[Night]
Lucifer leaned back in the driver's seat of his 1962 Chevrolet Corvette C1, one hand resting lazily on the wheel while the other held an open can of cream soda. Music blasted through the speakers, filling the car as the city lights rolled past him.
A grin refused to leave his face.
The entire day had been absurd in the best possible way. He had spent hours driving across Los Angeles, stopping whenever something caught his attention. Expensive restaurants, luxury cafés, ridiculously overpriced desserts. Every time he paid the bill, some buried part of Karl still flinched before remembering that he was apparently one of the wealthiest men in the city now.
A pack of cream soda sat on the passenger seat beside him.
A simple drink that he couldn't afford in his past life.
Now he can afford all the cream sodas he wants.
Lucifer took another sip and laughed quietly to himself.
"Tastes great."
The Corvette roared down the road. He increased the speed and broke the speed limit. Then flashing red and blue lights appeared in the rearview mirror. A police motorcycle had switched on its siren and was closing the distance rapidly.
Lucifer glanced up, adjusted the mirror with two fingers, and saw a motorcycle cop pulling in behind him. A faint smile tugged at the corner of his mouth as he eased the Corvette toward the side of the road. "Well, here we go. Season 1 Episode 1. The cop part." He tapped the steering wheel thoughtfully.
The officer climbed off his motorcycle and approached the driver's side window, his voice raised over the music thundering from inside the car.
"CAN YOU TURN DOWN THE MUSIC, SIR?!"
Lucifer turned the volume down, letting sudden silence settle over the road. He looked up at the officer with an easy smile, as if being pulled over were simply another form of nightlife entertainment. 'Diggs.'
"You know what they say, Officer... If it's getting too loud, you're gettin' too old."
Officer Diggs did not look amused. He stood beside the window with one hand near his belt, his expression already sharpened by the kind of suspicion Los Angeles cops probably developed after too many late-night traffic stops.
"Do you know why I pulled you over?"
Lucifer's smile widened slightly.
"Obviously you felt the need to exercise your limited power and punish me for ignoring the speed limit. It's okay. I understand."
He paused, that charming smile never leaving his face.
"I like to punish people too."
For a moment, his expression shifted into something faintly wistful.
"Or at least I used to..."
Officer Diggs blinked once, clearly trying to decide what category of strange this man belonged in. "Do you have any idea how fast you were going?"
Lucifer gave a small shrug. "Haven't a clue. I blame it on the Stones. They just make a man wanna drive, ya' know what I mean?"
As he spoke, Lucifer's gaze settled fully on the officer's eyes.
The change was subtle at first. The night seemed to quiet around them, the ordinary irritation in Officer Diggs' face loosening into something more thoughtful. His posture softened by a fraction, as if some hidden door in his mind had opened before he could stop it.
"Sometimes... I put my siren on, and drive really fast for no reason at all. Just 'cause I can."
Lucifer's face lit with delighted understanding.
"Right?! And why wouldn't you? It's fun! Feels good to get away with something, doesn't it?"
Diggs smiled despite himself. A small chuckle slipped out of him, honest enough to surprise him. For a second, he looked almost relieved by the confession, as if saying it aloud had scratched some old itch buried beneath the badge.
Then awareness returned.
The smile faded. His brows pulled together as he realized he had just shared something deeply inappropriate with a complete stranger in a sports car.
Lucifer only looked pleased.
"It's okay, Officer. People like to tell me things. Those deep, dark, naughty little desires that're really on their minds. It's a gift. Must be something about this face."
Officer Diggs straightened, forcing himself back into professional shape.
"License and registration."
"Coming right up..."
Lucifer reached into his wallet, but instead of producing the requested documents, he pulled out a hundred-dollar bill and offered it through the window as casually as someone passing over a restaurant tip.
Officer Diggs stared at the money.
"Are you trying to bribe me, sir?"
Lucifer looked genuinely untroubled by the accusation.
"Yes, of course. Why, is that not enough? Here, take more, it's only money."
He added more cash to the offer, completely unconcerned by the way the officer's expression tightened.
"It's against the law, sir."
Lucifer tilted his head slightly, studying him with amused curiosity.
"You people are funny about your laws. You break the law sometimes, don't you?"
The officer nodded before he seemed to realize he was doing it. The motion looked almost involuntary, pulled from him by something deeper than ordinary conversation.
Lucifer leaned in a fraction.
"Do tell."
Officer Diggs swallowed, but the words came out anyway.
"Sometimes I'll pull a woman over for a minor infraction and get her to flash me a little somethin'."
Lucifer's smile turned sharper.
"You dirty dog you..."
The officer continued, his voice dropping with the uneasy honesty of a man hearing himself confess and failing to stop.
"Sometimes I let her off with a warning. Sometimes I don't. Sometimes other stuff happens..."
Lucifer's amusement faded just enough for something colder to pass through his eyes. He shook his head slowly, looking at the badge, the uniform, and the man wearing both.
"LA's finest..."
Then his gaze shifted back toward the money still held between them.
"You're tempted to keep that, aren't you?"
Officer Diggs nodded again, helplessly this time.
Lucifer's smile returned, polished and dangerous.
"So what are you waiting for? Permission? Keep it! Buy yourself something pretty. You deserve it. But if you don't mind, I really must be on my way..."
The officer hesitated for only a moment before taking the money and sliding it into his pocket. Once he did, his expression smoothed over as if the entire situation had rearranged itself into something perfectly acceptable.
"Okay, sir, you have a nice evening."
Lucifer placed both hands lightly on the wheel and gave him a charming nod.
"You too, Officer."
Officer Diggs walked back toward his motorcycle, leaving Lucifer alone in the Corvette. The engine purred beneath him, patient and hungry, while the city waited ahead in glittering silence.
"You too..."
Lucifer adjusted the mirror again.
For one impossible instant, the reflection staring back at him was wrong.
Something ancient flickered beneath the handsome face, something burned and monstrous and far too real to belong in glass. It appeared so quickly that most human eyes would have dismissed it as a trick of passing light, but Lucifer saw it clearly.
Then it was gone.
Only his familiar face remained in the mirror, elegant and amused, with a little devilish look lingering in his eyes.
He stared at his reflection for another second before the corner of his mouth lifted.
The officer behind him had no idea what kind of mercy he had just received. Some rotten part of Lucifer had wanted to tell him exactly where corrupt little men with badges and appetites ended up, but surprises had their own charm.
"Maze is gonna love breaking that fucker," Lucifer mumbled as he turned the music back on.
The Corvette pulled away from the curb and rolled back into the Los Angeles night, leaving Officer Diggs, the flashing lights, and one more ugly human confession behind him.
After a moment of driving.
The city lights reflected across the windshield as Lux appeared in the distance.
Somewhere ahead, if everything followed the story he remembered, a young pop star named Delilah would soon walk through his doors.
Lucifer's expression changed into something more serious.
"Don't worry."
The Corvette accelerated toward the glowing nightclub.
"This time, you're making it out alive."