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She had never given much thought to the sort of man she wanted to be with other than good and just and dependable. It was partly why she married Dan. She thought that Marcus was all of those things, and that Lucifer wasn't most of them. But for the life of her, she couldn't figure out why her heart was telling her Marcus might not be it.
She hadn't been aware that her needs and wants had changed. That she had started expecting more from a man than dependability. That she had begun to want spontaneity and fun along with being good and just. That she had also started expecting gentlemanly along with dependable.
She and Marcus had rode into work together, and Marcus had walked through the precinct door first. She frowned after him, not really knowing why she was upset. Not even upset, just… unsettled, perhaps. Confused, maybe. Bothered, definitely. She pushed it aside almost immediately, focusing on the case. She didn't want to care that her boyfriend didn't hold the door for her. She didn't have time.
She met up with Lucifer before stepping into the lab, he held the door open for her, as he usually did. “Hey, Ella,” Chloe greeted, “got anything from those fibers?”
Ella made a face that indicated she hadn't. “Sorry, Chloe, the analysis hasn't come back. It looked super synthetic, like spandex or polyester, you know? The tight stuff. Maybe our vic was into skin-tight pants?” Ella told them, adding a wink to the end of her statement.
Chole rolled her eyes fondly and told Ella to text her when the results came in. Lucifer held the door open for her again, as usual, and they got to work, sifting through papers, trying to find a break in the case.
×××
The next night she was on a date with Marcus because he had insisted that she needed a break. She had wanted to just keep working but he hadn't let up and she gave in (she had wanted to stop his whining, which was repetitive and more annoying than Lucifer on his worst day). They’d been given a table for two, and he hadn't pulled her chair out for her when they sat down. It bothered her and she wasn't sure why. They were having a pleasant enough time, but the fact that he hadn't pulled out her chair for her had put her off. She tried to brush it off, but it bothered her, turning what would've been a great date into an okay one.
×××
A few days later, she and Lucifer were having a slow day (their case was taking darker and darker turns and they kept hitting dead ends) and she finally gave in to his suggestion of going out to lunch (“Just to clear our heads, Detective. It'll help, darling.”). It wasn't a fancy restaurant, but it was nice enough. They were led to a table for two and Lucifer held out her chair for her, as he usually did, waiting for her to get settled before sitting himself across from her. They had a great time, chatting idly about Trixie, some of the more ridiculous patrons of Lux, and different angles they should check out when they got back to the precinct. She should really stop being surprised at how much fun she could have with Lucifer. She kept forgetting how funny he was, how he made her have fun too.
×××
Chloe was walking next to Marcus, they had arrived at the scene almost simultaneously. Lucifer was there already, smiling at her. She smiled back. The crime scene tape was already in place and Marcus walked under it, not bothering to hold it up for her or anyone else. She frowned after him.
Lucifer was at her side, lifting the tape for her to duck under before it could really bother her too much. She walked next to him, his hand at the small of her back, as it sometimes was wont to be.
There was a platform of sorts where the body of their victim had been left, blood pooling beneath her (the second victim in their case and only a week later). Marcus had waited for them to catch up before stepping up onto the platform. It was a little higher than would've been comfortable for Chloe to step onto by herself. She looked at Marcus expectantly, but he just looked back at her, waiting for her to come up on the platform (and, really, that was a little rude, and maybe she’d been spending too much time with Lucifer, but it was just rude and she didn't like it).
Before she could pointedly ask for Marcus’s assistance, Lucifer’s hand caught her attention in her peripheral. Absently, she placed her hand in his, and he held her steady while she stepped onto the platform. She offered him a distractred smile in thanks and went to work, asking Ella what she knew. (The encounter not forgotten, just filed away for later.)
×××
Chloe needed a night out with the girls, their case was stressful and giving her a headache (they were close, so, so close and she had never taken more tylenol in her life, which was saying something because her partner was Lucifer Morningstar), and Marcus was being… not difficult, but bothersome. She had made sure Dan was with Trixie, organized the outing with the girls in question, and told them that under no circumstances were there to be any of their men involved.
Ella, Linda, and, surprisingly, Charlotte were waiting for her at Linda’s apartment (Maze was still incommunicado, which was another worry on the huge pile of worries she had apparently been collecting). They had a few cocktails before calling an uber and heading out on the town. Their harmless fun had eventually dissolved into talking about their men, because sometimes men are stupid and Ella wanted to know everything she could about Marcus Pierce and how he was as a boyfriend.
“What bothers you the most about him?,” Ella asked. “Like drives you so crazy you could kill him but you actually think its cute?”
Chloe’s brow furrowed. “I mean, there's really nothing I want to kill him over,” she shrugged.
“But something he does definitely bothers you,” Linda said, eyebrows raised, teasing smirk on her lips.
Chloe rolled her eyes, “Yeah, but it's not really a big deal.”
“You have to tell us now,” Charlotte insists. “It's probably dumb, like how Dan wipes down the counter immediately after I have. Drives me nuts!”
Ella laughed. “That's adorable!” she squealed. Charlotte laughed and told her that it definitely was, and she would never call him out on it because then he'd stop.
Chloe frowned and Linda noticed. “Chloe,” she called, getting the detective's attention, “it really bothers you, doesn't it?”
Chloe sighed, contemplating not telling them, but decided she needed to get it off her chest. “He's… I mean, he…” She sighed again, frustrated with herself, for not being able to put it into words. “He doesn't hold open doors for me!” she almost shouted. At their looks of surprise, she continued, quieter this time, “And he doesn't pull out my chair for me or hold up the crime scene tape or help me up steps or guide me with his hand on my lower back! He's- he's not a gentleman!” Her face was hot and she could feel her them all staring at her. “It shouldn't bother me, but it does! He won't even open the car door for me, and I've never needed anyone to do stuff like that for me before, but for some reason it bothers me.”
“Doesn't Lucifer do all that for you?” Ella asked. Chloe blinked, staring at her, incomprehension lingering in her eyes. “Like, he always opens the door for you and pulls out your chair and opens the car door and the crime scene tape thing too…” Ella trailed off.
Linda was nodding, “He does touch your back a lot. Your lower back. And he helps you up stairs sometimes. Like the ones outside my office.”
“Oh! And he helped you up onto that thing like a week ago at that crime scene!” Ella exclaimed.
Chloe’s jaw went slack and after a long moment she shook her head. “That's just Lucifer,” she told them. “He'd do that for you guys too.”
“Yes, he would,” Linda said, “because he is a gentleman.”
“Right,” Chloe said. And Ella decided that they needed another round, dragging Charlotte along behind her.
“Why do you want Marcus to do these things for you, when you didn't even realize Lucifer was doing them?” Linda asked.
“It's not like I didn't realize he was doing them,” Chloe began, “I just… stopped noticing, I guess… I mean, it just feels natural! It's something I think he's always done, like he's always aware of me, or something…”
Linda smiled gently at her, “Like he's always thinking of you.”
“Exactly!” Chloe said, gesturing towards the other woman. “It makes me feel like Marcus just… doesn't, I guess.”
(And when she got home, a little more drunk than she meant to be, the person she texted to let know that she got home safely was Lucifer and not her boyfriend. Lucifer had been texting her sporadically throughout the night, making sure she was okay, that she wasn't drinking too much ( he sent her a shocked face along with the message “naughty girl! its a school night, Detective” and his signature devil emoji), that she got home safe and that her Uber driver wasn't a murderer. She sent him a screenshot of the guys Uber Profile and he sent her one back of the man's Facebook page making her roll her eyes. And as she went to bed, she didn't think of Marcus at all, just Lucifer and how sweet he could be when he tried. When she woke however, she'd frowned because Marcus hadn't texted her at all even though he'd known she was going out.)
×××
Chloe was sitting at her desk when Marcus walked up to her. She barely glanced up at him, and mumbled out a greeting. She heard him talking, but she was reading a very vital piece of information pertaining to their suspect (who was notoriously difficult to get ahold of) and missed what he said. She just hummed in reply, and reached for her coffee mug, only to have her hand encounter nothing. She stared at the empty space where her mug had been and finally realized that Marcus had asked her something. “Sorry, what?” she asked.
He blinked at her, brow furrowing almost angrily, “I asked if you wanted to get out of here.”
At that moment, Lucifer maneuvered around the other man and placed her coffee mug where it had been before it disappeared. Absently, she picked it up and took a sip, smiling as her coffee was the perfect temperature, the perfect everything. “I can't, Marcus, I think we're onto something and I really want to get this guy,” she told him.
Normally, Lucifer would usher her out of the precinct around now, but even he could see they were close to a breakthrough, and he was trying to help her. And really, the coffee he'd been supplying her with was a big help (no matter which machine he used, whenever he made coffee it was perfect. As soon as anyone saw him head towards the coffee machine, there was almost a line behind him. He made a whole pot, usually, but she always got the first cup, no exceptions). He'd also gone through some documents with her, trying to find a way to even talk to their suspect. She knew he'd made a call (“just calling in a favor, darling, see if we can speed things along”) and they were also waiting to hear back on that end. She was determined to take this guy down, and knew Lucifer was too.
Marcus frowned at the both of them. Lucifer had come around her desk and was leaning over her shoulder, examining a document he hadn't seen before. He had his hand on the back of her chair and as soon as she placed her mug down, he absently grabbed it and took a sip. Chloe had shared many drinks with him and this was normal behavior. She was just glad he put her coffee back where it was supposed to go, and not by her elbow, like Dan used to do when they were together.
“Lucifer!” Marcus scolded. The other man looked up, shocked and gave the Lieutenant a questioning glance. “Don't drink after her,” he growled, possessively and Chloe frowned, sitting up straight.
“It's fine,” she told him firmly. “We share sometimes, and we really need to get back to work. We’re close to cracking this.” She took a sip of coffee and very deliberately handed Lucifer her mug, daring Marcus to say something. Lucifer took another sip and placed her mug in its usual spot.
“You're my girlfriend,” Marcus said, as if those words were the end all be all of their relationship. “You can't share drinks with other men.”
Chloe raised her eyebrows at him, clearly unimpressed. “I don't have time for this,” she told him, picking up a folder and starting to sift through it.
Marcus pulled it away from her and grabbed her wrist as she tried to take it back from him. “Make time,” he demanded.
Chloe tried to pull her wrist away, but couldn't. “Let go,” she told him, voice firm. She could feel how tense Lucifer was behind her, knew that if Marcus made the wrong move, Lucifer would make him regret it. She could hear him growling faintly, and saw Marcus glance over her shoulder, knew he could hear him too.
“No,” Marcus said, and he should've known that was the wrong thing to say.
Lucifer’s hand shot out and clamped down on the other man’s wrist, squeezing until Chloe could pull her arm away. He maneuvered her chair behind him, his growling loud and feral like a wolf. His grip on Marcus’s arm was so tight that she could hear his bones creaking under the pressure. His strength allowed him to stand over the other man. Somehow, he had made Marcus kneel before him, the pain on his face was evident.
“Lucifer,” Chloe warned. His grip loosened, but not enough for the other man to escape.
“The Detective,” Lucifer bit out, every syllable as sharp as any of Mazikeen’s knives, “asked you to let go of her, quite nicely. She's also said twice, that she has work to do.”
“Go to Hell,” Marcus told him.
“I've been, it's rather unpleasant. I could set up a room for you,” Lucifer snarled. “Especially if you ever touch her or anyone like that ever again.”
“Lucifer,” Chloe said again. This time she placed a hand on his bicep (and, fuck, that was a muscle he had there. A really nice one, nicer than Marcus’s, in her opinion, because she had never liked overly muscled arms. But Lucifer’s were great) and he let go of the other man immediately. She turned to Marcus, stayed where she was because she knew Lucifer would start growling again if she tried to move closer. She was just glad no one was paying attention to them, that they hadn't gained an audience. “Go home, Lieutenant,” she told him, using his title to distance him, to show him she was unhappy with him.
He reluctantly left, and Lucifer relaxed, looking at her through his lashes. “I apologize, Detective… I didn't mean to get carried away.”
She offered him a small smile and rubbed at her wrist, absently. “It's okay, Lucifer,” she told him. “That was strange, even for him.”
He hummed absently, gently grabbing her hand and examining her wrist, making sure her boyfriend hadn't left a mark. “Yes, men who don't feel guilt are quite strange…” he said, almost as if he was thinking aloud.
When she was about to ask what he meant, his phone rang, and he gave her a devilish smirk after he checked the caller ID. “Looks like we might get our man, Detective!” he said before answering the phone.
×××
Lucifer knew guilty people, that was just something he could do. It was like his ‘eye-mojo’ but it worked more like a bomb dog’s nose than a weird superpower. Which was why she couldn't get what he'd said about Marcus the night before out of her head.
She wanted to know what that meant. They were sitting in the cruiser at a red light, on their way back from arresting their perp. And she was glad this case was over. Two people brutally murdered because they had something their murderer hadn't. It wasn't even tangible, they were just two innocent people in love.
“What did you mean last night?” she heard herself ask. At his raised eyebrow, she elaborated, “When you said that Marcus didn't feel guilt.”
“That he doesn't,” Lucifer told her simply. “He thought he was in the right when he grabbed you like that. He's told me before that he's never done anything he feels guilt about. He doesn't seem have the same consideration for others that most humans do.” He gave her a look, and asked, “Why do you want to know?”
“That's not normal,” she told him, not wanting to delve deeper into that yet, not with Lucifer present. “And I've noticed the no consideration thing! He won't even hold a door open for me!”
Lucifer scoffed, “And he's courting you?!” He shook his head and grumbled loudly, “That dullard has no idea how to treat a lady!”
“Did you really just say ‘courting’?” she asked him, knowing he would ignore her.
And he did ignore her, continuing his rant, “Daniel could do a better job! Doesn't even hold open a door-! Detective, you deserve much, much better! At the very least, someone who listens when you tell them to let go of you! At least!” Here, he lowers his voice, turning to her, and telling her softly, intently, “Darling, if he ever grabs you like that again, I will break his arm.”
She blinked at the sudden change of subject, unprepared for that particular comment. “You can't just break people's arms, Lucifer,” she told him.
“I can if they grab you and are intending to do harm,” he replied simply. Like he hadn't just threatened to hurt someone.
She was trying very hard not to think of his threat as sweet, which was difficult because it was Lucifer, after all. And she was having a difficult time trying to come up with a reason he couldn't just break people's bones. Because he probably could break someone's bones very easily. She’d seen him throw people one handed. The only thing she could think to say in response to his words was a soft ‘thank you’. Because even though she was trying her hardest to deny it, coming from him, the threat was sweet.
×××
That night she went home and called Linda, seeking some advice. A neutral party, so to speak.
“...and, you know, Lucifer can kind of sense guilt somehow? And he said that Marcus wasn't guilty. And he never apologized for grabbing me the other night!” Chloe told her, well ranted at her more like.
“He grabbed you?” Linda asked, a little surprised.
“Yeah, just my wrist, and it didn't leave a mark, but Lucifer kinda growled at him and almost broke his arm,” Chloe said, mumbling the last part, like she hadn't wanted to bring attention to it.
She could hear Linda’s raised brow through the phone. “And Lucifer's violence didn't worry you like Marcus’s did?” she asked, in her therapist voice.
“No,” Chloe shrugged. “I mean, he only did that after Marcus refused to let go of me. And he apologized for overreacting, so there's that. But he did say he would break his arm if he did it again... Which was sweet! Kind of? In a Lucifer way…”
“That is pretty sweet coming from Lucifer,” Linda sighed. “He doesn't really understand how that's a bad thing, which I'm hoping to work on with him, but he's profoundly dense sometimes.”
Chloe laughed. “Yeah,” she sighed, “he really can be. Like on purpose or something.” There was a short pause between them, and then Chloe asked, “So I should break up with Marcus, right? I mean if he treats me like that for basically no reason, then…”
“It could definitely get worse,” Linda said. “That is how domestic violence starts.”
And just like that, Chloe had made a decision.
×××
Her breakup with Marcus went smooth. As smooth as possible when you considered the people involved. She had asked him to meet her in one of the conference rooms, because Lucifer had insisted on being close in case she needed him (and that made her smile just a little, that he wanted to take care of her, even if he knew she didn't need him to).
Marcus had been angry, had hit a table hard enough that it shook, and Lucifer poked his head into the room after that, asking her if she'd like a cup of coffee without looking away from the other man. She asked him to get her one and meet her at her desk in a few minutes. After he'd slipped away, she told Marcus that she was sorry but she couldn't be with him.
“Why?” he asked, angrily grinding his teeth.
“I thought I could be with you, but it's like I’m only your girlfriend when it's convenient for you,” she told him. “It's like you never think of me until you remember that you want me for something, but I can never figure out what that is.” He just stared at her frowning. “I’m sorry,” she told him, and then she walked away from him.
Away from him and straight to Lucifer. Her coffee was sitting on her desk in its usual spot, and he pulled her chair out for her when she came close enough. She smiled at him in thanks, and rolled her eyes when he offered to spike her coffee.
×××
Everything sort of went back to normal. Lucifer was there, as he had always been, opening doors for her, helping her up steps, getting her coffee, and things of that nature. Marcus had seemingly forgotten that they'd ever dated. He certainly never touched her again, barely ever came near her, which she suspected was Lucifer's doing.
She and Lucifer were leaving for the day, he was helping her into her jacket, taking care to pull her ponytail out of the collar for her, when one of the officers Chloe vaguely knew, Velasquez she thought, asked her when Lucifer was distracted by Dan, “So are you two dating? Because he's always getting you coffee and pulling out your chair and stuff…”
Chloe’s brow furrowed, and she absently grabbed whatever Lucifer was trying to hand her (her bag which he had loaded with the files she had mentioned wanting to take home with her earlier). “No?” she replied, confused at the question and why she was being asked that particular question at that particular moment.
“Huh,” Officer Velasquez said. “Bernie never does any of that for me, and he's an old fashioned kinda guy.” Bernie was her partner, and he was pretty nice, but definitely old fashioned. “How’d you get him to be all gentlemanly?” the officer asked, smirking.
Chloe smiled and looked up at Lucifer, who was now paying attention and waiting for her response. She looked back at Velasquez and said, “That's just Lucifer, he's always a gentleman,” instead of the clever response sitting on the tip of her tongue.
She and Lucifer made their way to the parking garage, and he held every door open for her and even opened the car door for her to slip into the passenger seat. She appreciated that he was a gentleman, that he was considerate of her, gentle with her. It was one of her favorite things about him.
She had also started formally recognizing his gentlemanly acts. Thanking him, sending him sweet smiles, and occasionally, when she was feeling playful and flirty, she would kiss him on the cheek. His shock always made her smile. So, as soon as he settled himself in the driver's seat, she placed a soft kiss to his cheek, and whispered a ‘thank you’ into the skin there.
He froze like he usually did. But then he blushed lightly, and smiled gently at her, the smile he saved only for her. They were moving slowly but surely towards something more.