AS NEXT MORNING arose and the bright rays of sunlight were digging into Izzy's room, the woman was more than happy to jump up and throw the curtains wide open, which encouraged Thor to dig into the sheets and growl at the unpleasant awakening. But Isadora, she was almost as giddy as she had been on her first day at the LAPD, and for two reasons, actually — she was finally allowed to return to work and start tackling another case with her detective friends, but there was also a familiar flutter in her heart, one that she had experienced a handful of times, but not in a long while.

She was yet to separate this from any other occasion, thinking it was just like all the other fleeting crushes she had had, but instead of fighting the urging feelings, Izzy embraced the truth — she liked Mazikeen's company, felt fulfilled around her, and could only hope that the interest was mutual. Even better — it had to be, why else would Maze be all over her, trying to earn a kiss and shamelessly flirting with the deputy at all given opportunities? Indeed, Isadora had not had a crush in a long while, with her dream job taking up most of her time, but it seemed she had unexpectedly stepped into another trap, the literally crushing embrace of attraction forcing her thoughts to constantly wander to the one holding her heart in their hands.

So, for two reasons, there was a smile on Izzy's pink lips as she arrived at work, stepping into the precinct with her brown cap resting on her tamed curls and a pair of sunglasses on her eyes to block the typical L.A weather, though even that seemed to pale in comparison to the bright expression on Isadora's face. In her hands was a box of donuts, one that was meant for the whole department, but also a tray of coffees for Lucifer, Dan, Ella, and Chloe, hoping that it would put especially the latter in a good mood. Izzy had screwed up, but she was back and she was ready to make this work, ready to be a better cop this time around.

"Ah, Izzy! You are, truly, a sight for sore eyes", Lucifer's lanky frame was appearing from behind the corner, his face lighting up at the welcome sight while one of his strong arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her close for a quick squeeze. "How's that mean right hook, eh?"

Before the woman could greet him properly, or return a sassy comment, Ella had rushed in, squealing something incoherent as she pulled her deeply missed friend into a tight hug, the action almost causing Izzy to drop the donuts and coffee cups, but Lucifer — smooth as ever — was stealthily grabbing both and placing them on a nearby desk. "You're back!", Ella gushed, a wide grin on her lips as she let go of Izzy, who was looking down at the much shorter woman with a similar, happy look.

"Yes, I am. And I brought some breakfast for you guys", she gestured towards the box, which Lucifer had already opened, leaving him currently munching on a chocolate donut while Ella rushed to get one with sprinkles on it. As the scientist pointed out that Izzy was the best, Dan and Chloe appeared from behind the corner, and gulping in reaction, the deputy nervously grabbed the remaining cups and tried to be brave while walking over to the two homicide detectives, holding the beverages up while flashing a smile. "Good morning. I got you these", Izzy handed the coffees out, and surprised by the kind gesture, both accepted them.

However, as soon as Dan had grabbed the cup, he was placing it on his desk so he could wrap both muscular arms around his protege, pulling her against his firm chest and sighing out in relief to have her there again. "Welcome back, Izzy. Missed you, kid", he beamed, and nodding to repeat the welcome, Chloe directed a smile towards Isadora once Dan had dropped his bone-crushing hold on her.

"Yeah, nice to have you back, Izzy", the blonde lifted the cup in her hand, "thank you for the coffee", and with those simple words, she was already walking away and telling herself to not dwell on the action, the Holt turned back to Dan with a wide smile on her own lips.

"It was only two days, Danny", she lifted a teasing eyebrow, and laughing in return, the man nodded.

"Well, I need someone to do my paperwork."

—————

FRESH AIR HAD never felt so sweet in Izzy's lungs as she strode down a small, refined path in the middle of the woods where a great slice of the LAPD had settled in with their cameras and evidence bags, curiously swarming around the corpse of a poor, young girl that had been discovered amidst the tall, green trees. All the hues seemed heightened and the sun was warming up Isadora's skin as she walked around the surroundings, a notepad in her hands while her eyes sought for any signs related to the murder. It was a grim setting, that was for sure, but she was just happy to be working again — sadly, she wasn't too good at hiding it, although she had tried but lost in her thoughts, the enthusiastic smile had ended up making another unnecessary appearance on her face.

"Do I have to remind you that we're at a crime scene?", Dan's amused voice broke Izzy's trance, and with wide eyes, the deputy twirled around with her happiness fading into a shy, apologetic look. "Find anything yet?", the man was continuing while catching a glimpse of Isadora's notes, but the page was mostly empty, which added up with the shake of the woman's head as she sighed.

"Nope. I talked to the guys who found the girl, but they couldn't tell much. For what it's worth, I don't think they did it", Izzy shrugged casually, flipping the notepad shut, and with a curt nod, Dan agreed with her point of view. There was no connection or motive, meaning that the killer was still out there, but luckily, there was a rather effective bunch of them, each determined to solve the murder.

The two of them moved over to Chloe and Lucifer, the latter of the two playing on his phone while Detective Decker was quick to question Dan about the victim — something Isadora was wonderfully grateful for. She let him do the talking, and in the meanwhile, she could stand next to Lucifer's towering frame in the hopes that she wouldn't draw too much attention to herself. Just when she had believed that there was hope for her and Chloe, Izzy had majestically screwed up and now, her usually confident, brave self was unwillingly thinking that the detective probably hated her. Perhaps she saw her as unprofessional, weak, someone unworthy of her time, and while Izzy had already contemplated proving her otherwise, right now she just settled for leaning slightly into Lucifer, who luckily didn't notice her slight cowering in the presence of the other woman.

However, her plan to be subtle came crashing down when her name was called, causing her eyes to instantly snap into the direction of the sweet, yet stern voice.

"Izzy", Chloe nodded towards the cop, "what do you got?" Izzy parted her lips, though no words came out, and she was certain that all color drained from her face as she blankly stared at the blonde, who was clearly waiting for a good answer. She didn't have one.

"Uh, nothing. The—um—", she began, nervously flicking her notepad open, but when the situation didn't seem to be improving, Dan cleared his throat and saved his protege from the uncomfortable spotlight.

"The guys who called it in couldn't say much. Izzy talked to them already, and she thinks it's unlikely they did it. I agree — we should bring them in for interrogation, but there's no connection or motive. And it's unlikely they'd stick around if they did it, anyway", Detective Espinoza explained, his casual swoop-in earning a grateful look from Izzy, who couldn't help but let out a quiet sigh. Murders, killers, horrors beyond imagination? Sure. But a beautiful, ambitious detective? That was a challenge she couldn't quite handle.

Already deep in thought and considering the possible suspects, Chloe nodded. "Okay. Nice work", she sent a small smile towards Isadora, who quickly began to wonder if it was a fake one or not, but before she could stare for too long and overanalyze everything, the detective had wandered off to see the body herself. Once her absence was official, Izzy shook her head and let out an audible groan, which made both Dan and Lucifer turn to her with confused stares.

"She hates me, doesn't she?", the Holt muttered with a heavy heart, and both men quickly responded with snorts and chuckles.

"No", Dan was the first one to fight back. "She doesn't hate you. She doesn't hate anyone. It just... takes her a while to warm up to new people, but trust me, she's impressed with you", the man reassured, and as soon as he had finished, Lucifer took the turn to speak with his head nodding forward in comforting, repetitive movements.

"Yes, the detective is no fun, but that does not mean she has anything against you. But rest assured, I'm working on it — my mission is to make her more relaxed instead of always drowning herself in work. I'm sure she quite likes you, though, but if you don't agree then you must simply bring out the best in you, make her see how wonderful you are. You know, self-worth and all that crap", Lucifer shot a smile towards Izzy, before following after Chloe and leaving the deputy alone with her stirring thoughts.

It sounded like a good plan — after all, she had been meaning to revel in self-love more lately, so perhaps, the timing was perfect. She needed to dazzle Chloe, not by showing off or pretending, but being herself and allowing the detective a chance to get to know her. Who knew, maybe at the end of the night they could already be great friends.

And well, that was actually rather close to the truth.

—————

IZZY LONGED TO be in the heart of the action, but as Chloe and Lucifer headed out to solve the murder mystery, she had to settle for gazing from afar while scooping up the remains of her pudding — she certainly loved that Dan was making it a habit to bring some for her as well, and even more certainly she'd have to repay him somehow — and putting off the work in front of her. There was a great stack of papers regarding maintenance for the vehicles and forms for their equipment, with most of it already filled out, but the deputy was suddenly preoccupied with wondering if she had scribbled it all far too quickly without enough attention, all the while clicking the cap of her pen off and then back on.

Just like that, she was back on track, back to working, back to being Deputy Holt — even if, for now, it meant getting everyone whatever they needed, and simply following people around the precinct, waiting for the next order to drop. But in a way, once you looked past the developing stress, Izzy liked it. She liked feeling needed, feeling like she was a vital part of the LAPD, and she liked helping people and spreading positivity. And although some aspects of her long days sucked, she didn't falter, not unless her own mind was spinning more dark webs to encourage the sneaky anxiety into overwhelming her.

It wasn't until the day was almost done when things got truly interesting with one single phone call. Frankly, when the redhead glanced at the screen and found Mazikeen's name plastered across it, her heartbeat sped up irrationally and she had to bite down on her lip to avoid a big grin from taking over. After glancing around to make sure no one was nearby, Izzy brought the cell to her ear and looked down at her fingers, which were nervously twisting the hem of her blue jacket. "Hi, Mazikeen", she formed the demon's name carefully, like a drug on the tip of her tongue as she closed her forest eyes and forgot about the people around her for a second, focusing solely on the velvety voice that greeted her from the other side of the line.

"Officer", Maze's voice was teasing, "I need your help. Lucifer challenged me to help Decker unwind and I was thinking, you know, you're fun enough, sooo...", albeit with each word the confidence faltered slightly, and Izzy was forced to wonder if the other woman was just as nervous as she was. However, it didn't really make sense — Maze looked more like a goddess than a demon, and she was brave and strong in every way, making Isadora look like nothing next to her. Yet there she was, stumbling on her words and wondering what was the right thing to say.

"Wow, you need help with being fun?", the deputy chuckled, leaning back in her chair while lifting her gaze to the ceiling and smiling to herself. "But yeah, sure. Where, when, who's coming?", she continued before Mazikeen could fear she was turning the offer down, and somehow she could almost hear the wide smile that quickly touched the former bartender's lips upon hearing those agreeing words.

"Lux, in a few hours. You, me, Decker, and whoever Lucifer invited. Oh, and I'm getting Linda, too. See you there, Iz", the dark-haired woman explained quickly, and before Izzy could get another word in, she had hung up, but despite the abrupt ending to their call, the cop couldn't stop grinning as she threw her arms in the air and let her head fall back while twirling around on the chair.

And there was no way to flatten that mood, that unique rush that one could only get from hearing from their crush, and realizing that they had been in their mind, as well.

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oops, it's been a while but i'm finally back and so excited to write more for this book (: i have major plans for the next couple of chapters, it's gonna be awesome (hopefully)

i hope everyone is having a good day, and as always, i'd very much appreciate it if you left me some feedback ❤️