A/N This might be the last one for a little while as I have run out of ideas for the time being, although I want to do one involving Azrael. If anyone would like to offer any ideas I will take requests and suggestions, however I will not write Chloe and Ella as rivals, simply because I just can't see it happening. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this one.

Mistaken intentions

The precinct was eerily dark outside the glass walls of Ella's lab. It was like he was stood in the only pool of warmth and hope, which seemed fitting for Ella, if slightly unusual for the purpose of the lab.

They were the last two in the building by the looks of things. Lucifer drummed his fingers a tad impatiently against the work surface. Miss Lopez was just finishing something up for him and had popped out for a moment, taking conversation and laughter with her. The room was sterile and dull in her absence. A door opened behind him and he huffed, "Finally!" as he turned, only to have a fist connect with his face. Taken off-guard he staggered a little, noting the surprise in the very angry young man's face that he hadn't been flattened completely.

Lucifer straightened back up, tugging his suit jacket back into position and rolling his shoulders to shake off the impact.

"Good evening to you too," he muttered. "Is that how you normally introduce yourself to people?" He felt anger flash through his voice, eyes beginning to burn – not literally though, not yet.

"I made an exception for you Scumbag," the intruder sneered.

"Scumbag, right. Pleasant." Lucifer responded wryly, anger becoming a controlled simmer. "Can I help you with something? A restraining order, maybe?"

"Yeah. Yeah, you can help me," the young man replied aggressively. "You can tell me what your intentions are with my sister."

Lucifer sighed. He could never understand why humans, when they got angry, assumed that he knew who they were talking about.

"You'll have to be more specific I'm afraid," he responded coolly, mouth a thin line.

The intruder looked even angrier, if possible.

"What are you doing with my sister? Are you sleeping with her?"

"Again," Lucifer replied dangerously, "you'll have to be more specific. I have sex with a lot of people."

It was also, he noted dispassionately, never the person themselves who had the complaint. Always the brother, or father, or mother, or wife, or husband. Tedious. They never wanted to hear that response though. So very sensitive. The intruder looked livid and pulled another punch. Lucifer caught the fist with his usual fluid grace.

"You might want to reconsider," he said with a flash of red.

The young man blanched a little but didn't entirely back down.

"You went to my brother," he accused, a minor waver in his voice. "Threatened him. Said it was because of her. He thought you might be a couple, but I know your reputation. The parties. The sex."

Lucifer grinned, but with no humour, all teeth.

"Well, yes. I imagine most people know of my reputation, that is, after all, the purpose of it." He put more pressure on the balled-up fist, "But you are still not being specific enough."

A shrill voice from the doorway interrupted the confrontation.

"Leon?"

The angry young man twisted his head and Lucifer detected a hint of fear, much more raw than he had shown so far to the devil, as he replied, "Ella."

Ella approached with more annoyance than she usually showed. No perky greeting for this visitor.

"What are you doing here?" Her eyes flashed to Lucifer and he felt the reproach sear his skin as he hastily released Leon's fist.

"You know this miscreant?" There was a tone of accusation in his own voice.

"My brother," Ella presented with her hand and dropped it. "One of them anyway." She looked between the two of them fiercely. "What is going on?"

Lucifer was processing the whole conversation anew with the knowledge that Miss Lopez was the sister.

"Interesting," he murmured.

"What is?" she replied warily, clearly irritated. Lucifer ignored the wide-eyed pleading looks Leon was sending him.

"Well, your brother here was paying me a visit to find out what my intentions were towards you."

Leon emitted a low groan as Ella raised her eyebrow in innocent confusion.

"Intentions?"

"He meant sex."

To her credit Ella did not turn into an embarrassed puddle. She turned blazing eyes onto her cowering brother, mouth open in shocked fury.

"Leon!"

Her fingers clenched and unclenched like she wanted to launch at him.

"You're just lucky I'm not wearing slip-ons today, Buddy."

"I thought I was protecting you," Leon protested weakly in the face of his sister's wrath.

"Estupido!" Ella snapped. "Of course he has no intentions!"

"Do I not?" Lucifer asked with a hint of challenge.

"Do you?" she shot back in surprise, eyes wide.

"Would you like me to?" he grinned flirtatiously.

Ella shook her head to clear it. He didn't mean any of it, she reminded herself. It was just the way he was.

"It is certainly an interesting question," Lucifer continued, the flirty tone gone, now more serious. He was leaning back on the counter and studying Ella with an intensity that was beginning to make her skin flush self-consciously.

"It is?" she managed weakly. Her brother looked between them in bewilderment.

"Yes." The consultant pushed himself away from the edge and approached her with the slowness of anticipation. "I think it might warrant a but of investigation. Don't you?"

"You mean – sex?" she asked breathlessly, voice wavering.

"I mean intentions of the more honourable kind." He paused a bear before adding, "and also sex."

"Why?" she asked, stunned, almost pained by his interest. He surrounded himself with beautiful actresses and models and singers. Why would he want anything to do with her?

He was standing in front of her, so she was looking up into his face, he was deliberately not touching her, and there was an affection there that startled her.

"I don't think I need to list all the reasons, Miss Lopez." His voice was soft. Gentle. He cut his gaze away and added more dryly, "Particularly with your brother here."

She blinked as though coming out of a trance and remembered her idiot brother.

"Oh."

"Maybe," he purred, "we could go out for dinner and discuss my intentions further." He made it sound seductive.

"Uh…" she said in a bit of a daze and turned to her brother. "Go home Leon."

"Ella!" he exclaimed indignantly.

"Look…I'll call you or something…" she flapped her hand at him and started to look around absently, before re-fixing her gaze on Lucifer, giving him a smile so warm and hopeful that it cut him straight through. So much faith.

"I'll go fetch my bag."

As Ella vanished Lucifer gave the intruding brother a triumphant grin.

"Well, I think that went excellently. Let me show you out."

He stepped forward as Leon straightened further and dug his heels in.

"If you hurt her," he said dangerously, "you'll have all of us to answer to."

Lucifer looked down at him steadily. "I have no intention of hurting her," he replied with cool amusement, "but your warning has been noted."

He accompanied the brother in silence to the exit when he turned with a final grin.

"I suppose I should thank you really." There was a devilish gleam in his eye. "I tell you what. If we get married one day, I'll select you as best man, for services rendered."

He strode away before Leon could reply, enjoying immensely the look he'd produced on the angry young man's face, and knowing there was an infinitely more pleasant one waiting for him in the lab.