm
"Me iré ahora le deseo una buena noche señorita Piper."
Feeling her lips parting into a frown, the young teenager sat back on the bar stool at the island and drummed her fingers along the edge.
"I'm from a country that sees French as its second language, not Spanish," she spoke, giving a small wave as she watched Maggie disappear into the elevator. Staring at the bowl of red delicious apples piled high in the centre of the island; Piper reached forward and allowed her hand to hover inches from one of the stems.
"The fruit that doomed Eve, the fruit that doomed Snow White," she whispered, pulling away as she rose to her feet.
"No thanks."
The penthouse all to myself, whatever shall I do?
Staring at the closed lid to the black and white piano keys, Piper took a seat on the bench and slowly lifted the wood closure.
"If I asked you Lucifer, would you teach me how to play?" she spoke out loud before resting the tips of her fingers on the keys. Pressing all ten fingers down simultaneously, she felt her lips pulling into a smile as she pretended to hear Beethoven and not what sounded like a two year old. Closing the lid back down, she breathed out slowly before whistling the tail end of a Rolling Stones song she had heard coming from the empty nightclub office downstairs.
Rounding the corner of Lucifer's large oak desk that she was sure had never seen an honest day's work; Piper stared at the first editions from floor to ceiling as she reached out and grabbed a black leather bound copy of Mein Kampf. Flipping the cover open, she rolled her eyes as Adolf Hitler's flourish signature graced the inside cover.
"Of course it's a signed copy," she spoke as she took a seat on the beige sofa. Tucking her legs beneath her she froze at the soft ding of the penthouse elevator as she moved her eyes onto the short blond police detective stepping out. Closing the book over her index finger, Piper rose to her feet and lingered over the gold official badge that was clipped to the woman's belt.
"Hello Detective. Um, Lucifer isn't here, I thought he was supposed to be with you…" she began as Chloe Decker slowly slid her hands into her skinny jeans pockets.
"Uncle Lucifer, isn't it?"
Okay…
"How long is your mother planning to be away for?"
"Her work, takes her all over the country" Piper lied flawlessly as Decker glanced around the empty living room and kitchenette
Why is she here asking these questions?
"The other night when you babysat for Trixie, Lucifer pocketed your money mentioning some sort of debt, what debit is he talking about? Do you owe him money?"
(Flashback)
"I'll take that if you don't mind," Lucifer jumped in as he easily took the bills from Decker's fingers before shoving them into his pocket.
"A few more hundred babysitting jobs and your debt will be paid!"
"I…"
"Are you enrolled in school?"
Shit
Shit…shit…shit…
"Is your Father in the picture at all?"
"Detective Decker I think…"
"Whoa! Chloe Jane Decker?"
Maze you are an absolute savior!
Setting the book face down on the top of the piano, Piper folded her hands behind her back as she watched the dark haired Demon slam a strong hand on Decker's shoulder in a friendly show.
Jesus, that looked like it hurt
"You and Lucifer on a lunch break or something?" Maze asked, moving her eyes around the apartment as she settled on the young teenager near the piano.
"Lucifer is working on something else at the moment and I had some free time," Chloe spoke as she focused her eyes back on Piper.
"So, you came here to plan another epic girl's night. I get it. What are you doing tonight after the stroke of midnight?"
Yes Maze, distract her for the love of…
"Maze, how long has Piper been living here with you and Lucifer?"
Swallowing hard as she heard the Detective's question, Piper was careful to not immediately throw her eyes onto the Demon's face.
"Since Lucifer's sister dropped her off. Why?"
How did…
"I see. Well, I'm sure Lucifer is finished doing his thing and would love to meet up. Piper, I'll let you know the next time I need a sitter for Trixie."
Watching the elevator close sealing the Detective safely inside, Piper spun around on the heel of her shoe and nearly fell backwards as Maze smiled inches from her face.
"You lied to her."
"So did you."
"Why did you tell her that Lucifer's sister dropped me off?" Piper questioned, watching as Maze picked up the copy of Mein Kampf before dropping it back down with a thud.
"Isn't that what I was supposed to say?" she spoke, narrowing her eyes in confusion as Piper hunched her shoulders.
"I mean yes, but…did Lucifer tell you that I am suppose to be posing as his niece around her?"
Taken aback by the Demon's hearty laugh at her words, Piper felt her anger growing as Maze sauntered over behind the bar, grabbing a bottle of Jim Beam off the shelf.
"Niece? That will be hard to explain once you're eighteen."
Wait, what?
"What do you mean when I am eighteen?"
"You and Lucifer have a little deal going on. He gives you a cozy life to avoid being sent to an orphanage, and in the end, you get to decide if you want to follow God or the Devil. From what I know about you and have seen in action, you are definitely going to choose coming over to the dark side over pleasing an old man with a white beard," Maze winked as Piper glanced towards the balcony.
God or the Devil?
The Devil or God?
…
Doctor Linda Martin's Office, 178 – B N Santa Monica Blvd, Beverly Hills, California…
6:34pm
"Piper?"
Raising her hand in a small wave of hello, Piper Harlow stepped back and nodded towards the Doctor as Linda kept her hand on the door, a look of surprise and confusion on her face.
"Can I talk to you?"
"Of course. How did you get here?"
Walking across the doorway threshold and into the plushy office, Piper kept her hands in her jeans pockets as she heard the door close behind her.
"I took the bus, sorry…buses, with twenty dollars lifted from Maze," she replied, watching as Linda held out her hand towards the beige sofa.
"From Maze? Really? Would you like something to drink?"
"Two fingers of Crown Royal? A finger of Jim Beam?"
Catching Linda's eyes narrowing from behind her black rimmed glasses, Piper sighed as she curled her legs up beneath on the cushion.
"Root Beer?"
"That, I will give to you."
Watching Linda disappear into a side room, Piper cleared her throat and stared up at the ceiling…
(Flashback)
"Can I ask Piper why you are with Mr. Morningstar?"
"Because I have nowhere else to go."
"Do you think you two have met before?"
"Something tells me that what you have to talk about, concerns Lucifer Morningstar," Linda spoke as she handed Piper a glass half full of a can of soda.
"Is it okay that you speak to me even though he speaks to you? Is that a conflict of some sort?"
Moistening her pink stained lips as she tried to sort out mentally how she could possibly offer a satisfying answer that pleased both ethics and her own personal curiosity, Linda finally let out a short sigh before crossing her legs.
"Does Lucifer know that you are here?"
"I don't consider myself Satan's most prized possession. So no. Can we keep it that way?" Piper added, pursing her lips as she felt the irritation growing from deep within.
Lucifer is only giving me food and shelter, he doesn't own me even if he did throw Darlene Harlow a wad of cash in a sink basin
"Doctor patient confidentiality. You are a minor though…"
"And Lucifer is not my legal guardian. So let's start talking if you don't mind."
Relaxing her hands in her lap, Linda silently admitted a defeat to the teenager seated across from her as she straightened her back.
"What would you like to talk about Piper?"
"How much time do you have?"
Glancing down at her wristwatch, Linda nodded her head as she thought of her dinner plans scheduled for eight.
"You can have one hour."
Glancing out the window as the sun started to set in the far off distance, Piper felt a shiver running down her spine as she curled her feet beneath her on the sofa.
"I know that Lucifer is the Devil."
"And, how do you know this?" Linda questioned, feeling her lower lip quiver as she remembered the first time Lucifer Morningstar had pulled back his human façade to show her his Devil Face.
"Because I saw his face."
Why would he show you his face Piper?
Angling her head as she watched the Doctor seated across from her clasp her hands together, she could tell that her news of Lucifer's red and burnt twisted face was not a surprise.
"You've seen it too, haven't you?"
Blinking quickly as she heard Piper's words, Linda managed a small forced smile as she noticed her empty glass.
"Piper, can I ask why you are living with Lucifer Morningstar?"
"He also figured out how we know each other by the way. Apparently, the piece of shit woman that I thought was my Mother is not, and that my real Mother was murdered by my Father who also shot and killed himself in Toronto. If anything, that probably explains why I was always running off to Toronto," she rambled before laying her head back against the cushion as Linda stared intently.
"And I also have nowhere else to go. I have nowhere to go, no one waiting for me, and we made a deal."
"A deal? What kind of deal?"
"Lucifer would take me in until I was eighteen…"
"And then?"
"And then…I would have to make a decision on who I wish to follow. Him or God."
1 hour later…
The long walk and fresh Los Angeles smoggy air will do me a world of good
"Need a ride after your therapy session Miss Harlow?"
Spinning around on the heel of her shoe as the eloquent accent of the Devil himself spoke almost against her ear, Piper narrowed her eyes as she watched Lucifer lean against the side of the building in a pristine three piece suit with Tom Ford shades resting on the bridge of his nose.
"What the fuck, how did he even know I was here?" she whispered to herself as she stood still, feeling his shoulder brushing against her arm as he walked past her.
"Linda says you are overdue on your own sessions by the way."
"Funny. Though I should pay the good Doctor a visit on an entirely different issue," Lucifer muttered as he ushered his companion around the corner of the building and into the parking garage.
"Another new car?" Staring at the silver BMW convertible as the security disarm flashed the headlights brightly, Piper sighed as she reached for the passenger door just as Lucifer spoke from across the roof.
"You missed dinner by the way, and there are no leftovers."
Peanut butter and jelly it is she thought, slamming the door closed beside her as the lyrics to a Rolling Stones song she had been humming earlier in the day sang out over the radio…
You're running like a deer
I'm wily as a fox
You're faster than a mare
I'm stronger than an ox
Terrifying love
I get these strange, strange, strange, desires…
"I've decided to go back to school."
Tucking his chin into his chest as he blew through an obvious red light that caused a loud procession of car horns, Lucifer tapped the fingers of his right hand against the steering wheel as Mick Jagger's sultry voice and Keith Richard's guitar rift faded in with the trumpet notes.
"To each their own," he replied with a bored tone as he slowed to take a sharp corner. "I'll tell Maze to make you a lunch."
Staring out her window as she ignored his obvious disinterest in her words, Piper sighed as she continued to get everything off her chest.
"I need a job."
"So get a job."
"Only fifteen remember?" she spoke, focusing her eyes on his five o'clock shadow profile as she remembered Detective Decker grilling her earlier in the penthouse.
Does he know?
Is that why he suddenly showed up?
"Not yet fifteen."
Right
"Can I work for you?"
Wincing as the Devil laughed out loud before turning off the radio, Piper crossed her arms over her chest and stared at the traffic in front of her as Lucifer slowed the BMW.
"You could pay me under the table instead of laughing your ass off," she growled, feeling his dark eyes on her face.
"And shut me done for child labor? You can't tell Vodka from Whiskey so you certainly won't be serving shots off a tray."
"What about an allowance?"
"We have a housemaid already. And at your rate you are going to owe everybody money. Maze is expecting the bills you lifted from her bag to be paid back in full before my debt repayment."
"Fine. McDonalds it is," Piper challenged as Lucifer rolled his eyes.
"Make it Chick-fil-A, I've yet to get through to the CEO for a favor he owes me."
Shutting her mouth as Lucifer steered into the mouth of the alleyway beside LUX, she sat in silence as he appeared beside her door.
"Are you planning on returning to Hell anytime soon?"
Removing his sunglasses as he stared down into her face, Lucifer felt his lips pulling into a smirk just as Maze's voice sang out from against the stone brick wall.
"God I hope so!"
Hearing her door open, Piper gave a quick glance to the smiling Demon before slipping out of the BMW, placing a generous distance between herself and Lucifer.
"Did you spend all my money?"
Ignoring Maze's question, Piper slumped her shoulders as she felt a few rain drops against the back of her neck.
"By the way Lucifer, Decker was here integrating your little pet earlier. Not sure if she mentioned it or not."
Fuck Maze…
"What?"
Freezing as she heard the deep growl in Lucifer's throat from just behind her shoulder, Piper shifted her eyes onto Maze's beaming face as the Demon shook her head.
"Consider this paying me back."
"The Detective was here?"
Knowing that both his question and his dark eyes were directed to her, Piper slowly turned and shoved her hands in her pockets.
"Yes"
"First you bugger off to the Doctor's then fail to tell me that Chloe Decker paid you a little visit?"
"Linda didn't have a problem seeing me even though she sees you too..." Piper began as Lucifer took a step forward, closing the distance.
"Was this about your little naughty dream?"
Hearing Maze chuckling from behind her, Piper narrowed her eyes as she watched the Devil's lips twitching in earnest.
"I…don't want to answer that."
…
Chloe Decker's Residence, 1000 E Ocean Blvd #104, Long Beach, California…
1:38am
Kicking aside a small purple painted rock with a yellow happy face with the side of his shoe, Lucifer smiled as he bent down and retrieved the small golden house key.
"Someone as anal and obsessive with the safety of home and hearth could've fooled me," he whispered to himself in the darkness as he pushed open the front door of the condo. Pausing in the darkness, he breathed in deeply and felt his taste buds tingling at the lingering scent of fish tacos.
Leftovers perhaps?
Pulling open the fridge door, the Devil frowned before spying a single unwrapped Baybel cheese.
"Better than nothing." Popping the whole cheese into his mouth, he silently chewed as he made his way down the hardwood floor out of the kitchen and towards a bedroom door that was covered in childish drawings of aliens and stars. Peeking his head just inside the room, Lucifer shivered as his dark eyes fell on the sleeping child.
"Urchin ankle biter."
Hearing the steps of his dress shoes on the floor, Lucifer smirked as he wrapped his hand around the closed door to Chloe Decker's bedroom. Hearing her light snores, he stepped inside and felt the cool late evening air against his cheek as he noticed the cotton lace curtain blowing gently in the breeze. Taking a seat in the wooden rocking chair, he steepled his fingers together beneath his chin as the gentle squeaks sounded with his every move.
"Wakey wakey Detective."
Springing up quick as she slammed her palm down with a painful thud on the bedside table, Decker grabbed her gun and aimed it squarely at the man in the shadow.
"Are we role playing tonight Detective?"
"Are you fucking kidding me Lucifer?!" Lowering her gun as Lucifer steepled his fingers under his chin, he couldn't help but grin widely as he barred his perfect white teeth.
"This is new Givenchy from the as yet unreleased fall/winter collection. Be a dear and don't shoot?"
Laying her gun down on the bed sheet beside her thigh, Decker brought the thin sheet up against her chest as Lucifer crossed his legs.
"If I remember correctly, you always preferred to sleep on the left side of the bed and wore…"
"It's nearly two in the morning, what do you want?"
"Mazikeen tells me, that you paid an unannounced visit to the penthouse earlier today."
'I did and I had a little chat with your Niece is she?"
Hearing the man's chuckle in the darkness of the bedroom, Decker straightened her back against the wooden headboard as her fingers brushed against the muzzle of the gun.
"She's not your Niece, is she?"
"Who told?"
"Lucifer, is she a runaway? Is she…"
Watching with disappointment as Decker scooted to the side of the bed; he ran his eyes over her bare legs and growled as she adjusted the hem of her silk nightgown.
"Who is she Lucifer Morningstar? If she is under eighteen like I think she is then I am going to…"
"You are going to do nothing!"
Pursing her lips as the rocking chair came to a quick stop with his growl, Decker sighed as she sat on the edge of the bed, two feet from the chair.
"Lucifer, you are a night club owner who smokes, drinks, and has a different woman…women," she corrected herself "In and out of your bed every day. You cannot have a teenage girl in your company."
"And if I told you that once upon a time I saved her life and because of that, she and I have hashed out a little deal to which I may gain another soul on my side?"
"Lucifer, please…"
"Funny. I remember those very same words coming out of your mouth under similar moonlight." Staring down into Decker's face as he rose to his feet, Lucifer folded his hands and turned towards the dark doorway.
"You have done good things Lucifer. But having a runaway teenage girl in your penthouse is going to bite you in the ass."
…
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