Chapter Text
As he put away the last of his paperwork, Dan's thoughts started wandering.
It was Friday. And finally, after months of what felt like being every available police officer's maid, he had the weekend off.
He and Trixie would finally get to spend two whole days together, not just a few hours here and there, mostly spend at the station while he did research and sometimes even paperwork for other people.
No, just a few hours from now, he'd pick his monkey up from school and they could get started on this weekend's program. Chloe, meanwhile, would get some deserved time to herself.
Speaking of, where was she? The last time he had looked up, she'd been sitting at her desk, Lucifer leaning against it and grinning down at her. Now, though...
Sitting in Chloe's chair in the precinct was not Chloe, not Lucifer, Ella, or even Maze, though he'd have been surprised by that as well.
A teenage girl, maybe sixteen, was reading through a thick book at Chloe's desk. Occasionally, she took her eyes off the tome to write down something on a notepad.
She was probably the daughter of someone who worked here; she obviously wasn't old enough to be a lawyer and witnesses to crimes were rarely that comfortable at the station.
And comfortable she was, it seemed. Nothing distracted her from her read and her body language was unguarded, relaxed.
The thing was, he could not remember one of Chloe's desk neighbors having a daughter that age. So what was this girl doing here? Maybe a different relation? A niece?
Again, he tried to recall if he had ever seen her before, but nothing came to mind. And if she wasn't related to anyone here, what was she doing here? Did she need help? Was she in trouble?
He looked her over. Her eyes were clear of any redness, her skin wasn't sallow and as far as he could tell, her teeth were healthy. So, no signs of drug use. Really, the girl looked like a perfectly ordinary teenager.
Her only distinctive feature was the shiny black hair that fell in curls halfway down her back. One curl that she repeatedly stuck behind her ear kept stubbornly popping back in front of her face.
Still, Dan's curiosity and urge to help got the better of him. He made his way over to her.
"Hey, what's your name? Do you need help finding someone?"
The girl abruptly looked up from her book, which looked to be about math from closer observation. She seemed confused by his interruption, her eyes unfocused for a moment before settling on him. Her mouth opened and closed once, then she answered:
"Uhm, thanks for the offer, but I'm just waiting for my dad. I'm in the right place, I asked around before sitting down. My name's Iris."
She held out her hand. He took it and shook it. "Nice to meet you, Iris. I'm Dan Espinoza. You're British?"
"English, yes. Espinoza, you said?" Her eyes were now twinkling mischievously. What was happening?
Okay, she was visiting someone, her father, and he knew her name now, too. Also, she was English. Weird? Yes.
"That's right. I'm a detective here. Wow, you're far from home, aren't you?"
"Yeah, you could say that. I don't make the journey that often." She was scrutinizing him now. What for, no idea. He was so excited for Trixie to reach that age. Not.
"That's Chloe Decker's desk, you sure you're in the right place? Offer's still standing."
Iris stopped looking him over so critically, smiling up at him instead. Her eyes were a vivid blue.
Laughing slightly, she said, "Oh no, I asked for Detective Decker's desk specifically. That's really nice of you, though, Detective Espinoza."
Dan was stumped. Hadn't she said she was waiting for her dad? Why would she ask for Chloe then? Unless... The English accent. The dark hair. Her obvious enjoyment of his confusion. No. Fricking. Way. How in the world had he missed this?
"Wait. Your dad's not -?"
But Dan did not get to finish his question. Iris' eyes had lit up looking at something behind him and she was out of the chair so fast Dan imagined her leaving behind a Road Runner'esque cloud of dust.
"Dad!" she exclaimed and he turned around just in time to see her throw her arms around Lucifer, who returned the hug with wide eyes, his mouth popping open.
"Iris?" he mumbled, partly into her hair, as she had tucked her head beneath his chin. Dan looked at his ex-wife, who stood next to Lucifer and was apparently as dumbfounded as he was.
"...'Dad'?" Chloe tentatively inquired.
"Yes," Iris confirmed, grinning and giving one affirmative nod.
Lucifer pet her hair, smiling affectionately down at her. Dan felt it was likely the Four Horsemen would be riding in and clubbing him in the head any minute now.
"Well, darling, not that I don't love to see you, but pray tell, what are you doing here? Isn't it finals' week in school?"
Iris, after detangling herself from her father, smiled sheepishly up at him.
"I might have stretched the truth a bit there-" Lucifer shot her an annoyed look and seemed to verge on telling her off, but was intercepted by Iris immediately.
"I didn't lie! I had a final this week, on Monday. Finals' week, plural, was last week, though. And as of yesterday, I'm officially school-free. I thought it might be nice to surprise you, Mum agreed. And honestly, I wanted to get out of there - you know, I love my siblings to death, but having them wreak havoc all over the house while you try to study is exhausting. Anyway, Philip took me to the airport this morning and here I am!"
She bounced up and down on her feet once, her arms folded behind her back.
"Surprise achieved, I'd say," Lucifer stated, adding, "and not only mine, either" with a nod to Chloe and Dan.
Chloe, who had taken the scene in silently, startled at that, uncrossing her arms and straightening her spine.
"You know, Lucifer, I think you would be pretty surprised too, in my situation. Imagine if you had only now found out that I have a kid. And I don't even go around saying 'I despise children'," she told him incredulously, the last part in an imitation of his accent.
"Yeah, what's up with that, man? When Trixie hugs you, you act like she's contagious," Dan wondered.
Iris, to both their surprise, found this very amusing. "I know, right? Whenever he's visiting, I ask my siblings to follow him around, just to freak him out!" she told them.
"Did he do that when you were little, too?" Chloe asked, apparently dreading the answer.
"I'm still here, you know! And of course I did not," Lucifer interjected. Chloe seemed as relieved by that answer as Dan felt.
Iris smirked. "Well, Mum did tell me you handled me like a sack of potatoes for like 2 months after I was born." Her father didn't find that as funny as the two laughing detectives.
"Traitor. How is your mother, by the way? And your stepfather?"
"They're fine. Mum's crazy busy with work as usual, but Philip is thinking of going part-time for the little ankle-biters. Who, by the way, are doing well too, not that you asked."
"Oh, come on, now. I'm glad everybody is fine. Even the spawn." The corners of his mouth quirked up at that.
Iris yawned. "Well, your spawn is dead on her feet."
Chloe nodded. "Intercontinental flights will do that to you. You must be exhausted. Your Dad," her voice stocked slightly, "should probably take you home to rest."
"But I just got here! You know, the reason I came here instead of Lux was to meet you. Dad never shuts up about y-" At that point, Lucifer clamped his hand over her mouth and looked meaningfully at Chloe and Dan. "Poor child, so tired she hardly knows what she's talking about. I'll have to take her home."
Iris made a noise against his hand and when he didn't move it - "Did you just lick my hand? What are you, four?"
Ignoring him, his daughter said, blessedly free of his hand, "You know what, you should join us for dinner! I'll be fine this evening if I have a nap now and I'd really like to get to know you. You could bring your daughter, too! Trixie, right?"
Chloe and Dan looked at each other until Dan shrugged reluctantly. "Who knows, might be fun. Trixie would probably love to."
Sure, this weekend was supposed to be just Trixie and him, but she would never forgive him if she missed this.
And honestly, he could feel this was going to be a bottomless source of prime blackmail material. Additionally, it was just one evening and he wouldn't have to cook tonight. Win-win.
"Great! Would 6 be okay?" Iris was beaming.
"Yeah, sure," Chloe answered, returning the smile.
Lucifer was frowning, his arms crossed in front of his chest. "Why exactly are you so eager to do this, Iris? I've got the distinct feeling you're enacting some kind of scheme."
"Now what would give you that idea?" She smirked up at him, eyes wide with mock innocence.
"You know what, I don't even want to know, you scheming little minx. Grab your things, we're leaving."
Turning towards Chloe, he said, "See you at 6."
Iris picked up her book and notepad and shoved them into her messenger bag, which was sitting next to Chloe's desk. Slinging it over her shoulder, she told the detectives, "It was a pleasure to meet you both, I'm looking forward to later. I bet Trixie is lovely."
Lucifer picked a suitcase Dan previously hadn't noticed up from the floor.
Well, that was really sweet of her to say. Dan assumed the calculating once-over earlier had been grounded in Lucifer telling her about 'Detective Douche'. Inaccurately, of course.
"I can hardly believe that Lucifer is your dad. You're so well-adjusted and nice."
"Excuse me?! I can be perfectly nice, if I want to be. Well-adjustedness aside; Detective, can you believe he just said that?"
"Believe it? I was thinking the same thing." Chloe laughed at Lucifer's stunned expression.
"Well, you can be quite sweet. If you want to." She added rather shyly, smiling gently.
Lucifer's expression softened. "That's all that matters, then, I suppose."
Dan was feeling pretty uncomfortable. Sure, he was okay with the fact that one of these days, the two of them were probably going to get together. And watching Chloe being jealous, for example, was kinda fun.
But this intense eye-contact, smiling lovingly at each other thing could wait until he was gone from sight, alright?
Iris didn't seem to share in his awkwardness. She seemed to be delighted by this exchange, her eyes dancing from Lucifer to Chloe and back.
Clearing his throat, Lucifer broke the eye contact. "Until later, detectives. Let's get you home, darling." He cupped Iris' shoulder and started to guide her towards the entrance.
Chloe had turned away, shuffling some forms on her desk, but was still smiling softly.
Only Dan saw Lucifer looking back over his shoulder, his gaze fixed on Chloe, his features slack with something Dan couldn't quite identify, until someone walking past blocked his view.