LIGHT ME UP ↝ Lucifer Morningstar

TWENTY-FOUR.

WHAT HAD STARTED out as a lovely, relaxing evening with family, and Benjamin pondering how to tell Lucifer about his feelings and that he wanted to try being in a normal relationship with him, had turned into a hellish nightmare with no quick escape. It seemed that after dealing with a case revolving around a man poisoning his victims, Chloe had become one of them, and that led into Lucifer shoving the woman inside her car and speeding towards the hospital, while Benjamin stayed behind with Trixie and tried to calm her down. But how exactly do you eat tacos with your niece in the knowledge that her mother was dying?

"Is she gonna be okay?", Trixie had quickly popped the one question that Benji had feared, and with his lips pursed into a reassuring smile, he had taken her hand. But even if he had nodded to confirm that Chloe was going to be alright, Trixie had noticed the tears piling up in his eyes and since she never saw his uncle cry, she could sense the danger.

"Everyone's going to fight as hard as possible to make sure she will. Don't worry, nugget. Let's just take it easy, yeah?", Benjamin tried his very best to calm his niece down, but he didn't exactly have experience of this kind of thing, not to mention his own faltering state of mind. With the news of his father's death still pressing heavily on his cracking heart, he wouldn't be able to handle Chloe's demise as well. No doubt that would drive him away, make him do what he did best — run.

The two remained silent on the couch, watching TV for the time being, although neither really concentrated on the movie Trixie had quietly picked. Though it did seem that the thoughts on the girl's mind were weighing hard enough for her to fall asleep in Ben's arms eventually, and the man was glad — she needed the sleep, and at the same time, he could finally let the stream of tears break free. Not too long ago he and Chloe had been in a car accident, and now the woman's life was being threatened yet again, and there was no doubt in Benjamin's mind that if only given the opportunity, he would once again take her place.

The rest of the night went surprisingly quickly, even with Benjamin getting barely any sleep, but luckily Lucifer was keeping him updated with frequent text messages. At some point, Benji carried Trixie to her bed, and then proceeded to fret over the situation on the couch, but once Lucifer let him know that Chloe was safely in the hospital for now, and he was on the hunt for a cure with Detective Douche himself, Ben felt like he could take a breath. Hopefully, things would work themselves out, and by the end of the day, his sister-in-law would be back on her feet. She was a fighter, after all.

It was early in the morning when there was a knock on the door, and Benjamin, in his exhausted state, rushed to see who had arrived — with some good news, perhaps — and at the sight of Izzy Holt, he breathed out in relief. "Dan and Lucifer still looking for the cure?", was the first thing Benji mumbled out while hugging the deputy softly, "and hey, are you okay?", and with a quiet nod, Izzy answered.

As she walked inside, she licked her lips nervously, clearly something resting on her mind, but Benjamin didn't have to inquire to get her to open up. "Listen, Benjamin", she began, turning to face him suddenly, "I know."