Title: Shake
Fandom: Lucifer
Rating: G
Length: 323 words
Content notes: None
Author's notes: For my New Year's Countdown prompt, "Family Stress". Part of my "Say a Little Prayer" Verse
Summary: Ella watched sadly from her office as Chloe worked on a report.


Ella watched sadly from her office as Chloe worked on a report. Normally, Lucifer would be sitting beside her, trying to distract her, until she finally yelled at him and he went off in search of Ella or Dan. Or the breakroom fridge.

But today, Lucifer was nowhere to be seen, and he hadn’t been around the precinct for a week.

She knew why, of course: Chloe had found out the truth about Lucifer on the last case. And, needless to say, she had not taken it well. To a certain extent, Ella could understand that. Her own faith had been shaken when she learned exactly who – or rather, what -- Lucifer was.

But there was a difference between needing a few days to come to grips with the news, and utterly cutting everyone else out of her life. Trixie had even been forbidden from talking to Maze, which had upset both of them as well. Linda had tried to play mediator, as had Ella, but Chloe had called them traitors and wanted nothing to do with them.

All around, it sucked. Lucifer had been more and more withdrawn around the rest of them, and Ella just knew that he was withdrawing from them to protect himself. He’d clearly taken Chloe’s attitude as gospel, and decided it was a given that Linda, Ella, and Trixie would feel the same.

Ella wanted to shake him silly and then hug him silly, and if he would just let her into the penthouse again, she’d do both! In the meantime, though, she might as well try to corner Chloe after work today.

She wouldn’t be allowed to shake the detective, but there was the slightest chance she could talk some sense into her, right? If not for Trixie and Maze’s sake, or for Lucifer’s sake, then at least for Ella’s sake! She couldn’t keep living with all this tension; it was totally stressing her out!