It was hazy for a moment but Tony soon found himself trapped in between two rocky cliffs. His heart raced as he looked around not focusing on anything. He couldn't see beyond the foggy mist before him. He felt a grip around his ankle, iron shackle pitched to the ground. His heart raced a lot faster as he yanked the chain, trying to break himself free although his desperation yielded no results.
Suddenly, a figure appeared in front of him. It was dressed in a long tattered black robe with a hood over its head. The only thing revealing about what stood in front of him was a skull-like face.
Tony's heart stumbled over its own rhythm in panic as the figure in the robe approached him. It grabbed the chain dragging Tony to him.
"No, please stop! Somebody help!" Tony yelled, struggling as he got closer to the grim figure.
Then he woke up in a jolt.
As his heart pounded, he looked around and realized he was in his bedroom. He heaved a sigh of relief at the notion that it was just a dream. He swallowed dryly, unable to wet his parched throat as he placed a hand on his chest as his panting got slower.
Rays of sunlight crept into the room through the open curtains. Tony glanced at the alarm clock by the nightstand- 6:30 am.
All signs of sleep washed away from his face immediately. Not because of what the time said but because of what might have been if he hadn't woken when he did. He had placed Skullz's phone on the nightstand before he went to bed the night before, but now it was gone!
He sprang to his feet immediately and began searching everywhere, including places he knew he obviously couldn't have dropped it. Striding out of the room, he discerned the faintly open door at the end of the narrow passageway.
"Mum! Were you in my room last night?" He yelled
.
"No Tony. Feed Charlie before leaving, will you?" A voice replied from the room. Just then Charlie the cat strode elegantly past Tony, flaunting her tail in the air.
Tony didn't reply his mother. Rather groaning in frustration, he went back into the room and continued his search but after a couple more minutes with nothing to show for, decided to go meet Lucifer, his new boss.
After a quick shower and a quick breakfast of black coffee and toast, he got dressed in a blue checkered long sleeve shirt accompanied with brown plain trousers and a pair of black shoes and headed for Henry's house.
** ** **
Breakfast took a rather prevalent aura in Dr. Bates's house although it wasn't much of a surprise to Lucifer. He and Lila had gathered in the dining room to have scrambled eggs and orange juice but Lila chose to remain at the table, reading the morning paper and sipping coffee. Lucifer presumed it was a regular ritual and decided to join in too not to seem queer.
Nothing in the papers seemed to capture Lucifer's interest as he was more interested in getting to unearth all there was about the beauty seated across from him, her body not excluded, first he needed to get through to her. They had barely spoken more than three words to each other all morning and Lucifer believed the reason to be what happened between them the night before.
How could it be that the Lord of lust wasn't aroused in any way to the touches of such a pretty thing?
Lucifer snorted, flared up by the thought.
"What troubles you, dear?" Lila asked from across the table.
"Nothing, all is well," Lucifer answered. " Tony is running late, that's all."
Lila studied his expression for a brief moment. She knew something was off about her fiancé but she couldn't tell exactly what that was. Just as she was about to speak, the doorbell rang.
"Speak of the devil," Lucifer exclaimed as he got up to answer the door. Tony was looking smart in his new pair of glasses as he gave a blank stare to Lucifer who was wearing something similar from the day before.
"Good morning Mr. Dev- I mean Dr. Bates," he said forcing a smile.
"Good morning Ash, I told you a good night's rest was all you need," Lucifer cheered.
"Is that Tony?" Lila asked.
"Yes, dear."
"Tell him to come in then," Lila said as she dropped the newspaper and joined the men in the living room.
"Good morning Miss Lila."
Tony's greeting was received with a warm smile from Lila who hugged him.
"Good morning Tony, I am so glad you're okay."
"Me too," Tony replied just as she released him.
"So what are you doing here? I believe you should be resting," Lila pointed out.
"Uhm, Dr. Bates and I have a few things to handle at the office."
Lila turned to Lucifer with a concerned look, "You didn't tell me you were going to work today."
"Mhm, it must have skipped my mind," Lucifer replied.
"But what could be so important that you two have to go to work? I mean you two just survived an explosion. Can't someone else fill in?" Lila protested.
"I'm afraid I need to be present for this, Lila."
Lila let out a deep sigh.
"Fine, I was hoping we would spend the rest of the day together but I guess it's fine," She said in surrender.
"Thanks, Lila," Lucifer said and planted a kiss on her cheek. "Let's go." He said to Tony.
"Don't forget lunch by one," Lila yelled as the two men were about to walk past the door.
"Sure babe," Lucifer answered.
They took one of Henry's cars, a black Aston Martin, out of the garage but since Lucifer didn't know how to drive, it was Tony who took the wheel.
"You seemed in a real hurry to leave the house. Posing to be Dr. Bates to Miss Lila isn't as easy as you thought, is it?"
Lucifer chose to ignore his question.
"Tell me, Ash, did Henry have any sexual issues you knew about?"
"Eww," Tony blurted, "How am I supposed to know that? That's personal. Did something happen last night?"
"On the contrary, nothing happened," Lucifer fumed.
"Oh," Tony said at the realization of what Lucifer meant. "Well, things like this happen. You wanted to know what it was like to be a human right? That feeling is called disappointment. When things don't unfold as there are supposed to?
"I don't suppose you know how one can get rid of such feeling?" Lucifer asked, not expecting a reply.
"We just get over it I guess," Tony said after a thoughtful moment.
Lucifer shook his head at Tony's reasoning before staring out the window. It wasn't until they had pulled up in front of Omega Labs did Tony beckon just the right amount to tell Lucifer about Skullz's phone.
"Boss, I kinda misplaced Skullz's phone," He said as they both stepped out of the vehicle.
"What do you mean by 'kinda misplaced'?" Lucifer frowned.
"I don't understand either. I lefts it by my nightstand last night but couldn't find it this morning even after turning my room upside down in search… I'm sorry sir," Tony concluded with a long face.
Lucifer didn't reply a word to this rather profound turn of events. Letting the justice system handle his affairs was never an idea he was keen on.
As they entered the building, a lot of uneasy eyes became fixed on them. Lucifer shrugged it off but Tony was already starting to fret as they walked through the lobby.
"What do we do? The only shred of evidence we had that tied Dr. Cortez to the explosion is now missing. How do we go about clearing your-I mean Dr. Bates name now?"
"Was he ever in trouble before?" Lucifer asked as they approached the elevator. This time, Carl opened it without any word from Tony.
"Thanks, Carl," Tony said to Carl as he and Lucifer entered the elevator. A couple of scientists walked into the elevator after them.
"Not really," He said at first but chose to whisper his next words. "it's just the way these people stare at us. I think they blame you for what happened."
"You mean Henry," Lucifer winked.
The elevator made a ding and just as it was about to slide shut, a leg intercepted it.
"Pardon me," Dr. Cortez said with a smile as he got in the elevator. He stood in the middle of Lucifer and Tony as he checked the time on his gold wristwatch, pretending not to have noticed them earlier on.
"Good morning Dr. Bates, a pleasant morning it is, don't you think?" He said, beaming a fake smile at Lucifer.
Lucifer wondered the audacity Dr. Cortez had to even show up after last night. Could it be that he wasn't scared at all? A mix of rage and irritation overwhelmed Lucifer as his fists clenched. Luckily he had Tony who managed to keep him in check.
"Please, don't do this. Not here," Tony pleaded. "Remember who you are now."
"Yes, I am now a mere human, weak and foolish."
But then there was Lila, he didn't want to ruin anything right now. Lucifer heeded to his plea as all he did was glare down at Dr. Cortez till the elevator climbed to the top floor. What was like minutes in the elevator seemed like a lifetime to Lucifer as he still wondered what kind of man was before him, or if he was a man at all? Soon, the elevator slid open and all hurried out of the elevator, all except Lucifer and Tony.
"See you around Henry," Dr. Cortez uttered happily as he vacated the elevator.
Lucifer in response to his rage sent a punch to the elevator wall, resulting in a dent on the wall.