out as a lovely, relaxing evening with family, and Benjamin pondering how to tell Lucifer about his feelings and that he wanted to try being in a normal relationship with him, had turned into a hellish nightmare with no quick escape. It seemed that after dealing with a case revolving around a man poisoning his victims, Chloe had become one of them, and that led into Lucifer shoving the woman inside her car and speeding towards the hospital, while Benjamin stayed behind with Trixie and tried to calm her down. But how exactly do you eat tacos with your niece in the knowledge that her mother was dying?

"Is she gonna be okay?", Trixie had quickly popped the one question that Benji had feared, and with his lips pursed into a reassuring smile, he had taken her hand. But even if he had nodded to confirm that Chloe was going to be alright, Trixie had noticed the tears piling up in his eyes and since she never saw his uncle cry, she could sense the danger.

"Everyone's going to fight as hard as possible to make sure she will. Don't worry, nugget. Let's just take it easy, yeah?", Benjamin tried his very best to calm his niece down, but he didn't exactly have experience of this kind of thing, not to mention his own faltering state of mind. With the news of his father's death still pressing heavily on his cracking heart, he wouldn't be able to handle Chloe's demise as well. No doubt that would drive him away, make him do what he did best — run.

The two remained silent on the couch, watching TV for the time being, although neither really concentrated on the movie Trixie had quietly picked. Though it did seem that the thoughts on the girl's mind were weighing hard enough for her to fall asleep in Ben's arms eventually, and the man was glad — she needed the sleep, and at the same time, he could finally let the stream of tears break free. Not too long ago he and Chloe had been in a car accident, and now the woman's life was being threatened yet again, and there was no doubt in Benjamin's mind that if only given the opportunity, he would once again take her place.

The rest of the night went surprisingly quickly, even with Benjamin getting barely any sleep, but luckily Lucifer was keeping him updated with frequent text messages. At some point, Benji carried Trixie to her bed, and then proceeded to fret over the situation on the couch, but once Lucifer let him know that Chloe was safely in the hospital for now, and he was on the hunt for a cure with Detective Douche himself, Ben felt like he could take a breath. Hopefully, things would work themselves out, and by the end of the day, his sister-in-law would be back on her feet. She was a fighter, after all.

It was early in the morning when there was a knock on the door, and Benjamin, in his exhausted state, rushed to see who had arrived — with some good news, perhaps — and at the sight of Izzy Holt, he breathed out in relief. "Dan and Lucifer still looking for the cure?", was the first thing Benji mumbled out while hugging the deputy softly, "and hey, are you okay?", and with a quiet nod, Izzy answered.

As she walked inside, she licked her lips nervously, clearly something resting on her mind, but Benjamin didn't have to inquire to get her to open up. "Listen, Benjamin", she began, turning to face him suddenly, "I know."

It became deadly silent in the apartment and Benji wasn't quite sure what she was talking about — until he thought about what he could possibly know whereas she didn't, and his eyes flew wide open at the realization. "About...?", he trailed off, and laughing, Izzy ran a shaky hand through her hair.

"Hell, demons. Lucifer being... Lucifer. Everything. I know everything. I just can't stop wondering, all this time, did you know? And—are you okay, with all that?", she questioned, but she didn't seem angry. Just confused. Like she had woken up into a whole new world, and Benjamin didn't blame her — it was a familiar feeling, although he had welcomed the news quite well.

Nodding, he sighed out. "I'm sorry, it wasn't my secret to tell. Not that they've been trying to hide it, or anything", he chuckled, before continuing, "I'm dealing with it. It feels a little surreal, but I, uh... I care about him. A lot", to which Isadora responded with a faint smile. To be honest, he was rather relieved that she was part of this now too. While it was strange and hard to understand sometimes, it also made some of it easier to handle. Sure, now it felt like they were so insignificant in this huge universe with powers much greater than them, but in a way, they no longer felt so lost, so confused. The questions they asked had just changed.

"Well, uh, we should go to the hospital. Chloe asked to see Trixie, and I'm pretty sure you want to visit, too. And Lucifer and Dan should be back soon", the deputy suggested, and hell yes, Benjamin wanted to see Chloe.

But before he went to wake up Trixie, he stepped towards Izzy and gave her a tight hug — one filled with love and appreciation for the friendship they had developed, one that Benjamin valued greatly. Frankly, he loved this woman, and although he didn't say it out loud, and neither did Izzy, they both knew from the way they held onto each other desperately and fondly.

—————

Benjamin and Trixie immediately went to see Chloe, who was pale and drained, losing her light and strength as she weakly reached out to her daughter. The sight tore Benji's heart apart, and his eyes were already burning as he leaned down to press a ginger kiss onto her forehead, begging for her to hold on and fight like she always did. Luckily, he had a feeling that she wasn't going to settle for any less.

For a while, they pretended like she wasn't dying, and just sat there talking and laughing at the occasional joke that Benjamin managed to crack despite the gravity of the situation, but eventually, Dan rushed into the room and Ben was quickly up on his feet. Throwing both arms around his brother, Benjamin was beyond glad to see him, more than ever appreciative of his presence and well-being, which Dan could tell as he slowly wrapped his own arms around Benji. "It's okay, Ben", he assured, and that gave the youngest Espinoza hope — until Dan had continued.

"We, uh, we're missing the instructions on the cure. We got a list of the ingredients but we don't know how to make it, and we can't take the risk of trying out something", he explained quietly, and biting down on his bottom lip, Benjamin forced a nod despite the disappointment that was igniting in his racing heart.

"Where's Lucifer?", he asked carefully, noticing that the Devil hadn't made a dramatic entrance yet, and whilst he placed a hand on his brother's shoulder, Dan nodded towards the exit.

"I think he went back to Lux. You can go, I'll stay here with Chloe and Trixie", he promised, and as a sigh escaped Benjamin's mouth, he directed a grateful, faint smile at Daniel before turning over to Chloe one last time, his chest tightening as the woman tried her very best to send him a reassuring look.

"Stay strong, Chlo. I swear, we're not giving up, so promise me you won't either", his voice cracked as he bit down onto his bottom lip and nodded convincingly. Returning the curt expression, Chloe vowed to keep on fighting, and Benjamin allowed that to calm down his rapid heartbeat as he headed out of the room and the building, his feet moving almost as quickly as his thoughts. As much as he wanted to stay by his sister's side, he needed to find Lucifer, because he just knew that the Devil would be putting together some kind of plan to save the detective. And whatever that would be, Benji was desperate to take part in it, instead of just sitting aside and letting this happen to Chloe. He was done feeling so useless, just following the action from aside.

He was lucky enough not to be pulled over despite the unreasonable speed he drove with, and as quickly as he had intended, his Camaro was already parked in front of Lux and his hand was yanking out the keys before shoving the set into the pocket of his leather jacket. There was a long line outside, as always, but one of the perks of being rather close with a club owner, was the privilege of walking past all those desperate people and greeting the doorman casually as he was let indoors, no questions asked. Any other day Benjamin would have reveled in the pride it spiked within his heart, but right now, the despair in him was far too great, and it was driving him to the elevator.

His hands were already sweaty, but standing helplessly in that unreliable, confined space caused a lump in his throat as he rocked back and forth on his feet, evidently nervous and fidgety. But how could he not be? If anything, he had every right to be freaking out. While coming back to L.A had given him so much good, so many positive memories and so much happiness, it was also drowning him in heartbreak, worries, terror — in the past week, he had been more emotional than he ever was travelling.

But as the elevator doors parted and Benjamin took a deep breath, he remembered who he was there to see, and it felt worth it — Lucifer was worth it, and not to mention, worthy, of all the love and affection Benji had to give. He stepped out bravely, but his way was cut short as he stumbled into someone tall and intimidating, who scoffed when their bodies met. Surprised by the sight, Benjamin looked up at Charlotte Richards, who simply rolled her eyes and with that, pushed past the man, shoving him in the process before disappearing into the elevator. Benji had learned that she was quite the determined, blunt woman, but there was certainly something different about her and it made him knit his eyebrows together when he turned to look at Lucifer in confusion.

The feeling only expanded in his chest when he noticed the man surrounded by Amenadiel, Maze and Linda — all four of them looking rather serious, until Lucifer's eyes landed on Benjamin and his face instantly lit up at the sight of him.

"Benjamin!", he greeted in his usual way, rushing to him with a fond smile splayed over his lips. "How glad I am to see you. Here to join the party?", the suited man inquired curiously whilst raising an eyebrow, and as his lips parted, Benji wanted to say that he was all in, but quite frankly, he couldn't help but wonder just what he was signing up for.

"Uh, what's going on here? Define party", he licked his lips briefly before tearing his gaze from the people in the room to Lucifer to lock eyes with him — something that always made his heart beat a little more unsteady. It was little things like this that offered him comfort in these dark times, warming his soul as he felt safe in Lucifer's presence, the thick scent of his aftershave wrapping him in a protective hold while Lucifer's smile radiated down at him.

"Oh, it's simple, really. I'm going to die, and go to Hell to interrogate the professor for the formula, so we can put together a cure. Then, Dr. Linda here will bring me back. Easy peasy", he grinned, throwing an arm over Benjamin's shoulders as the Espinoza snorted, in the firm belief that he was merely joking. But once he looked over to his other friends and saw the dead serious expressions on their faces, he understood that this wasn't part of Lucifer's unique humor. And as if that wasn't enough, the Devil spoke up yet again, his arm still holding Benji as he glanced around the room with a drink in hand.

"So, who wants to kill me?"

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