MARIAH ALWAYS KNEW what to say. That was what Kai had told everyone at the LAPD or even in line at the grocery story whenever he had something on his mind — if only Mariah was there, she always knew just how to comfort him. Needless to say, now that his friends had actually met the reserved, grumpy woman, they certainly weren't taking his words as gospel, but Kai still had the utmost faith in his old partner. Maybe there wasn't an abundance of words, but it was always enough to remind him what was the right path to take.

         "I need dating advice", Kai was blurting out without anything more than that as he sunk onto the corner of Mariah's desk, despair written all over his face, whereas the woman looked up at him with a sardonic smile.

         "Color me shocked", she deadpanned, but urged him to go on, regardless.

        Completely ignoring the wry tone, Kai glanced around the precinct as if he was preparing to dish out grave secrets — no doubt, that was exactly how he felt about it, personally. "Chloe was... away for some time but now that she's back, I want to take her out on a real date. I mean, we've never had one, so it feels like it's time", he rambled, only to be met with the kind of silence that allowed him to proceed. "The thing is, nothing feels right. I don't want it to be forced or awkward", he hummed thoughtfully, clearly haunted by his past dates which Mariah had heard all about.

        That meant, she also knew exactly what the problem was. "That's because you associate dates with something big and dramatic. You don't have to spend all your money on it, you just need to do something that fits you and Decker. I don't know, stargazing from the back of your car, touring all the best diners in town, arrange a treasure hunt for her or something", she interjected with a casual shrug, leaving Kai wide-eyed at how quick she had been to think of something so good. He was usually the creative one, but there was no denying planning wasn't one of his strengths.

       "All this potential and you still don't have anyone, how's that?" Kai taunted, earning a snort from Mariah who made a lavish gesture of flipping her hair from her shoulder.

        "I have the charm, I just choose not to weaponize it", she noted with such coolness, Kai couldn't help but laugh.

        They didn't get to exchange any more jabs at one another when the tall officer Mariah had met — Izzy — was striding to her desk with an urgent gleam in her eyes and a colorful post-it note in her hand. "Hey, Detective Rose?" she was stepping in with a glance between Kai and Mariah, who was instantly snapping out of their bubble and meeting Izzy with a solemn look rather than a goofy grin.

        "Oh, please, just Mariah is fine", Kai huffed while tearing open a bag of sour gummies, and although his words earned a look from the woman, she ended up turning back to Izzy with a confirming nod. She didn't much care what others thought of her, but she had to admit that maybe treating the people around her with a little more acceptance would prove beneficial.

        "Ella Lopez set up a hotline for you. Uh, for tips regarding the guy you've been looking for?" Izzy poked the subject carefully, but when Mariah encouraged her to go on with a fervent nod, she broke into a relieved smile. "I got an anonymous call, saying that they saw him at this address earlier tonight", she announced before handing over the note to Mariah who reviewed the neat scribbling with an impressed look.

       With an incredulous chuckle that Ella had done something like that for her, and that it had actually worked out, Mariah looked back up at Izzy. "Thanks, Holt. I appreciate this", she promised, and with a proud grin, Kai reached into his pocket to dig out another tiny bag of candy for Izzy to enjoy. With that, the redhead was walking away but Kai, in turn, was suffocating a snort at the address on the note.

        "You do know what place that is, right?" The Nolan was obviously amused, and that was quite enough for Mariah to narrow her eyes at him in annoyance. Nevertheless, Kai continued to be entertained when he pointed a finger at Lucifer and began mimicking the bass of music, the repetitive oontz-oontz-oontz only earning a smack on his chest from the woman.

       "You're kidding", she grumbled, but already fearing the worst, she typed the address into her laptop only to be proven right — she had no other choice but to pay another visit to Lux, whether she liked it or not.

       The answer was most definitely not.

       Scoffing, Mariah shut her laptop before getting up from her chair and shrugging on her leather jacket, the gesture earning a groan from Kai.

       "Do we have to go now?" he complained, only for the Rose to turn on her heel and give him a knowing look.

        "You have a date to plan. I have a new partner now", she retorted with a teasing wink, pulling a faux-hurt huff from Kai as the woman stomped over to Ella's lab with her plan vivid and hard to ignore in her head. Thanks to the Lopez, she had a lead to chase, in the first place — seemed only right to involve her in the action. And, frankly, Mariah supposed her company could make the nightclub a little more tolerable.

        "Hey, you busy tonight?" Mariah asked from the doorway while zipping up her leather jacket, and in reaction at the unexpected question, Ella nearly lost her grip on the slippery lab equipment. The wide eyes that met Mariah's curious ones were full of amazement, and immediately rushing to pause before there could be any misunderstandings, the Rose went on. "I heard the guy I'm looking for might be at Lux. The more the merrier, right?" she murmured despite believing in the very opposite, but when Ella's eyes lit up at the suggestion, she didn't regret her decision.

       So far, anyway.

—————

         MARIAH DIDN'T BLUSH. If anything, she refused to. But amidst the sea of people, guided by the booming music and the colorful lights over them, it was hard to stop her face from feeling hot — undoubtedly, it was only because it was warm and crowded inside, but it also counted as yet another reason why nightclubs were hardly her thing. Nevertheless, she had dressed for the part, trying her best to blend in with a glass of water pretending to be a proper drink as she weaved her way through the busy dancefloor.

         Ella, on the other hand, was having the time of her life. She was at complete ease shimmying her way from one side of the club to the other, a wide grin on her lips and her happily glimmering eyes almost forgetting to pay attention to her surroundings. They were there for work, mostly anyway, but the Lopez was constantly one song away from being whisked away into full party mode.

        "Would you cheer up a little? This is fun!" Ella was yelling over the music when she found Mariah leaning against the stairwell, sipping on her water with her eyebrows knitted together in displeasure. Although she was sure the woman meant well, she couldn't help but direct a tired stare at Ella — the exhaustion born naturally after hours of pointless bouncing back and forth and no sight of her suspect anywhere.

       "Ever cross your mind people might have different definitions of fun, Lopez?" Mariah wondered with a grumble, her lack of enthusiasm barely affecting Ella's.

        She was, however, officially intrigued, her dance moves slowing down a little as she eyed Mariah curiously. "What does the epic Mariah Rose do for fun? Other than sharpen her knives and stare broodingly into the far-away distance?" Ella wondered while jutting her shoulders side to side, clearly just a smidge drunk, but surprisingly, it seemed to amuse her companion.

        "I don't drink", she pointed out tauntingly with a gesture at her glass and then shrugging, "I like reading. Mostly I just used to do whatever Kai planned but I watched a lot of movies and played board games with my parents." She wasn't the biggest sharer, but after Ella had opened about her religion, she felt like it was only fair to balance the scales — not to mention, the scientist was practically hypnotized by the bass, making it unclear whether or not she was actually listening.

       But if only Mariah had known her a little better, she would have realized that of course, she listened.

        "Bet I could beat you at Operation", Ella noted smugly, and at that, Mariah actually laughed.

        Before she could say anything equally witty back at her, the Lopez was gulping down the rest of her drink and placing the glass down to place both hands on Mariah's shoulders. "I think your guy is about to walk past us", Ella whispered, far from quiet but with the loud music around them, her secret was safe with Mariah. With equally wide eyes, she resisted the temptation to glance backwards and simply let Ella spin her around, pretending to dance with the woman when in reality she simply saved Mariah's face from being spotted too soon.

        Ella's perfume hit her like a tidal wave, the shorter woman pretending to laugh at something as the man of the hour strode past the dark corner where they were swaying with one another. One of Mariah's arms hung lazily around Ella's waist while the Lopez had hers wrapped around her neck, leaving very little air between them when it was finally safe for the Rose to look in the direction of the man and prepare an ambush.

        At the last second, though, her hopeful expression soured. "It's not him", she pointed out, and within a blink of an eye, she was stepping away from Ella and clenching her jaw silently. "Looks a lot like him, but it's not", she added grimly, and with a disappointed pout, Ella shook her head.

         "I'm sorry", she breathed out before clearing her throat and wiping her hair away from her face, "another drink, then?"

        Without another word, Mariah gripped her empty glass and headed towards the bar, unable to stop thinking about the tall man she had been seeking for too long. She could barely blink without seeing the misshapen nose and angular jaw, or hearing the gruff voice that had always had something to say while planning one of their next projects. He had been right there and she had let him slip away.

         "Another water", she huffed at the bartender behind the counter, and unsurprisingly, the pair of twinkling blue eyes met hers with wonder.

         Nonetheless, he filled her glass to the brim as per her request and slid it back to her with a curious look. "Usually people who have bad days go for something a little stronger, huh?" he hummed, only earning a glare in return, but Ella, who had pluckily followed Mariah, piped up in her place.

       "She doesn't drink, Benji. I, on the other hand, would love another one of whatever you gave me", she chimed in with a smile, and nodding apologetically, the man flipped a bottle with the evident intention of just showing off.

       "My bad", he promised with a hand on his heart before sucking in a breath and glancing between the two of them. "Don't take this the wrong way, but I'm pretty sure I know all of Ella's friends and I do... not know you", he continued, and while Ella was blushing at the idea of being friends with Mariah, the latter was lifting an eyebrow at the man.

        "There's a right way to take that?" she wondered with half a bitter smirk, one that he returned when she added, "I don't know you, either, for what it's worth."

         With an approving grin, the man nodded at her. "I like you, though. I'm Benjamin Espinoza", he introduced himself with a dramatic bow, and at that, Ella was jumping in with a wiggle of her eyebrows.

       "He's Lucifer's... you know, b-word", she declared in a way that had Mariah's eyes widening. The Devil really had everyone wrapped around his finger, then.

       "Boyfriend, not bitch", Benjamin corrected, before huffing, "although..."

         "Anyway—", Ella coughed before turning back to Mariah with a careful smile. "I don't know if you met Dan at the precinct yet, but they're brothers. Dan is... sort of the more reasonable one", she went on, clearly fond of the people she was discussing, whereas Mariah's attention was on someone else entirely. Still, she offered Ella a shake of her head as an answer — she hadn't crossed paths with Dan yet, but she was sure that with all these people popping up left and right, it was only a matter of time.

         Sneaking closer, Mariah made sure Benji was serving someone else drinks before tilting her head towards Ella. "So, Lucifer. Is he, I don't know, Lucifer? What do you think of him?" she inquired cautiously, admittedly aware that Ella didn't seem to have many enemies but she was a person of faith, reassuring Mariah of her valid thoughts.

        "Oh, he's like, a method actor or something. But still, I don't think anyone is inherently evil. Lucifer isn't, either", Ella shrugged, so casual about the whole topic. Mariah struggled to take her words to heart — if someone claimed to be the Devil, there had to be a legitimate reason behind it, even if it was for a role.

          But she did suppose that she had a point. Everyone was capable of doing things they never thought they would under the right circumstances, and as much had been proven by the months she had spent away. When it came to the man she was on the hunt for, though, she needed and wanted resolution rather than any gray areas.

»»»

Author's note

OoOoOoOOoo I'm loving writing these two honestly. AND BENJI my boy (': He and Izzy are going to be more minor in this story but they'll still be around and I'm very excited to revive some old dynamics and create some new ones too.

On another note, as you can see, I'm writing a little less about solving the murders in the actual Lucifer episodes and a little more about Mariah's own case. She'll be working with the rest of the team every now and then, but especially now with the ACAB movement, I can't say I particularly enjoy writing about the policework as much as I used to. I know being a detective is a little different, and that's what I still find interesting about this but it's going to be a proper storyline rather than a brief arrest swept under the rug (:

Thank you so much for reading, though! I told you guys last chapter that Mariah would meet "a kindred tough spirit" but I ended up introducing her to Benjamin instead. That means she's gonna cross paths with a fellow badass in the next one, finally!! ❤️