MUCH TO HER surprise, Izzy didn't struggle to fall asleep for the second time that night — even more astonishing was not stirring awake due to nightmares or pain, not even once, leaving it to sunlight and Maze's shifting to eventually end her slumber the next morning. Maybe it was because of the demon cramped up next to her on the bed, offering warmth and comfort throughout the night, or maybe the previous day had merely squeezed out every ounce of will to fight on. But now, she was all recharged and determined to get the day on the road, even if Maze was all about disagreeing with every confident intention brewing in Izzy's head.

It was no lie that more rest would have done more good than harm, whereas jumping back to work seemed rather ill-advised, but when the doctor cleared Izzy to go home and she was proven to be doing pretty good considering the events of last night, it encouraged to the deputy to aim for the stars. Charlotte needed to be dealt with, albeit perhaps not how Maze had planned, but lying in a hospital bed wasn't what Izzy wanted to contribute to the situation — she was still worth something, scarred or not, not to mention skilled and smart, and thereby useful. And she knew Mazikeen saw that too, making it exactly what the brunette feared so much.

"That doctor's obviously incompetent. You're not ready to go out there and face off with the Divine Bitch", she insisted fierily, muscular arms crossed over her chest as she guarded the door for Izzy's protection — even if that meant from herself, too. Despite the stern tone that was coloring every word and the statue-like stance by the entrance, however, she failed to hide the concern in her, eyes following Isadora's every move and lips pulled into a frown as the redhead pounced from one side of the room to another to stuff her belongings into the bag Dan had delivered last night. And although Izzy could certainly feel the worried stare bore into the back of her head, she still kept her head ducked and focus keenly on the boots she grabbed from beneath the bed.

"I appreciate the concern, Maze, I really do, and you're right. I can't go picking fights with her, so I won't. I just need to take care of Thor— and also check on my mom, and after that, I'll head to work and see if Ella, Chloe or Dan have something I can help with. I'm not gonna do anything stupid, but I don't want to be the incompetent one either, so—", the Holt ranted with a deep sigh, her frustration with herself seeping into her weary voice as she slumped onto the thin mattress and began to undo the knotted ties of her shoes.

She wasn't allowed to finish, though, when the door suddenly flew wide open and the woman half-expected Maze to be fleeing from her, only for a familiar, charming British accent to invade the room and a whiff of aftershave to mix with the bland air. "Mazikeen, what on Earth—", Lucifer, from the sound of it, was on the verge of wondering what the bounty hunter was doing in a hospital, only for his eyes to land on the pale redhead seated on the bed with wide eyes and half a smile tugging on her lips. It was good to see him, even if he, too, had gotten his face rearranged, leaving the two hellish creatures covered in dark bruises. "Izzy?", he was nothing short of shocked as he glanced at Maze, and then back at Isadora, his excessive entrance suddenly shy and cautious, "what happened?"

Before Izzy could respond with anything at all, Mazikeen was spinning on her heel, the tough exterior enforced even further as she stared up at Lucifer in defiance. "That bitch you call mom tried to have her killed", she spat in shameless, unfiltered anger — it was true that if she had been listened to early on, Charlotte and all the problems that had come with her would have been dodged, and it was obvious that Lucifer was running out of arguments as he simply frowned at his best friend. It wasn't until his softening gaze found Izzy again, that she remembered to speak, and more or less confirm Maze's accusations.

"Uh, well, I have no definite proof that it was her, but she's the only person I know has something against me. Also, I might have, uh, kind of argued with her yesterday and when I came back home, some guy attacked me and my mom, so... timing, you know?", she theorized quietly while lowering her feet back to the shiny floors, shoes on and only her LAPD coat missing from the ensemble. She didn't like to point fingers, but luckily, before she could feel guilty about throwing the blame onto Charlotte, Lucifer was piping up and offering a nod in response.

"I'm afraid you might be onto something. It turns out, my Mum isn't quite as peachy as she led me and Amenadiel to believe. The human body she's in is growing weaker by the second and she's already killed one person with the powers she is no longer equipped to control. I suppose ordering a hit on one of my closest friends isn't that far-fetched from her, either", Lucifer couldn't hide the bitterness in his voice, all of it directed at Charlotte, as he ran his hands along his face and sighed. His mother was becoming a ticking time bomb from the sound of it, quickly rising tides of worry in Izzy's heart, but she couldn't say anything when the man's wandering eyes found her damaged arm and his expression hardened automatically.

Shoving past Maze — which probably didn't help his situation with her at all — Lucifer stormed closer, his fingers evidently itching to gingerly take the woman's hand and inspect the wounded skin, but instead, he settled for staring down with his eyes flaring. It wasn't a figure of speech either — the silence in the room was split apart by the faint crackle Izzy could hear, and when she looked up from her wound, her gaze found Lucifer's furiously red one. And yet, when he turned back to her, all the resentment lining the clench of his jaw and the thin draw of his lips vanished and became replaced with something much warmer.

"Rest assured, Izzy, your suffering will not go unpunished", he spoke with such coolness, it almost sent shivers down the woman's spine, even if she refused to glance away from him. Still, despite the uneasiness building up in the pit of her stomach, she knew there was no changing his mind, for several reasons, and that was why she settled for a slow nod, accompanied by the grateful gleam amidst the specks of green in her eyes. "And, for what it's worth... Should this ever cause you any struggles—", Lucifer cleared his throat, his thumb light as a feather as it barely touched the stitches on her arm, "well, I'm sure Mazikeen has shown you her scars but also mentioned mine. It might be the only time you will wish to see me shirtless, but simply ask and you may see that you're not alone."

Despite the chuckle that rose up her throat, Izzy nodded once more, this time with more emotion while she reached for Lucifer's hand, the sudden movement causing the man to flinch back, yet he didn't pull away when she took it in hers. "Thank you, really", she smiled up at him, utterly genuine as she gave his fingers a firm squeeze and then stood up to make her way over to Maze, "you too", her attention divided between the two. She wasn't quite sure what she had done to find herself between the Devil and a demon, and certainly, she had never expected such a fate for herself, but it wasn't half-bad.

With her painted lips twisting higher, Maze tugged Izzy closer, forcing the redhead's hold on Lucifer to drop, but instead of longing for more, she gladly snaked a grip around the brunette's waist while having an arm thrown across her shoulders. The fond gaze rising all the way from Mazikeen's heart came to a halt as soon as she turned back to Lucifer, though, a newfound annoyance finding a home in her entire body as she eyed Lucifer from head to toe. "So, why'd you come? You didn't know Izzy was here, so are you finally here to grovel and admit you were a jerk?", the demon tilted her head to the side as a mix of sass and frustration pushed the teasing into the air and earned a scoff from Lucifer. The man, in response, rolled his eyes and shoved his hands deep into his pockets, making Izzy quirk an eyebrow as well — there were many things she had tolerated but whatever he had or hadn't done to Maze, were stretching the limits of her patience.

"I believe I did my fair share of that, actually. But, very well, I am sorry, Maze, truly. I didn't think—", the Morningstar started with hesitance, but his choice of words was quick to pull a glare from Maze, which forced him to stop in the middle of his sentence and try again. "I'm here to hire you. Turns out, Amenadiel's dandy little necklace is the final piece of the Flaming Sword, and now he's disappeared, claimed he needed to process it. I would very much like to get the show on the road though, because if we don't, Mum will quite literally explode and endanger potentially all of humanity", he ranted away, the gravity of the situation coming through without hardship as his pained eyes practically begged for his right-hand demon to forget their fighting for the sake of the one place he could finally call home.

The old Mazikeen would have argued — why would she care, what value could Earth and its humans possibly hold in her nonexistent soul? But she was no longer the same demon she had been upon fleeing Hell, not after meeting Linda, Trixie, and most importantly, the woman right on her arm. And as far as she was concerned, Izzy had been through more than enough torment, and getting rid of Charlotte was not only the solution but at the moment, her greatest desire.

"You pay me my standard fee", Maze agreed with a simple demand, never saying the exact words but her lack of bickering was enough to receive a relieved sigh from Lucifer. Izzy, for one, had never even doubted her integrity, causing her soft lips to react with a proud smile and her gaze to grow more and more adoring by the second.

That still didn't stop her from more or less ruining the moment. "Great, and in the meanwhile, I'll go back to work—", Isadora interjected, parting from Maze enough to grab her bag from the bed and sling it over her shoulder, the action earning a sharp hiss from her as she flexed her forearm, and in the process, several glares from Maze and Lucifer. She had to hand it to them — she wasn't doing a very good job at convincing herself or them about her well-being, which was why she was backing down a bit. "I'll take it easy, you guys. You trust me, right? I have a plan, and it won't involve me running around guns blazing. I'm all patched up, I got a good night's rest and when this is all over, I'll still hopefully have a therapist to go to. Alright?", she attempted once more, but this time, she was at least somewhat successful in proving her capability.

Nevertheless, Maze's features were turning with uncertainty and doubt, as if she had something to say but she couldn't find the right words or a way to get them out. She could always rely on Izzy not to judge, however, and that was confirmed once more as the deputy stepped forward to tenderly caress her cheek, a comforting smile appearing on her own face. "We'll both be okay. I choose to have faith that the worst is behind us. And when this whole ordeal is done with, you and I are going to do something nice. Just the two of us", the Holt promised, fully intending to stay true to her word, and she hoped that Mazikeen could read the sincerity off of her. And well, Izzy elected to take it as a yes when she was dragged into a fierce kiss, the kind that fluttered her eyes shut and made her heart skip a beat, turned her legs into jelly and made her forget the time and place and even her own name for a second.

With her hands cupping Maze's cheeks, she cradled the woman close to her, which felt significantly easier when the bounty hunter wrapped her arms around her waist and pinned their hips together. Somehow, everything felt like a blur to Izzy, yet at the same time, she was painfully aware of every graze of Mazikeen's fingers, every brush of their noses, each step to the side, the warmth wrapping her into an embrace and the complete absence of pain. If against all odds, things were to get worse, this would be the very moment she would hold onto — the unforgettable collision of their lips, and the bump of their foreheads that followed when they finally parted for the sake of air.

"Leaving you is the worst idea", Maze muttered, eyes cast downwards as she rested against Izzy and thought about the ways today could have gone — she wasn't a firm believer in miracles, but she wasn't taking Izzy's health for granted, either. She could have died, again, and even in its unlikelihood, the possibility of it happening again was weighing Mazikeen's heart down. Walking away from her felt unwise, and more importantly, it felt terrible, but luckily, Isadora always knew what to say.

"It's not", she whispered, a soft sigh meeting Maze's lips as she leaned in to press a kiss on the tip of her nose. "Finding Amenadiel is important. Lucifer's right, without him, who knows what Charlotte can and will do. I'll be careful, I'll check in and afterwards you'll be the first person I go to", Izzy reassured with a calm tone as she stepped away from the demon only to find her scrunching her nose in reaction to the lightweight kiss. Admittedly, she, too, was having second thoughts about turning her back on Maze, but even in love, Izzy Holt was dedicated to her job and helping people — even in love, she wasn't willing to sacrifice the safety of others for her own.

The reluctance hardly left Mazikeen, but when she ended up nodding, Izzy found the courage to step away from her and adjust the bag resting on her shoulder. With one look to Lucifer, the man was straightening his jacket and gesturing at the exit, his car Izzy's ticket to the LAPD and his presence something of protection for her, and once he was heading out, Izzy directed one last hopeful smile at Maze before following suit. After nudging the single painting on the wall out of its crooked position, Isadora stepped into the hallway with a long exhale filling the silence, and the aching that had radiated from inside out, at last, begun to fade into the background.

Perhaps she wouldn't be allowed to investigate and work on the case that Detective Decker had been assigned, but she wasn't someone who gave up too easily, and for that reason, she already had it all figured out — now, more than ever, being useful was of importance and she was refusing to do anything less.

—————

DESPITE BEING DETERMINED, Izzy and Lucifer's graceful exit from the hospital hadn't been as hasty as she had made it seem. The concern for her mother had risen to the surface before they had had the time to leave, and the deputy had insisted on stopping by the room Diane had been sent to — and how could Lucifer refuse? Truthfully, he was dealing with heavyweight guilt due to his Mother being the reason the Holts had been hospitalized, which Izzy had picked on sooner than later, and despite her attempts to weed out the darkness sucking out Lucifer's light, he was still troubled enough to not fight back. Even if time was of the essence, the two friends had trekked through the cold hallways and located Diane, exhausted from the surgery that her leg had required but wonderfully entertained by the small TV on the wall, and the desserts Dan had delivered — a gesture Izzy was going to have to praise him for.

Fortunately, the oldest Holt was already on the road to recovery, her spirits high and main concern being her daughter, who in turn had asked a million questions to ensure her mother's condition. Luckily, not much damage had been done, simply the old issues reappearing, but it was nothing a few hours under the scalpel hadn't fixed. Quite frankly, both Lucifer and Izzy were taken aback by how casually Diane was taking it all, but they supposed she had seen her fair share of carnage during her career too, and it nearly gave Isadora hope that one day, she would get used to the wounds and bruises, too. She surely had taken a beating in the past week, her pale skin adorned with darker spots and healing cuts, but as soon as she had confirmed that Diane was okay and due to get out of the hospital in a couple of days, she wasn't bothered by any of it.

Although she had sworn to return as soon as possible, Izzy had eventually left the hospital with Lucifer by her side, the two having one another's back through thick and thin, and even more significantly, whatever was heading their way. The answer remained to be seen, but they could feel that it was nothing good, whether the havoc they dreaded was to be caused by Charlotte, or the Flaming Sword, or the toxic mixture of both.

When they finally arrived in the LAPD, it was safe to say the deputy's arrival stirred mixed feelings in her friends — they wanted to usher her out, insist on taking a day-off or going back to the hospital, but the relief in them was far too great to resist, and so, as Izzy stepped into the precinct, it didn't take long for her appearance to gain attention. Dan was the one who lunged at her first, quite literally, his rush actually catching Isadora by surprise, but the wonder in her died out as soon as she noticed he was being pulled by her dog, the tight leash not nearly enough to stop Thor from yanking the strong man forward. Instantly, the confusion became replaced with joy, and as she gasped at the tiny Cocker Spaniel speeding by the desks, the woman didn't hesitate to drop her bag and sink to her knees to catch him in her arms gladly.

"Oh, it's so good to see you!", she cried out, not having seen him since Diane had saved him from the attacker by locking him in her bedroom, and it seemed Thor was just as eager to reunite — as much could be concluded from his desperate cries and the way he tried to writhe closer and closer to Izzy.

Dan, on the other hand, was breathless from babysitting the dog, but the smile that quickly crossed his lips confirmed that he didn't actually mind, nor was he disappointed to see his favorite officer back on both feet. "You too", Izzy noted with a grateful smile, "thank you so much for—well, I mean, for everything", hopeful that her lack of words didn't stop the man from knowing that she appreciated all of it, all of him. He had taken her under her wing, helped her evolve as a cop, and time and time again he had proven his reliability and loyalty, all of those things the reason behind Izzy's heartfelt smile and the emotion she couldn't stop from piling in her eyes as she scratched Thor's ears and stared up at Dan.

Shaking his head, as if to claim it was no big deal, the Espinoza returned the smile. "It's more than okay. I, uh, this may not be the time or the place to get all sappy, but I just... I have Benji, but he isn't the model child when it comes to staying in one place, you know? But you're always here, so I feel like, in a way... when he's gone, and even when he's not, I can rely on you to fill in—but not like you're just a replacement, that's not—", he tried to dress his thoughts into words, but despite his rambling, the message came across and it made Izzy chuckle fondly as she climbed up from the floor and carefully wrapped one arm around his broad shoulders. It was a terribly difficult thing to do, but she was determined, not to mention in a grave need of the embrace he didn't hesitate to return.

"Always, Dan. You got my back, and I got yours", she mumbled quietly, before letting go and giving him a reassuring nod to back up her words. However, her attempt to drop the hold on him caused her stitched arm to graze against her own coat, the flare of pain earning a sharp hiss from her as she instinctively glared at the skin, with much less softness than Dan, who didn't hesitate to take a step back while simultaneously placing a hand on the shoulder of her better arm.

"Are you sure you should be here?", he questioned with knitted eyebrows, and while sucking in a breath, Izzy forced a nod and pried Thor's leash from his hands to relieve him off of the duty he had taken on by himself.

Her silent reply, however, went unappreciated by Chloe, who stepped in with a thick file pressed against her chest and Ella at her heel — the scientist, for one, chose to greet Isadora with a grin and a wave of her hand. "Izzy, I'm so glad you're okay. But Dan's right, you really shouldn't be working so soon after what happened", the Decker frowned, stepping closer to inspect the five inches of torn skin and the thread holding it together, only for Izzy to uncomfortably turn her arm the other way around, shielding it from the concerned eyes around her.

"I can get you something to eat", Ella offered, tearing the focus away from the gash as she directed a kind smile to Izzy, making her do the same — and yet, she shook her head in disagreement.

"Thank you, but I'm not here as an officer. I'm here as a victim, to report a crime", Izzy cleared her throat and drew a deep inhale as her eyes glanced at Dan, in the awareness of how he felt about Charlotte, and that caused the apologetic look she subconsciously gave him before continuing. "I have reason to believe that Charlotte Richards tried to have me and possibly my mom killed, and I think that overlaps with your case", she turned back to Chloe confidently, successfully silencing all three of them — and Thor — as she faced them without regret. She didn't want to set fire to what Dan and Charlotte had, but Ms. Richards was not the same as Lucifer's Mother.

And the latter, she was a threat, and one that needed to be handled, whether it meant Lucifer's way or the LAPD's.

»»»

okay, i know it seems like izzy is "magically healed" but that's definitely not the case, in fact i'm kinda worried that i bring up everything that happened almost too often in the final chapters??? it's just who she is: lying in bed and cutting her losses isn't izzy, so since her life is no longer in danger (at the moment at least) she feels the need to take action, you know? but the repercussions of what happened to her will definitely come up again, i'm not just swiping everything under the rug!

thank you for reading and thank you SO MUCH for 50K, i can't believe how far this book has come! it's gonna be emotional to let go (even if i have 28193727 one shots and a sequel already planned, but we'll see how far i'll take those)

i really appreciate all of you guys! ❤️