HELLSPAWN

Chapter 17- A Date, A Death & A Douche.

Lucifer heard the front door open and immediately went to greet Chloe when she came in. He had just put Caticus down for the night after he had finished bottle feeding Maximus before he put him to bed as well.

"You're late," He teased, only to have his smile fall when he saw her expression. Her eyes sunken in, red and wet. Her face is pale and blotchy. "Is everything alright?"

She forced a smile. "Just frustrated, we literally have no leads," she paused, glancing around the dimly lit room, everything surprisingly in perfect order, even neater than when she had left that morning. He must have had time to tidy up after Dan left. "And I thought you were going to be back," she accused hollowly.

He sighed. "Dan had to go home. He wasn't feeling well,"he said, obviously omitting some truth. A hint of his smile returned as he thought back to that afternoon.

"But he was... Dan, right?"

"Oh he was Dan alright," Lucifer chuckled. "And proud of it, too. Listen, I think I have something that might help with the case."

"Okay.... Sure."

"It's connected," he began. "Everything's connected. Michael, the changelings, the murders," Lucifer said quietly.

"What do you mean?" her eyes locked with his for the first time since she'd come home.
Michael is using the changelings to get to us. The deaths, they're just a distraction, love."

A distraction from what?" Chloe narrowed her eyes.

"That's just it, I have no idea," he admitted.

"Can I have one of Dad's cookies?" Trixie asked as she barreled into the hall with the container of edibles Dan had left.

Lucifer's eyes widened, sinding a sidelong glance at Chloe. "No, absolutely not." He said taking the container from the spawn. "You didn't even finish your dinner. Isn't it passed your bedtime, Urchin?" Lucifer strided across the room, spinning when the child called his attention once more.

"But you had one."

"Urchin," Lucifer warned, his eyes pleading with her to drop it.

"You're being weird," Chloe observed. "Even for you.

Before he could come up with a witty comeback, she closed the space between them, slipping the tupperware out of his grasp.

"Detective-"

Chloe ignored him, opening the container with haste. "Are these... Do these have pot in them?" Chloe asked, looking at Lucifer in disbelief. One sniff confirmed her assumption.

"They're not mine!" He defended. "Although, I may have had a sample."

Chloe rolled her eyes, because of course he did.

"Oh my God, was Dan high when he was watching the kids?" Lucifer drank openly in front of them, and that had surprisingly never bothered her, and she didn't think it would when they were older either. She could hardly bring herself to care that Lucifer was likely high at this very moment. Dan didn't have a celestial metabolism, and Dan didn't regularly consume drugs.

Okay, maybe Lucifer isn't father of the year, but drugs and alcohol clearly don't affect him the same. She rolled her eyes at herself as she made legitimate but flimsy sounding excuses about her Fiance.

"To be fair, Detective, he didn't actually know," he sighed, running his hand through his produced-filled hair. Detective Dip-Shit gave them to him." He explained, his voice lacking the venom it would normally carry referring to their ex-partner. Their third wheel, as Lucifer had often put it.