LIGHT ME UP ↝ Lucifer Morningstar

TWENTY.

BENJI WAS NO stranger to breaking the law, but what he was about to do, was rather extreme and it was encouraging him to fill the silent moments with his nervous habit of bouncing his foot up and down, all the while his teeth tugged on the skin around his nails. The jitters he was desperately trying to unload into his frantic movements didn't go unnoticed by Mazikeen, who simply smirked at the sight of the man's slight panic bubbling onto the surface. "We can call this off if you want", the demon had offered in the quiet car, with her sitting behind the wheel, "or I can take care of it", but Benjamin had shaken his head in response, confirming that he was up for it.

Although he was brave, and at times reckless, he wasn't stupid, and it didn't take much for someone to realize how unbelievably risky the plan he had cooked up with Maze, truly was. For that very reason, he didn't have much hope for Dan willingly taking part in their vengeance, but Benjamin didn't particularly like the sound of lying to his brother and risking their relationship yet again, so he had called him to the scene — perhaps that was the real reason why he was so nervous, the image of Dan's horrified face already imprinted onto his mind in a way that was impossible to shake out.

And when the oldest Espinoza finally knocked on the window of Mazikeen's Dodge Charger, Benjamin yelped and jumped up on the leather seat, earning giggles from the demon by his side. "Idiot!", Ben hissed as he shoved the door open, making sure to do it so it hit Dan in the thigh, but instead of allowing the argument to go any further, the younger brother shook his head and stepped out, "I was beginning to think you wouldn't show up. Busy night with Charlotte Richards?", a teasing grin on his lips, to which Dan responded by narrowing his eyes, devoid of amusement.

"Hilarious. What the hell are we doing here?", the detective questioned, glancing around before nodding towards the strip club on the other side of the street. Inhaling deeply, Benjamin rubbed his freezing hands together before shrugging casually, as if he wasn't about to suggest something completely irrational.

"What the hell, indeed. The Devil's work, bro", Benji smiled at the thought of walking a mile in Lucifer's unbelievably expensive shoes, before continuing. "Maze and I... we may have called the Russians, told them about Perry Smith, who happens to be in that very club", he pointed at the same building Dan had gestured towards, "and it's just a matter of time before they show up and take care of the human stain."

In an instant, Dan's eyes widened and from the lip bite he had a habit of doing occasionally, Benjamin concluded that he was struggling to process all that. But instead of smacking the back of his brother's head or telling him to leave while he still could, Daniel offered a mere nod. "Brave. Stupid, but brave. Getting John Decker the justice he deserves. That guy doesn't deserve to walk free — honestly, if you hadn't done this, I think I would have", he answered eventually, breaking the silence and earning a sigh of relief from Benjamin with the most unexpected words only possible. Frankly, Ben wasn't quite sure what he had hoped for, but hearing Dan agree with him on something so... not his style, was quite mind-blowing.