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“I can’t sleep!” Lucifer screamed, slamming his palms on her desk.
Chloe cast a glance around the precinct. Everyone was staring. No one had ever heard Lucifer yell like that before. No one had ever seen him acting like this before.
Except for Chloe. It had been over a year ago, but she’d seen it, and the memory had been worrying around the edges of her consciousness all day. She even felt a little shame, whether she should or not, about so flippantly suggesting Lucifer go without sleep. She’d just gotten too accustomed to his crazy metaphors to know when to take them seriously.
“Detective,” he tried again, softly this time. Like a confession. “I can’t sleep.”
His usually perfectly coiffed hair was falling into his eyes, which were red-rimmed and strained. He wasn’t drunk, though. Chloe knew what that looked like. Possibly, he was tweaking. On some stimulant that was helping keep him awake. Chain watching bad Fox shows and doing who knew what else.
Her eyes fixed on him, stern and assessing, and she walked silently to the interrogation room and opened the door. Like a chastised schoolboy, Lucifer went inside.
Chloe sighed heavily as she shut the door behind them. Lucifer took a few steps away from her, running his hands through his hair, betraying his fatigue and frayed nerves.
“Lucifer,” she said in a quiet, even voice. “You need to tell me what’s going on. I can’t help you if you don’t.”
“You wouldn’t understand. You wouldn’t believe me. You never do, not without proof,” he said, unable to focus his eyes on one spot. “It’s m’wings. They’re back, have been since the Sinnerman kidnapped me, and my father’s he’s—He’s manipulating me, Detective! Making me do things I would never—Well, not never, but not in a way I would ever do.”
“Like, flying through the night?” Chloe said in a guarded tone. “Helping people like a rogue angel?”
“Yes! Yes, exactly that! It is the only possible explanation!”
Chloe folded her hands in front of her. “Is it? There’s no other possibility?” She waited a beat. “Have you talked to Linda? What does she think?”
“Oh, she’s beyond useless right now. Thinks I’m suppressing feelings about—“
His hands went into his hair again, and Chloe felt her heart jumping into her throat. That ragged, broken tenor of his voice only made her worry more. Lucifer had a habit of stepping in front of firearms when overly stressed.
“About what? Maybe she’s wrong, but what if she isn’t?”
“It’s obviously absurd. She thinks I’m suppressing feelings about you and Pierce.” Lucifer let out a dry laugh. “See? Absurd. Absolutely ridiculous. Who sprouts wings and goes about like a bloody X-man just because their partner starts dating a rock?”
Chloe considered that. She wanted to be angry, probably would be with him later, but she had training in deescalating situations, and the last thing she needed was Lucifer spinning out even more before she could get to the bottom of this.
“You hate that we’re together,” she said.
“I don’t! I couldn’t care less that you’re with that insolent dullard.”
Chloe sucked in her lips and shook her head. “We both know that isn’t true. You said you’d never lie to me. Why does it bother you so much? Be honest.”
She had him there. Even in this state, he didn’t want to directly lie. Lucifer shook his head, and toed the ground, then glanced up at the ceiling, then at her.
“Because, I happen to know him better than you. Remember, I spent a good deal of time getting to know him better. You’ve only been with him a week or two. And I know you can’t trust him!”
Okay, maybe now was when she was going to get a little angry. What hadn’t he told her?
“Care to elaborate on that?” Chloe tried to keep her voice neutral, but she knew she was struggling not to look harsh. It was like dealing with Trixie as a five-year-old, sometimes.
“You won’t…” Lucifer threw his hands up. “Fine. Yeah. All right. While I’m being good and honest! Because everyone deserves to know the truth before they get into bed with someone.”
Chloe forced herself not to react to that, and luckily, Lucifer wasn’t actually making a joke.
“’Pierce’—“ he said, throwing up scare quotes, “Is isn’t Pierce. You can’t trust him, because he’s Cain. That’s right, bloody Cain, from the Bible. Murderer. Liar. He’s nothing more than an immortal simp! Been around for millennia doing nothing but collecting rocks and cutting crooked backroom deals to keep himself on the top of the dung heap, and all he cares about, Detective, is not me, not you, not anyone around him, but himself, and getting rid of that stupid curse my father put on him—“
“Stop!”
“—when he murdered his brother in cold blood!”
“Stop, Lucifer, stop!” Chloe snapped. “Just slow down. You’re tired, and—“
Lucifer rubbed his eyes and jumped in pace in frustration. “It’s not because I’m tired, Detective!!”
“How long? How long have you gone without sleep? Has it really been a week?”
“I am not lying to you,” Lucifer said softy. “Please…”
“Okay.” Chloe held her hands out in front of her. “Okay, I know you’re not lying. But you are tired. Don’t argue with me on this. People start hallucinating at a couple of days. I’m worried about you. And yes, it frustrates me that you and Marcus don’t get along anymore, and I bet I know why that is—“ She held a finger up when Lucifer started to protest. “But first things first. I want you to call Linda right now and get in to talk with her.”
His shoulders sagged. “That isn’t going to help me.”
“If you don’t call her, I’m calling her. I’m scared, okay? The last time I saw you like this, you stepped out in front of a gunman. You begged him to shoot you!”
“Detective.” His eyes softened and he shook his head. “It isn’t like that.”
“How am I supposed to know that? You flat out tried to kill yourself in the middle of one of our cases, and I’m not going to let that happen again.”
“I assure you, I’m not suicidal.” He swayed slightly, cradling his forehead in his hand. “I’m just… I’m transforming… I know you don’t believe me. Not about me. Not about Cain. I’ve been trying to tell you. The former bit, anyway. Never should’ve trusted him.”
Chloe stepped up to Lucifer and touched his shoulder. He started, as though she’d shocked him, and she rubbed his arm. “Are you calling Linda, or am I?”
“I don’t need my shrink!”
This wasn’t working, and he couldn’t go on like this. She picked a different angle to work.
“Why don’t we make a deal?” Chloe suggested, almost cheerfully.
Lucifer raised a brow. “What?”
“I like Marcus,” she admitted. “I like how he makes me feel. He’s a good man, who treats me well. But if you don’t trust him, I’m willing to listen to what you have to say. We’ve been partners for longer than I’ve even known him. So yeah, I’ll listen. Just not like this.” She poked him in the chest. “If you sign yourself in for a 72 hour hold, at a place of Linda’s choosing, I’ll put the brakes on with me and Marcus. For now.”
Both of his brows were lifting now.
“And, afterward, I’ll listen to everything you have to say.”
“And then you’ll believe me?”
It was heartbreaking how hopeful he seemed. Maybe it was simply because Lucifer was so undone, and that reminded her so much of him showing up wasted to a crime scene. The harbinger of real danger. Of the threat of his self-extinction.
“I can’t promise I will. But I will listen. And not just half-hearted, humoring you type of listening. I’ll really listen.”
Lucifer’s brow wrinkled. “You won’t.”
“I will.”
Lucifer closed his eyes, bowed his head, and pinched the bridge of his nose.
“You trust me, don’t you? Do we have a deal?”
“They’ll want to give me sedatives. What if I fly out of the place in the middle of the night to do some angel vigilantism?”
No metaphors here. He was genuinely worried about that happening. And that genuinely worried her.
Chloe shrugged. “If you fly out, then… We’ll have video evidence. Most mental facilities have security cameras. And then, I’ll definitely have to believe you.”
Lucifer bobbed his head in eager agreement. “That’s it! Clever, Detective! Ohhh, why didn’t I think to use a camera? It’s not like I don’t have one. You know for se—“
“I know. But when you’re this tired, you’re not thinking straight.” Chloe took his hand and guided him to the table. “Let’s call Linda.”
Lucifer sat next to her and rubbed his fingers over his eyes again. “Right then. Deal.”