Fell in Love with the Devil (LuciferxSupernatural Crossover)

Pops [2]

"I loved him." a woman explained as Lucifer and Maya sat down to hold interviews with the workers. "Pops was like a father to me. He was such a nice man,"

"Except when you made a mistake," Lucifer pointed out.

"That's right. Then he got upset, and he threw things. He threw things...a lot,"

***

"Where were you this morning?" Maya asked a worker.

"Here." The woman replied. "I'm always here. Pops worked me to the bone,"

"A taskmaster, was he?" Lucifer wondered. "No matter what you gave him, it wasn't enough?"

"It wasn't. And I gave him a lot,"

***

The worker showed his hand.

"Ah, to the bone, indeed," Lucifer mused.

"Did you have any altercations with Pops?" Maya questioned.

"Sure. All the time. Nothing I did was ever good enough for Pops,"

"And it never would be, would it?" Lucifer voiced. "Which is why he left you with no choice but to take matters into your own hands,"

"He was like a father to me," the man protested.

***

"And how was he to everyone else?" Maya asked the next worker.

"Tough, but, ultimately, he was fair," The man admitted. "Uh, he cared about his people. He was..."

"Like a father to you." Lucifer quoted bitterly. "Yes, we've heard that one before,"

"He was my father,"

Maya turned her head to look at Lucifer "This is Javier's son, Junior,"

"I don't work here anymore," Junior explained. "I-I've been away a while. I came over as soon as I got the call. I still can't believe he's gone, man,"

"Wayward son, are you?" Lucifer asked.

"Yeah, you could say that." Junior nodded.

"You and your father had a strained relationship?" Maya questioned.

"It's...it's complicated. You know, I feel like the only thing that made him happy was this place,"

"So let me guess, you tried to follow in his footsteps?" Lucifer suggested.

"Yeah, I trained as a chef, yeah,"

"And Dad was domineering, acted like a god in the kitchen?"

Maya used her thumb to brush Lucifer's hand "Lucifer,"

"You have no idea," Junior admitted.

"Oh, you'd be surprised," Lucifer said.

"I was never gonna live up to him, so I just, I..."

"Rejected everything he stood for,"

"Yeah. I gave up cooking, I hit the road..."

"Which is why I'm curious about your return. Was there something that you wanted to do when you came back?"

"Oh, I don't know, like..."

"Oh, come now. The prodigal son returns to his overbearing father. What could you possibly desire?"

Maya tilted her head as Lucifer worked his charm.

"I wanted..." Junior started.

"Yes?" Lucifer asked.

"...to have one more meal with my dad," Junior finished.

"So you just got into town last night?" Maya questioned.

"Yeah, I-I met dad here for breakfast,"

"Did you notice anything strange about him or the meal? Anything?"

"Dad had them bring out our usual. We were actually getting along for once. Uh, after we finished eating, Dad left to do his pickup at the market. We were supposed to meet up later tonight. Said he had something he wanted to tell me, but..."

"So now that Dad's gone, I'm guessing the restaurant goes to you?"

"No, i don't...I don't deserve this place. Dad knew that,"

Maya nodded her head "Well, stay in town. We may have more questions for you,"

Junior left the room.

"Well," Lucifer sighed "Isn't that a coincidence? A boy returns home, and, conveniently, his pops drops the next day? Lucky bastard,"

Maya grabbed his hand again to calm him down "maybe. Or maybe this is about something more than anger, which they all had, but if Junior isn't inheriting the restaurant, then who is?"

***

"So you're Anne Martin, the sous chef," Maya said as she and Lucifer were inside the kitchen area of the restaurant. "You're Javier's number 2?"

"I mean, I guess I was," Anne said. "I mean, I-I can't believe it. I...I just saw Pops this morning, he was fine,"

"And you cooked his last meal, is that right?"

"So? You know how many people had their hands on that plate?"

"Well, this is your kitchen, Anne. When Pops isn't here, you run the show. And from what I understand, you're not someone to be messed with, so...you really think someone's gonna go behind your back?"

"I can't control what they do. Who knows what kind of psychos we have?"

"Well, are any of these psychos set to inherit the restaurant, like you are? I spoke to his estate attorney,"

Anne smiled "It's no secret Javier was grooming me to take over. He was my mentor,"

"Well, of all the reasons to kill your father figure," Lucifer spoke up "greed is truly the ugliest,"

"You think I killed Pops to speed up my inheritance? I would never do anything to hurt him. He taught me everything. He meant the world to me,"

Maya's phone buzzed.

"Well...If you didn't wish your dear old Pops ill, what did you wish?" Lucifer questioned.

"To surpass him," Anne admitted.

"Ah! So the student becomes the master, eh?"

"What? No! It's not like that,"

"Preliminary tox screen came in." Maya reported "The poison used to kill Javier was mercury,"

"Oh," Lucifer hummed. "So you cracked open a few thermometers over brunch, did you? Not the trick I'd use, but clearly effective,"

"There was something else in his system, too." Maya looked at Anne "Can I see the inside of your arms?"

"Why?"

"Track marks,"

"Ah, so there was heroin as well?" Lucifer declared "Generous killer, aren't you? Wanted to give him a little high on the way out?"

"This is crazy. No. If you...if it's heroin, you should talk to..." Anne grabbed Lucifer's arm as she fell back "I'm sorry,"

"Don't worry. I tend to have a rather striking effect on women," Lucifer smiled "Come. Just let it all out,"

Anne threw up blood on Lucifer's shirt.

"Oh!"

Anne fell to the ground.

"Okay,"

"Someone call an ambulance!" Maya called out.

"Well, I've never had that effect,"