Lucifer emerged from the bathroom five minutes later, dressed in a clean but worn t-shirt and jeans, feeling slightly more human.
He hadn't expected Raven to still be there.
She was exactly where he'd left her, sitting on the bed, but the faint, unsettling aura had become markedly stronger.
She wasn't looking at him. Instead, she was staring intently at a small, framed photo on his nightstand: a faded picture of a much younger
Lucifer with his parents, taken just before they died in a suspicious car crash that Gotham PD had quickly dismissed as an accident.
She looked up as he approached, her eyes holding an unreadable depth.
"You're going to leave me here?"
She asked, the question laced with an undercurrent of skepticism, not malice.
Lucifer shrugged, grabbing his flip phone and pocketing the meager money he had left.
"I'm going to work. I have a $1,000,000 goal staring me in the face, and I just lost my car. I can't afford to be a good Samaritan much more than this."
He spoke plainly, his survival instinct dictating total honesty.
He didn't have the energy to lie.
Raven's shadowed eyes narrowed slightly, processing his blunt appraisal.
She was used to fear, caution, and reverence—never this weary, pragmatic dismissal.
"I understand. You have obligations,"
She said, her voice dropping to a near whisper.
"However, I am still… recovering. And I sense lingering disturbances around this building. If I stay, I can offer a measure of deterrence."
Lucifer stopped at the door.
He turned, his tired eyes meeting hers. The system was silent, but his gut screamed danger.
"Deterrence? Against what? Thugs? And what do you want in return?"
A fleeting, almost unnoticeable smile touched her lips, a gesture that looked entirely foreign on her somber face.
"I require nothing. I owe you a debt of service for saving me. I will offer protection, and I will be gone once I am fully restored. I require only privacy to remain here."
Lucifer weighed his options.
Option 1: Kick her out. High chance she'd be found by someone worse, drawing a super-powered conflict to his neighborhood anyway, or she'd collapse again and die on the street.
Option 2: Let her stay. He had a dormant, world-ending power source in his single-room apartment, which could either be a magnet for trouble or the ultimate deterrent.
[New Side-Quest Triggered: The Sanctuary]
[Objective: Protect Raven (Rachel Roth) from external threats for 48 hours until her powers stabilize.]
[Reward: $100,000.]
Lucifer cursed under his breath. The reward was too tempting. That one tenth of his goal.
And the mission gave him money as well! Wasn't that good?
"Fine,"
He ground out, opening the door.
"You can stay. But no demonic portals, no glowing, and absolutely no bringing down the entire building. If a guy in a cape shows up, you're on your own."
"Understood,"
Raven replied, giving a slight, grave nod.