, Izzy's voice was pleading as she eyed Benjamin cautiously, easy to notice the shock dawning on him. "I—I was just doing what Dan asked me to. I mean, I don't want to blame this on Dan, but it was his idea and I just—", she began to ramble whilst her fingers flew through her cropped waves shakily, but before she could finish, Benji had stepped forward and wrapped his muscular arms around the woman, closing her in a tight, but gentle embrace. Resting his jaw on the tall deputy's shoulder, Benjamin sucked his bottom lip in and blinked a couple of times, merely to avoid the fall of incoming tears — it did seem impossible to keep his emotions at bay, however. After all, his brother, and the girl he was starting to consider one of his best friends, had teamed up to find his father, his real father, and there were no words to express all the gratitude Benjamin felt for that.

He hadn't thought about doing this on his own — well, he had wondered where his father was, who he was and if he should make an effort to reach out, but he had never planned on taking action. Frankly, if it wasn't for Izzy and Dan, this probably would have never happened. They had taken the step that Benji was too scared to take by himself, and for that, he was immensely appreciative.

"Thank you", he murmured softly, still hugging Izzy who had melted into the gesture, her own arms wrapped around the man's leather jacket while she nodded softly.

"Of course. I know this would have eaten you alive otherwise. Do you, uh, want to hear what I've found out so far?", she inquired once they had let go of each other, and in response, Benjamin cleared his throat and nodded eagerly. Frankly, he was sort of scared to figure out what kind of a man he was related to, and he had no idea what to expect, but Izzy never stopped checking if he was okay, never stopped radiating with warmth and support and reassurance. Not to mention the coffee that Diane had made for them, the mug warming Benji's hands and making him feel even luckier. So far, he was truly enjoying his visit at the Holts.

Izzy handed Benjamin a small stack of files from the big mess spread out over the kitchen table, which meant that she had been digging for a while now, and perhaps she had gotten quite deep already. While sipping on his coffee, Benji flipped through the thin papers curiously but warily, as he was trying to maintain his thirst for knowledge, but there was no denying the smile that crossed his lips when he spotted a name. "Chase Allen", he spoke quietly, staring at the picture in front of him. With a smile on her lips, Izzy nodded.

"That's him", she whispered, before looking over to the file wide open in her own hands. "He was born in February, 1967. Says here he lives in San Diego with his wife. No kids. Except for, well..", Izzy looked up briefly to nod towards Benjamin, who returned the gesture curtly and leaned over to the file to see for himself. "Then again, I wasn't able to access all the files, and these might need some updating so who knows", she shrugged, "concluding from the criminal record though, he's a lot like you", before flashing a grin.

Lifting an eyebrow, Benjamin grabbed a few papers from the table. "Something serious?", he questioned, and much to his relief, Izzy shook her head.

"A few fights, some speeding tickets and resisting a police officer at the moment of arrest", the redhead explained, and as he chuckled, Benji had to admit that it did sound familiar. Perhaps he had gotten his wild side from the father that could have been.

Silence fell into the room suddenly, with Izzy reading more and Benjamin sitting deep in thought. However, eventually, he spoke up with his brave heart leading him into the right direction. "How crazy would it be for us to leave for San Diego right now? It's just a few hours away, after all. We could be back for the night", the man suggested confidently, and with her eyes flying wide open, Izzy looked over to him — although she wasn't quite sure why she was so surprised. Of course Benjamin would be curious to find his father and meet him, officially. Knowing him, he'd probably grill the guy for answers about why he left and let him live with a man that hated him instead.

"Are you sure?", Izzy swallowed, "I mean, if you are, then of course we'll go. You don't have to do this alone, Benji", a smile tugging on her lips yet again as she placed a supportive hand on top of his warm one.

And just like that, it was settled. They were going to find Chase Allen.

—————

Benjamin's Camaro was intense, the silence almost unbearable and he was quite sure that if he were to flick open his lighter to light a cigarette, the whole car would blow up due to the borderline flammable tension. He knew that Izzy was trying to be careful with him, as if he was a glass angel on the verge of breaking, and frankly, he wasn't really helping the image by remaining silent and nervously tapping the wheel to the Metallica song playing from the radio. In his defense, he was on the way to meeting his real father for the first time ever, and it was creating all kinds of ideas in his mind, forcing him to consider every outcome and scenario, including the worst ones.

But, he didn't regret leaving. Dan had allowed Izzy to take the day off of work, and Mazikeen had promised to cover Benji at Lux — which she didn't agree to do without something in return, obviously. As for Lucifer, he had told Benjamin to be safe and that he would be waiting for his return, ready to take him in his arms no matter how things were going to play out. That was actually relieving some of the stress on Ben's heart, because he knew that even if he wouldn't find the ideal father he was hoping for, he could always go back to Lucifer, who understood him better than anyone.

"You know", Izzy was the first one to break the silence between them, turning down the volume of The Four Horsemen as she did. "Whatever happens, I'm here for you. And you got Lucifer, and Dan, Chloe, and Trixie too. Even if it's... not what you expect, you're not alone, and it sure as hell doesn't mean you don't have a family, because you do", she explained, and in an instant, a smile was twitching at the corners of Benjamin's lips. He didn't say anything, but the gratitude and joy on his face was quite enough for Izzy, who simply smiled in return and raised the volume of the music again, both of them finding comfort in the rock tunes.

Eventually, the two of them arrived in the right place and after driving around for a while to ease Benjamin's jitters, the two stopped to get something to eat. It was nice — both of them just laughing and spending time together, almost forgetting about the real reason they were in San Diego, but the time to go arrived sooner than later, and they found themselves in the car once again. Izzy had read the address out loud at least a dozen times, and hearing it never got easier, but at least it wasn't too difficult to find the right house.

Indeed, they ended up sitting outside the house surprisingly soon, their eyes darting over the mailbox that read Allen on the side, confirming that this was it. Benjamin was scared, quite frankly — more than he ever had, possibly. What if Chase wanted nothing to do with him? What if he wouldn't believe him? What if—what if he didn't even know he had a son?

"Can you come with me?", Benjamin had spoken out loud suddenly, turning to face Izzy who was surprised by the wish, but naturally the woman agreed. After taking in one last breath, Benji stepped out of the car with Izzy already by his side, and he looked around curiously, forced to admit that it seemed like a lovely neighborhood. Calm, the kind where everyone knew everyone, and he could just imagine Chase being the guy everyone went for when they needed a drinking buddy or someone to bail them out of jail. That was the image Benjamin had formed in his head, but then again, he had never been a part of his life and perhaps that meant that he wasn't such a great guy after all.

But, in the belief that overthinking wasn't going to get him anywhere, Benjamin began to stride across the street with Izzy following right behind, and his confident steps only came to a halt when he was standing in front of the right door, his knuckles almost coming in contact with the surface. For a second, he stopped himself, but once Izzy had whispered it's okay to him, he went for it and knocked on the door.

It felt like his heart was on fire, causing his chest to ache as he waited for someone to answer the door, and he was visibly trembling whilst rocking back and forth on his feet. His jacket was shuffling with each movement and his lip was nearly bleeding due to the harsh bite he hadn't even noticed until he began to taste it in his mouth — then, finally, before he could die of fear and anticipation, the door had swung open and he came face to face with an older woman, surprised to find someone at their doorstep.

"Can I help you?", she asked kindly, her eyes warm as she eyed the two young people standing there with wide eyes. Benjamin was speechless — everything he had prepared in his mind evaporated at the sight of this lovely woman, and he had to assume it was Chase's wife he was so blatantly staring at.

"Is, uh, Chase here?", Benji was able to croak out when an unreasonable amount of time had passed, his eyes vulnerable and careful as he looked at the woman. His heart was racing in his chest, on the verge of bursting through the skin, and it felt like his legs could have given in at any second, but somehow, he managed to maintain his balance, although he did feel like losing his mind.

Inhaling, the woman shook his head, surprised by the unexpected question. "Sorry, no. Who is asking?", she lifted an eyebrow, and immediately, Benjamin directed a worried look over to Izzy, who smiled reassuringly at him, encouraging him to go for it.

"Benjamin Espinoza", he introduced himself, offering his hand for the woman, who quickly grabbed it and shook ever so gently, her eyes twinkling with disbelief — the good kind, if possible.

With a nod, she suddenly leaned aside after pushing the door open more, allowing them access to the house. "Come on in", she pursed her lips together, and with Izzy's hand in his, Benjamin took a leap of faith and stepped through the doorway, unsure of what he was going to find, but determined to get closure.

»»»