"HOW WAS CHURCH?"

Izzy was peeking from behind the grand, purple seat that Lucifer had taken over at the crime scene they were all situated at, looking like a king on a throne. Eventually, though, he turned to the woman with a groan and bored eyes, and Isadora's grin was the furthest thing from innocent, knowing full-well how to tease the man. No doubt the person who tried to convince people of his devilish nature was not pleased to have gossip about him going to the church floating around the precinct, but he couldn't possibly stay mad at Izzy when the woman rested her jaw on top of the velvet cushion so adorably. But, that didn't mean he wasn't willing to fire back.

"How was Maze? Knowing you two, I'm afraid you should stop by the church next", he pointed out, and immediately, heat flushed to Izzy's cheeks. He wasn't wrong — though they had ended the night in their own, separate beds in their own homes, they had enjoyed their own little bubble at Lux, lips locked and hands roaming curiously. Usually, Izzy kept the PDA at a minimum, holding hands and cheek kisses still passed with flying colors but making out so blatantly was not typical for her. But, in her defense, she had been buzzing, partly because of the one drink she had had and partly because of Maze and how fresh everything was. Excluding a few random hook-ups and dates, she hadn't really had anyone special in her life since high school, and to finally feel that thrilling rush course through her again, to be so excited to see someone and so eager to feel someone... It was pushing her to her boundaries.

And, it wasn't like the people at Lux were going to judge her, or anything.

"Oh, hush, you", Izzy waved her finger in the air after pushing herself off of the throne. "Come on, we have a case to tackle, remember? You're lucky I came to get you before Chloe", she softly kicked Lucifer's foot, and unable to argue with that, the man grabbed the hand being offered to him and let Izzy drag him downstairs to Detective Decker and Ms. Lopez, both hard at work already.

The newest murder assigned to Chloe and her team, which Izzy was proud to be a part of, had taken place in a glorious mansion, at the head of a full dinner table where a man had bled to his death with a shard of glass stuck to his neck. That was what Ella was quick to pinpoint, her tongs hoisted up in the air to show the shiny, bloodied piece of a champagne glass to the people around her. "Someone really popped his cork", the scientist nodded vigorously, glancing towards Chloe and Lucifer on the other side of the table before turning to Izzy, who was trying to hide a smile next to her — maybe the others weren't so impressed with her sense of humor, but she could always rely on Isadora. "You know, like", Ella mimicked, hissing as she pretended to stab herself in the neck and then bleed all over, "you guys, like, the blood's the champagne. Like when you open a bottle, his neck was the—", cut off by Chloe and Lucifer.

"We got it."

As Ella proceeded to study the broken glass in order to eventually put it all back together, Izzy was tasked with asking around for any potential witnesses, in case anyone had seen someone suspicious enter the house, and while Chloe requested Dan to dig up all the info on the victim, Lucifer... Well, Lucifer had so kindly recognized the victim as Dean Cooper, a real-estate tycoon, but not soon after that, he was already fleeing the scene. "Maze says there's a problem at Lux", was all the prompting he needed to button his jacket and head for the exit, and while Izzy was holding a handful of glass for Ella, she couldn't help but let herself get distracted — not only by the idea of Mazikeen and Lucifer texting, she had so many questions about that, but by the mention of the demon in the first place. And there was no hiding the dreamy smile on her lips.

"Good luck!", Izzy called after Lucifer before the man had disappeared entirely, and glancing over his shoulder, he nodded.

"Yes, yes, I'll tell Mazikeen you said hello!", he promised, and chuckling, Izzy didn't even bother to insist otherwise. Truthfully, it felt good to be at this specific part of their relationship — not still a full relationship, even, and still kind of scary as there was much to chart and discover, but it was so freeing, too. It was fun and pure, and sometimes not pure at all, and 100% the reason behind the wide grin Izzy was attempting to suppress while around the deceased.

Whether or not she was succeeding, was a whole other story.

—————

IZZY WISHED SHE could have been surprised when her shift had taken a turn away from the case, the questioning of witnesses far behind her, but somehow, there was not an inch in her that flinched with shock when she had been called about an assault at Lux. After hearing from Lucifer that Lux was being torn down and he was being evicted, Izzy had almost waited for the call to come, and when it had, she wasn't sure whether to feel proud or disappointed in her best friend.

"You know this is totally stupid, right?", Izzy was grinning wide at Benjamin, who she knew to be dripping with satisfaction, no regrets visible on his face after punching Eric Cooper, the murder victim's son and Lux's new owner, right in his smug face. As a cop, Isadora couldn't very well congratulate him for taking down the guy, but as she led Benji to one of the holding cells at the precinct and shut the barred door in front of him, the friend in her bled through. A friend to both Benji and Lucifer, who by now was struggling with losing his club and more importantly his home.

Rolling his eyes, Benjamin settled into the cell, a familiar place to him. "Maybe so, but that guy had it coming. If Lucifer loses Lux, I'll do it again. I don't care how mighty and powerful he is", he sighed whilst dropping onto the bench against the wall, "but hey, at least this place is kinda cozy and there's no one else here so this should be chill", a smile appearing onto his lips, proving that he was quite casual about this. Just another day for the youngest Espinoza — most people would be freaking out over being arrested, but not Benjamin, who certainly had experience, and knew that it wasn't such a big deal at the end of the day. Merely one more fun adventure in being the little rebel he was.

"At least he didn't press assault charges, man. He's a pretty influential dude, so consider yourself lucky", Izzy shrugged, before a smirk crawled up to her face, "at least as long as Dan doesn't hear about this."

While Benji made himself comfortable in the cell, Izzy did the same at Dan's desk — luckily, the youngest brother was safe as long as the detective was stuck working a bomb case with Vice, and that also granted Isadora the chance to arrange some paperwork and take on any extra tasks. Chloe and Lucifer were out to find Eric Cooper, and until they were to return with something new for Izzy to get on, she was doing what she did most days — going over the evidence, writing reports, whatever was asked of her. Sometimes getting coffee for someone wasn't the highlight of her day, but in the knowledge that fighting back would get her nowhere whereas following orders and fulfilling requests did the opposite, Izzy took whatever opportunities she could to climb up the food chain.

With her closest co-workers, she appeared rather casual about her job, but even with the feelings for Maze and built-up friendships with others, she was in it to win it — she hadn't forgotten that this had been her dream since she had been a kid, and she never took it for granted.

And, when her hands were full, the day flew by as quickly as it had begun, and in no time, the woman was already picking up her stuff and putting an end to her shift. For the first time since their failed session, Izzy finally had an appointment with Dr. Martin, and it was filling her with nervous butterflies — she had so much to talk about, but she also feared for Linda's well-being, leaving her with a head full of questions, but a heart relieved at the knowledge that they would, at last, be answered. Quite possibly a groundbreaking change was that she looked forward to their time together, whereas she was usually anxious about opening up, but right now, Izzy was almost rushing to her car and speeding over to the therapist's office.

Frankly, as soon as Linda opened the door and welcomed the deputy in, she was leaping in for a hug, forgetting about the lines of professionalism and giving her friend a tight squeeze. "Oh, I'm so glad to see you! All good?", Izzy shut her eyes and smiled contently, and much to her delight, Linda wrapped her own arms around the taller woman, grateful for the support and love.

"All good. I'm—I really am sorry, about pushing you away like that, but I just...", Linda drew a deep inhale and let go of Izzy, "I needed to figure out some stuff." With that vague explanation, she was already guiding Isadora to the couch and changing the topic, but as long as she promised to be alright, Izzy was satisfied and didn't probe around more. "So. What's on your mind today? I remember we talked about the stress you were under. That a lot had happened and you realized that you needed to open up. And we did make a lot of progress, but we didn't really come to a conclusion", the therapist seated herself on the other side of the coffee table, an inspecting gaze in her eyes. There was something different about her — she was no longer freaked out, but her posture had shifted, she didn't seem so puzzled and even if the fear had washed away, the nervous tick of her pen hinted that she was still going through something.

But, she was not the one on the couch.

"Uh, well", Izzy wiped her hands against her jeans while leaning back on the couch and shrugging. "There was a tough case a while back. But, um, I think talking to you and my mom and others has really helped. Benjamin has recovered from the accident mostly, Lucifer and I patched things up and... um, I don't know if you remember but I told you about Maze and how we weren't really in the best situation", she scratched her arm shyly, eyes glancing down at her thighs as she broke into a smile — missing Linda's stiffening form in the process. "I confronted her, and turns out, it was worth it because now, we are...", she fell into thought, "I don't know what we are, actually."

Silence landed in Linda's office, until Izzy looked back up at the woman, causing her to snap out of it. "Oh. Oh! That's... I see. Well, I'm very happy for you both", she suppressed a smile, before clearing her throat. "When was your last long-term relationship, Izzy? How does it... feel going through these, hm, first phases of dating?", she tried to word her question politely, and with a wondering sigh, Isadora glanced up at the ceiling — it was a thing she, too, had been mulling over as of late, testing the waters and finding her own limits. Being in a relationship was never as easy as it seemed, it took a lot of effort especially emotionally and no doubt, it would take a toll on her too.

"The last time I had an actual girlfriend was back in high school, I'm pretty sure. It was pretty serious at the time, but the whole concept of high school sweethearts isn't always as dreamy as movies make it seem, so... It just didn't work out. After that, I tried dating but I was really more interested in becoming a cop and studying so it never went past the second date", Izzy explained, kneading her fingers as she did, "I think it's nice, though. I think I kinda missed it, being so close to someone, on more levels than just physical", but at her last words, she came to a halt, eyes stopping and a heavy huff filling the sudden silence.

And Linda was quick to notice. "Why'd you pause?", she didn't hesitate to jump on it, and chuckling, Izzy gave her an approving look.

"Like I said, I'm not so sure what Maze and I are. As nice as it is to have someone like that, I don't really... know how to date anymore, I guess. And, things are a little awkward. I asked her out the other night but she didn't seem too into it, so I suppose I'm just a little worried about how it'll work out. And, I don't even know what I want this to be if we're being honest", the redhead ranted, not realizing the weight of it all until she breathed out and let her words hang in the air. There was a lot for Linda to take on, and that made Izzy shake her head sheepishly — however, the therapist gave her no time to apologize for the outburst of emotions.

"Well, honesty is always the best policy. Whether or not you want to get married someday, it doesn't have to play into this relationship, Izzy. It's okay to take it one step at a time and breathe and be confused. Some people like to plan it all out, but sometimes, we can't control everything and that's the scary and the beautiful thing about relationships. Trust me when I say, everyone is worried and unsure and awkward at first, whether they've been friends forever or just suddenly discovering it all. And according to your words, dating hasn't been a priority for you and — forgive me for the ultimate therapist line — since you're a child of divorce, those things factor into what kind of a person you are in a relationship. As for Maze, well... She's Maze", Linda elaborated, and not that Izzy had ever doubted her skills, but she was being quite insightful on the matter.

But, Izzy was still a tiny bit lost.

"So, what do you suggest I do, doc?", she met Linda's warm gaze, her own eyes colored with the need for guidance, the small frown on her lips still begging for more advice.

"Give her time. Give your whole bond time. I don't have a single doubt in my mind that it will work out. And give yourself time, too. Figure it all out. And as for the whole date thing, I'm not sure a movie and dinner is... you. Maybe, to get Maze on board, you need to find something that fits you two", Dr. Martin offered, and already considering the idea, Izzy responded with a grateful nod.

She really had missed Linda and her wise tips, and that was why it was easy to get lost in the conversations that proceeded to take up more time than expected. Deep into the exchange about being there for others and sometimes forgetting to let others be there for her, Izzy pointed out that they should probably wrap it up, and almost gasping at her forgotten plans, Linda quickly got up from her comfortable chair.

"Ah, yes, but we'll pick this up soon", the doctor reassured, before turning to Izzy again, right before the woman could exit the office. "Are you going to the party at Lux too? We could drive together", she queried with hopeful eyes, surprising Izzy and leaving her with parted lips, but instead of asking what she meant — wasn't every day at Lux a party? — she figured that Lucifer was protesting the eviction, defending the club until his very last breath.

And since no harm could be done in a last hurrah, and hopefully seeing Mazikeen, the confusion on Izzy's face quickly melted into joy. "Yeah", she grinned, eager to heed Linda's advice and find something like them, "I am now."

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thank you so much for 15K reads and almost 1K votes, i very much appreciate your support ❤️❤️

this was kiiinda a filler chapter but i felt like izzy's session with linda was important to include, and whenever i get the chance to connect this story to light me up i'm always so excited to include the scenes dkdjsjd

for once i don't have a long rant, so all i'll say is thank you for reading, i hope you liked it, and i'm always open to any kind of feedback (: x