SINCE THE BEGINNING of her career, Annika had mostly relied on Maeve, and Maeve only. As expected, the rest of her co-workers liked her, but when it came to friendships outside school hours, the Hayden wasn't the best at keeping in touch — Maeve, however, had befriended her, forcibly, if no other way. That was exactly why Daniel was a breath of fresh air, his invitation to get a coffee immediately accepted by Annika who couldn't wait to get Lucifer out of her head for a little longer.

    Nonetheless, she had meant what she had said in the morning, and that was why she was keeping things between him and the new substitute completely professional. Not to mention the rumors that would spring to life if anyone caught a whiff of a romance brewing in the teachers' lounge.

    "So, why'd you move to L.A?" Annika questioned politely while munching on the donut Daniel had bought for her at a nearby coffee shop. So far, the man seemed not only friendly but funny, too, and it was safe to say that Annika's grim day had taken a much-welcomed twist for the better. She would certainly have to give Maeve a call afterward and boast about the new friendships she was forging — though she suspected that the woman would take a drastically different approach to their new, dashing substitute.

    Considering his answer for a moment, Daniel licked his lips and chuckled quietly. "I came here to find my brother, actually. He's a bit of a... brat. He ran away from home and my father sent me to find him but so far, it hasn't been a success. So, suffice to say, I have experience with children", he explained with amusement, and without knowing better, Annika broke into a fond laugh.

    Still, she hoped to give him some advice, as she definitely had met her fair share of misbehaving children, as well. "Remember to think about it from his perspective, you know. Consider how he feels. If he doesn't want to leave, then there must be a good reason for that", Annika pointed out softly, knowing from experience that ignoring the child's side of the story never worked out. The look that Daniel gave him seemed meaningful, but she couldn't decipher it, so she simply moved on with a shrug and a grin. "Or bribe him with some candy or new toys."

    That was all she could say when Annika's phone buzzed in her pocket, and with a quiet apology, she snuck the device out just in time to see a message from Lucifer. Seeing his name written across the screen sent blush creeping up her cheeks — it was good to know they were still on speaking terms, but there was no love lost in his simple message announcing that he needed to pick her up at this instant for something critically important. With her heart rate picking up, she scribbled a quick reply of her location before turning to Daniel and flashing him a warm smile.

    "I'm sorry, I have to help a... friend out. But thank you so much for this", she insisted with a wave at the empty coffee mug and the napkin where once a sweet donut had rested. In return, the man thanked her for the company, giving Annika the deep-rooted hope that she had made a new friend.

    With her stomach twisting and turning, the brunette desperately hoped that whatever Lucifer was in a need of, she'd be allowed to hold onto the bud of happiness beating in her heart.

—————

    SILENT AND WORRIED, Annika sat on the passenger seat of Lucifer's car with her eyes continuously glancing at the mirrors to make sure they weren't putting any people in danger. As soon as she had been buckled in, Lucifer had swerved from the parking lot and stepped on the gas without regard for the speed limits of the area — instead, he was driving recklessly down the lit-up streets with his intention to catch the motorcycle speeding a little way's away from them.

    The last thing she had expected was a car chase, but she supposed it was stopping Lucifer from mentioning their awkward farewell in the morning. Clearly on edge, he had elaborated that a man had been killed at the nearby docks full of containers carrying illegal objects within, one of them belonging to Lucifer himself. Annika strongly doubted they contained Russian dolls like he was insisting, but as he chased the main suspect, he hardly left space for any chitchat between sharp turns from corner to another.

    "Hold on tight, darling", Lucifer advised simply enough, and with that, he swerved onto another street, relentlessly gaining on the suspect — Renny — and causing beads of sweat on Annika's forehead. She couldn't tell where the night was possibly going, but supposing that this what he did, punish, she took in a deep breath and gave him a reserved look.

    "I feel like we truly need to have a conversation about what this whole being the Devil thing really entails", Annika called out over the rev of the engine, holding onto the leather seat for dear life while Lucifer's determined stare stayed on the road. It seemed that being shot just the previous night was barely slowing him down, though she figured ruling Hell involved some form of inhuman healing, but even then, she had a head full of questions and once this would be over, she wanted answers.

    Eventually, the motorcycle came to a stop and so did Lucifer, who instantly leaped out of the car with heavy strides after Renny. Even when Annika knew that common sense was recommending her to stay back, she couldn't let the hot-headed, impulsive man take on the criminal by himself, and so, she left the vehicle and ran after Lucifer like the fool she recognized herself to be. It was a risk, but her confession remained true — she cared about him, and that meant being unwilling to watch him do something he'd regret.

    She entered the strange building with careful steps, just in time to hear a gunshot bounce off of the walls, and instinctively, she crouched. In doing so, she noticed Lucifer squatting to go unnoticed by the crazy biker while sneaking around the concrete floors, and relieved, she rushed to join him and avoid getting shot herself.

    "Bloody hell, Annie, you were supposed to stay in the car!" he protested as soon as he saw her crouching by his side, and without wasting a second, she responded with a narrow-eyed glare directed his way.

    "Was I? You're the one who practically begged me to come along", she defended herself before looking around and coming to the conclusion that Renny was wasting all of his bullet on pointless shooting, giving her the time to further reprimand him. "And you know what, if this is you acting like a dumbass because someone said something sweet to you, then that's on you. I thought I should apologize for what I said, but it's only fair of me to be honest with you. It's not my fault if you can't handle it", she ranted with frustration building up in her chest. Despite her sweet nature, she, too, had a breaking point, and being in a shooting situation with the Devil pretty much ticked all the boxes.

    Turning to face her, Lucifer met her defiant gaze with something soft and gentle, his anger fading to the background and it caused the same effect in her. Suddenly regretful of her outburst, she glanced down at her hands, but only for Lucifer to do what he had this morning, and pick her jaw up with his finger. "Don't you worry about a thing, darling. You surprised me. But I do wish to spend more time with you", he promised with an affectionate smile on his lips, but before the same could form on her painted ones, he was reaching to place a quick kiss to seal the deal.

    And that was it. Any concern of messing up what they had been building vanished and the fear of Lucifer was gone almost as quickly as he was, too.

    "I do think we should find other date ideas!" Annika yelled after the man once he was back to chasing Renny, who had run out of bullets and decided to escape up to the roof.

    Groaning, the woman pushed herself up to both feet and followed Lucifer, trusting that with no gun to use, Renny would prove to be harmless. At the very least, she'd have Lucifer to protect her if it came down to that, and so, she climbed up the stairs leading up to the final level of the storage facility.

    "Now", she found Lucifer breathing out with a malicious smile, "you give me what is mine." It was no lie to say that he was furious, yet it wasn't enough to scare Annika — like she had said, she trusted him, believed that he would never hurt her. Whereas she showed her care through words, he did so through actions. Renny, on the other hand, wasn't on the same page with the man, and simply argued back in the hopes of defending himself. Lucifer only grew angrier by the second, and once Annika saw his eyes glow and flicker with fiery red, she knew to stay behind.

    "Don't kill him", she couldn't stop herself from whispering, either way and although Lucifer didn't respond, she knew he had heard her.

    "Who stole them?" the Morningstar asked repeatedly when Renny continued to dodge his questioning, and by now, Annika was convinced that the container couldn't have possibly been about just dolls.

    Not that she got to know the truth, because once Renny had inched close enough to the edge of the rooftop, he was choosing the hard way out and threw himself off. Lucifer's voice boomed throughout the dark night as a plea to choose differently, and Annika turned away to avoid seeing the aftermath with her hand flying to her mouth. Nausea swung in her stomach at the vivid image, but she found relief in the fact that unlike Lucifer, she didn't have to look at what awaited on the street.

    No doubt, if it was worth dying for, then something serious had to be going on.

—————

    "REALLY? RUSSIAN DOLLS?"

    Chloe had found and saved Lucifer's container, and undoubtedly, she was surprised to find out that the man had been truthful. He had promised never to lie, but Annika didn't buy it. Even with the dolls right in front of her eyes, she had heard enough lies from her students to know when someone wasn't telling the whole truth. She had to admit, Lucifer was good at it, especially when technically he wasn't lying at all — just sparing some of the reality, but she saw through him.

    Eventually, Chloe parted from the two of them, telling Lucifer to enjoy his dolls, but as soon as he was gone, Annika grasped the opportunity to get to the bottom of his mystery. What could be so bad a man had to throw himself off the roof? So serious Lucifer went full-on Devil mode just to find the damn container?

    "I told you today I trust you", Annika spoke up, splitting the silence in half as she turned to look at Lucifer, who stood on the other side of the container and met her gaze with confusion. "Do you trust me?" she added, and in a blink of an eye, he was nodding to confirm that to be true. She nearly got lost in being flattered, but instead, she took a step towards him and gave him a grave look. "Then tell me, is it really just the dolls?"

    Silence ensued, but only for a moment. Lucifer caved in with a sigh and pressed his hands against the container until a hidden switch was set off and the back wall began sliding to the side. Inhaling sharply, Annika gathered his hand in her own to quietly promise that no matter what, she was there and she wasn't going to judge. Though, that wasn't to say she wasn't nervous to find out what he had hidden from everyone with his best efforts.

    What awaited on the other side was sheer nothingness, simple emptiness. For a moment, Annika worried that he was playing games with her, but when she faced him and saw the absolute horror mixing in with shock on his face, she guessed he was just as confused. He started to tremble, but this time, she couldn't tell if it was out of anger or fear. Letting go of his hand, Annika cupped the man's cheeks and stared into his eyes with comfort, hoping to hear an answer that he delivered in a low, weak whisper.

    "They're gone", Lucifer seethed before giving Annika a wide-eyed look, "my wings."

    At a loss for words, the Hayden stared back at him in utter disbelief, but she couldn't exactly deny what he was claiming. If he truly was the Devil, that meant he had once been an angel, and so, the idea of wings wasn't that distant. Or it shouldn't have been, at least.

    And then, he remembered the scars on his back, and her eyes flew open at the realization that it was probably all that was left of his wings. Horrified by the thought that they had been cut off, Annika began to push Lucifer's jacket down his shoulders, and unsurprisingly, he didn't fight the gesture. By the time she was softly unbuttoning his shirt, though, she knew things to be serious, as no innuendos rose from his throat while she quietly undressed him. Her nimble fingers worked each of the buttons undone until she could tug on the fabric so that Lucifer was left shirtless in the chilly container, and she could slowly move behind him to see the scars properly.

    "Lucifer...", she whispered, hoping to say something soothing in addition, but she fell speechless as she watched the mutilated pieces of flesh with deep sadness. She couldn't even begin to fathom how he must have hurt. She made sure her touch was delicate as she lowered her hands onto his warm skin, and even though he flinched at the touch, she tenderly let her fingertips ghost over the scarred skin and shivered at the feeling. Lucifer's head was hanging low and she could tell the scars were far from his biggest pride and joy, and it almost encouraged her to pull away, but she couldn't do more than consider the thought when he was daring to speak up.

    "I left Hell because I loathed the role my Father gave me. I was no longer interested in surrendering to him. I—I refuse. So I came here. I landed on a beach with Mazikeen and according to my request, she cut them off", he recounted the haunting story that sent chills down Annika's spine. "I've been storing them here ever since but now, somebody has them and I need to get them back", he added bitterly, and unsure what to say, Annika stood there in silent solidarity. This was the weakest he had ever been with her, he confided in her, trusted her, and she needed him to know how much she appreciated it. She wasn't going to give up on him.

    Acting on instinct, Annika gingerly pressed her lips against Lucifer's back, leaving soft kisses everywhere, around the scars where a pair of glorious wings had once sat. For now, he had her comfort, showering his tortured skin with love while her fingers intertwined with his to show support.

    Only when she was positive that every inch of his scars had been attended to, she circled around until she could lean into him and place a hand on the back of his head. "I'll do whatever I can to help you find them. I promise, you'll get those wings back", she swore with every intention to follow through on her vow, and with an incredulous chuckle, Lucifer locked eyes with her once more.

    "Little sympathy for little old me, eh?"

»»»

Lowkey listened to Beyoncé's Halo and cried my eyes out writing that last part

Update 09/04/2020: This book has now been rewritten, so the face claim for Annika is no longer Scarlett, and Myra's name is now Maeve! Most of the changes are minor but if you're suddenly confused about the subtle differences, that's why! x