Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“You lied to me!”

“Charlie, I—”

“You kept this from me. I trusted you, Vaggie!”

“Please, just let me –!”

Charlie frowned. It had been on her mind all day, everything she had said to Vaggie as soon as they got back from Heaven. Learning that her girlfriend of three years was part of the very thing they had been working so hard to end, and that she didn’t tell her, was…it felt like a betrayal. It was difficult to describe the way her stomach twisted in discomfort, how her heart ached and her throat closed up. She’d wanted to cry, and that definitely happened when she managed to get Vaggie to leave her be. Curled up in bed beneath the covers, being catered to by Razzle and Dazzle.

“How could you lie? Do you even love me? Was this all a trick?”

“No! Charlie, never! My feelings are very real! Please!”

Vaggie’s voice cracked. She was crying, Charlie knew that. Her heart ached and all she wanted to do was reach out to her, but something held her back – hesitation, uncertainty, pain, she couldn’t put her finger on it, but she didn’t reach out.

Why didn’t she reach out?

“Vaggie…were you ever going to tell me? Or were you just…happy to keep lying? To keep this from me?”

“I would have told you, eventually! I just…I never knew how…!”

“You couldn’t have just…said it? You know me, Vaggie! You know I believe in…that I care about you, and I think everyone can do better, but this is…”

Charlie groaned and fell backwards onto her bed, digging the heels of her palms into her eyes and trying to dispel the images of Vaggie’s face. Tears poured from her only eye, the bow she wore – the very one that Charlie had given her – slumped as if they were the ears of a scolded kitten. Her voice was weak, weaker than Charlie had ever heard it, and she kept trying to reach out to her. Trying to find her hand. Charlie didn’t let her.

Why didn’t she let her?!

She bit her lip and let her hands fall to her sides. All of that guilt was starting to build up when she checked the clock and noted how late it was starting to get. She’d gone to Cannibal Town with Alastor, meeting the overlord there in Rosie and beseeching her for her aid in defending her hotel. It had taken a while, but she’d finally been successful in convincing the group of cannibals to join her – after Alastor promised them angel flesh, at least – and securing their army.

”Charlie…!” Vaggie’s voice broke again. She lingered by the door; Charlie saw her in the reflection of the window she stood at. Her back was to her. She couldn’t face her…

“I think I need to be alone for a while.” Charlie held her hand up. “I need to…fuck, Vaggie, this is…” She just shook her head before turning to face her. “I need some time. Please?”

That look on Vaggie’s face ate at Charlie. Other than asking her to go see Carmilla Carmine to secure weapons for their army, that was the last time she’d really seen Vaggie’s expression. Her partner was so closed off, so unwilling to display emotion when she was hurt, so seeing the pain and desperation on her face, the pleading eye, the anguish…it only fueled the pain in Charlie’s heart. Especially now, especially after spending time with Rosie and having someone else talk her through the complicated problem that didn’t turn out to be complicated in the slightest. Rosie helped her realize that Vaggie had always been there for her, that even though she was hurt about the lying, Vaggie had her reasons. Of course she had her reasons, and Charlie should have respected that.

Charlie absently fished out the souvenir she had picked up from her venture, dangling the shrunken head above her. Perhaps…she was just taking her time. She trusted that Vaggie didn’t go running off somewhere because of the talk they had; Vaggie agreed to secure aid. She’d never do anything to jeopardize the hotel or her. The resolution Charlie had in her girlfriend was as strong as ever now, and any kind of doubt that tried to push its way into her mind was quickly dispelled as if the very idea of Vaggie betraying her was insulting. Because it was, she knew now that even though she had every right to her own feelings, the way she handled it was not the best. She knew now that…surely, Vaggie wasn’t lying about anything else. Just as Rosie said…

Enough wallowing. Charlie pushed herself up, stowing the souvenir and getting to her feet. The night was beginning to reach its cooler, darker claws across Pentagram city, and with Vaggie still not being home, Charlie’s concern was at an all-time high.

”If you did, would you have told me?”

“Charlie…!

The hotel lobby was a mess. While she was gone, Angel, Husk, and Pentious had set about fortifying the building, blocking windows with wooden planks, and otherwise preparing the place for a full-scale war. Charlie had been so touched by them and their willingness to stay, even in the face of a battle they hadn’t signed up for. They were so much more than patrons and employees; these were her friends, and she felt a strong sense of protectiveness fill her when she saw them. And that extended to the cannibals, too; they had plenty of rooms for all of them to get familiar with the hotel and the outside area around it. Though she didn’t know them as well, it was still nice to have so many people there.

They had a month to prepare…

Alastor lounged with Niffty laying in his lap, looking more akin to a cat than anything in that moment. Pentious and Angel were sat at the bar, talking to Husk. The cannibals were mostly background noise, not seemingly interested in speaking to any of the normal residents of the hotel. It wasn’t something she was going to push.

“Hey, Angel?” Charlie sat in the stool beside the spider demon, trying to keep her voice steady. “What…happened after I left? With Vaggie?”

“Huh?” Angel blinked. “Oh. Well, she told us this wasn’t what we signed up for and said she was headin’ off to see about gettin’ us a fightin' chance? That was pretty much it.”

“She did make a grand ssstatement about not expecting usss to ssstick around,” Pentious offered, peeking around Angel. “Of courssse we weren’t going anywhere!”

“Aha…I mean, she’s just worried about all of you, you know.” Charlie shifted, sinking more in her seat. She couldn’t tear her gaze from the bar top. “This is a war I started.”

“Yeah, well, just like we toldja’ when you got back – we ain’t goin’ anywhere, toots.” Angel elbowed her gently before his expression shifted. “You and Vaggie, uh…still fightin’?”

“Yes? Or…well, I don’t want to be?” Charlie groaned and dropped her head into the counter. “I should have trusted her, and I shouldn’t have hurt her so much. I wish I could take all that back.” She closed her eyes, unable to stop the image of Vaggie’s face once again filling her mind. Sure, she had every right to feel hurt, but she had no right to push Vaggie away. They should have talked… “I want to apologize to her, so I’m waiting for her to come back. But it’s…getting late.”

“I was noticin’ that.” Angel glanced outside. “She ain’t usually one to stay out, right?”

“No.” Charlie bit her lip. She leaned back and looked to Husk. “Can you make…something a little light?”

The feline demon grunted and provided her with something that made her shiver but it set a nice buzz. Vaggie was fine, she was just running late. Carmilla was difficult to work with, surely. She turned to watch the cannibals, all of whom seemed simply eager for the fight ahead. The excitement made her uneasy – sure, they loved bloodshed, but it was still a war. A month of preparation felt like not nearly enough time…

“Hey, Pentious…what is Ms. Carmine like?” Charlie asked absently, trying to pull her thoughts away from the threat of the upcoming battle. That could be tomorrow’s problem; tonight, she was deathly worried about Vaggie.

“She isss quite the intimidating woman,” Pentious offered. “I have been ordering from her for decadesss now. Ssso long asss you pay her on time and do not break her trussst, she’sss very easssy to get along with.” He tilted his head to the side. “Why?”

“She knows how to kill angels, so I sent Vaggie to find out how.” Charlie nodded. She frowned as she dropped her gaze to her drink. “…I’m just…worried something happened.”

“You could alwaysss contact her? I have her number. Well, I have Odette’sss number asss she is the one I order from mossst.”

“Please.” Charlie nodded.

When Pentious passed over his little book of written contacts and opened it to the page with Carmine’s contact information, Charlie stepped outside to get away from all the noise and started the call. She couldn’t stop the uneasiness that was starting to really grow in the pit of her stomach, to the point it was making her feel a little sick. She needed Vaggie to be there, or for them to have some information…

Odette’s voice greeted her with her standard customer service opening. When Charlie told her why she was calling, however, she sounded a bit confused. Which…already wasn’t a great sign.

“Vaggie never came by. I have no record of her signing in today.”

“C-can you…maybe check with your mom? Can I talk to her?” Charlie really tried to keep the desperation from her voice. Vaggie never showed up to the Carmine facility…

”Are you with us?”

Charlie couldn’t stop pacing as she waited for Odette to pass the call off to her mother. If Vaggie never made it to Carmilla, where had she gone? Had she been attacked on the streets of Hell? Sure, she went out alone often enough; it wasn’t like she thought Vaggie was incapable of protecting herself. But…she hadn’t been sent off in a good headspace, and Charlie had made a mess at Valentino’s studio after that stunt with Angel. She felt so sick.

“Speak.” She almost missed Carmilla’s voice on the other end, and she fumbled to grip her phone closer.

“Hi! Ms. Carmine, um…I spoke with Odette and she told me that Vaggie never showed up. Did you…have you seen her?”

“Why would I have seen her at any point?”

“W-we, um…we know about the angel.” There was a long pause on the other end, and Charlie shifted her weight. “We know it was you. And…I sent Vaggie to find out how. I would still like that information, b-but I want to find her first.”

The silence on the other end only made Charlie squirm even more. She hadn’t interacted with Carmilla before, and she knew next to nothing about her. But…she’d spoken to Rosie earlier, and she was the Princess of Hell – she didn’t have a reason to be afraid!

“Odette is correct – Vaggie never arrived at my facility. As for your interest in your other topic, I do not know what you are talking about-”

“We know for a fact that you killed an angel,” Charlie butt in. She didn’t like to interrupt people, but she wasn’t ready to be just brushed off because of whatever reason Carmilla was going to come up with. “Alastor told us; you know how they can be harmed. I don’t care about that right now, though – I need to find Vaggie.”

Charlie clutched her phone. She couldn’t stop the tremble to her breathing and she had to pull the phone away for a moment so she could rub at her eyes. She hadn’t…ruined their relationship forever, right? No, of course not, she just hurt Vaggie when she probably needed her the most. Why hadn’t she let her reach out to her…?

It took a while for Charlie to realize that Carmilla was speaking to her. She reached up to rub at her eyes again and brought the phone back up to her ear.

“I’m so sorry, what did you say?”

“I was asking if you have any idea where she may be? What has you so concerned for her safety?”

“We…had a fight.” Charlie frowned. She didn’t know how much she should tell another overlord, but she had told Rosie… “I found out she was an exorcist angel, and we…I didn’t handle it very well.”

“…ah.” Carmilla exhaled on the other end. “Given your reaction to such information, I imagine you are contending with many a doubt about her intentions.”

“Wait…why does it sound like you knew?”

“Girl, my business runs on information. When a woman is walking around Hell with an X over her eye while wielding an angelic spear, I will notice.”

“Her…spear is angelic?” Charlie blinked. Sure, it had looked special, but Vaggie never mentioned that. Of course, why would she? And she knew Carmilla wasn’t lying; when the greatest and most powerful arms dealer in Hell talks about a weapon, she was the one to trust. “Oh.”

“In any case, I can reach out to my contacts to see if anyone has seen your partner. This favor will cost you, however.”

“Whatever the price, I’ll pay it.” Charlie gripped her phone. “I just…please, Ms. Carmine. I don’t want to lose her.” There was another length of silence on the other line, and Charlie strained her hearing to see if she could catch anything. She was sure there was a softer sigh, and then the quiet sound of typing.

The tension in her body was reaching a point where she might snap if anything touched her. Vaggie never made it to the Carmine factory, and her and Odette’s words continued to batter her panicking brain. Vaggie was strong, no one but apparently Carmilla knew she was an angel, and no one else but Carmilla and Alastor knew how to kill an angel. Alastor never liked Vaggie, but he also had never shown interest in killing her…right?

“This will take time, but I will reach out to you when I receive reports back,” Carmilla’s voice once again broke Charlie from her thoughts. “Until then…your partner’s weapon is the answer to how I killed the angel.”

“Her…wait, angelic steel?” Charlie blinked. “How has no one figured that out yet…?”

“Angelic steel isn’t common. But my daughters and I were cornered during the last extermination when we attempted to round up the weapons those angels left behind. I tried to buy them time to flee and…well, you don’t become an angelic arms dealer without arming yourself first. It was luck that I had the only thing that could kill them on hand at the time.” Carmilla exhaled. “If you commission weaponry, I will provide you and yours what you need to defend against the attack.”

“Any price-”

“The only payment I will require of you is the return of the weapons after the fighting is done,” Carmilla stepped in before she could finish. “…I would rather you spend your attention on your partner.” Her voice had shifted considerably compared to the start of the conversation – there was what sounded like genuine concern for Charlie’s plight.

“Really?” Charlie blinked. She stared off towards Pentagram City, now clutching her phone in both hands. Rosie’s voice had softened when she gave Charlie advice, and now Carmilla’s had as well. A pang of longing joined the panic regarding Charlie – a pit dug into her seven years ago when her mother… “Thank you, Ms. Carmine.”

“I will call you when I have more information.” The line went dead and Charlie stood there, doing her best to calm her panic. Her fingers tapped away automatically before she could stop herself, and a message was sent to Vaggie’s phone. A gust of wind made her realize that her face was damp, and sure enough she had tears streaming down from her eyes. It was a miracle that her voice hadn’t broken during the phone call. She took a few deep, steadying breaths and cleaned up her face before turning to head back inside. Vaggie was fine. If she kept repeating it in her head, it would be true. She was okay…

Once she got back inside, she found that a majority of the cannibals had gone to sleep, leaving only her people sans Pentious; the serpent tended to have a stricter bedtime than others. Rather than sit at the bar, they were around the fireplace, mostly sitting in companionable silence. Angel was frowning at his phone as he usually did while Husk had his eyes closed as he drained another bottle. But it was Alastor who greeted her when she stepped back inside, and she really was worried that he maybe…

“Charlie, my dear, have you heard anything?” That smile did little to comfort her.

“Alastor, did…did you do something to Vaggie?” Charlie’s voice stuttered a little. Both Angel and Husk stiffened, eyes snapping over to the radio demon. For his part, Alastor just remained as normal as ever – normal for him, at any rate.

“Why, what could possibly have given you that idea?” he hummed lightly. “Surely not this morning when you sent her on a mission to approach Hell’s most powerful arms dealer to request free weaponry for the coming battle.” He shrugged and turned back to the fire.

“Alastor.” Charlie felt a bit of an echo in her voice. The way her hair moved made her realize that she was starting to lose the grasp she had on her emotions – her attempts to stamp them down proving to be futile. She wasn’t interested in playing games, especially not Alastor’s usual game of trying to entice reactions from her. “Did you hurt Vaggie?”

For his part, Alastor just released a lengthy sigh that made Charlie see red, but she managed to hold her place as he nudged Niffty off of his lap to stand. He turned to face her, leaning forward on his cane and meeting her gaze fully. Despite that constant smile, there was something more behind his eyes when they caught hers. Charlie wasn’t sure what to read into them, but it did still some of her rising fury.

“No. I did nothing to Vaggie.” Alastor’s brows furrowed some. “And I highly doubt Carmilla did anything to her, either. Wherever she is, it is not because of me. Of that, I can assure you, my dear.”

Charlie’s anger dissipated, to be replaced by that all-consuming panic that was making the corners of her eyes prick with tears. She didn’t realize there were arms around her until Angel hugged her against his side, leading her over to the couch. It was comfortable, something she took advantage of as her control finally snapped. She broke into a silent cry, her tears rolling down her cheeks as she stared at her phone, the device in a death grip that threatened to break it. On any given day, she wouldn’t be this wound up because Vaggie wasn’t home. But between the fight and the knowledge of what she was, plus knowing that there were plenty of angelic weapons on the streets of Hell, there was a knife in her chest that carved out a gigantic hole inside of her that worsened the nausea that started earlier.

Vaggie hadn’t read her messages yet…

Her companions…her friends all did their best to comfort her in their own way. Angel kept two of his arms wrapped around her, holding her against his side, while Husk went and whipped up something that didn’t have alcohol in it when she took a sip. It was warm, a warmth that flowed through her body and dispelled at least some of the cold panic. Niffty had joined the couch on Charlie’s other side, genuine concern in her large eye. Even Alastor, for all his shitty behavior, was expressing a softer smile. It helped a lot, knowing she had people with her. She hoped they could be there for Vaggie if she needed it…

Charlie didn’t realize that she had started to doze off until she was being carried by someone. Two sets of arms held her close to a fluffy chest while another hand rubbed her back. When she looked up, she saw Angels’ gentle smile.

“Try and get some rest, huh, Princess?” he offered once he got her to bed. “I’m sure…Vaggie will turn up tomorrow. Probably just got caught up in somethin'. You know she’s good at takin' care of herself.” He sat on the edge of the bed, still stroking her hair.

“Yeah…” Charlie gave him a weak smile. She reached and squeezed his hand before letting out a wide yawn. “Y-yeah, she’s…Vaggie is fine…”

Are you with us?

Earlier today, she would have had that seed of doubt planted in her chest that would have grown into a prickly, thorny weed at this news. A betrayed pain that she believed Vaggie had abandoned them. But after Rosie, after the last few hours of panic desperation to find any sign of where her partner may have gone, that seed was long since wilted. Seeing Vaggie’s face, her desperation, knowing her loyalty to Charlie and her vision…she knew that if something happened, it hadn’t been something Vaggie did on her own.

But where could she possibly have gone…?

Chapter Text

“Did you see the look on her fucking face?!”

Adam had no problem repeating the joke when it was just the two of them in his penthouse. He was currently laying on his couch, a burger unwrapped and resting on his chest while he gestured with the cup of soda in his hand. He didn’t need his mask, not when he was in comfortable company. Speaking off, he felt her move on top of his stomach, lazily flopping over so she could grin down at him, reaching to dig out a fry from the container tucked between his arm and the back of the couch.

“Mhm. What I wouldn’t give to see that fallout,” Lute cackled. Adam took a swipe at her for stealing his food, but she easily pulled her hand back and popped the fry into her mouth. “Think that’s enough to break them up?”

“I can only imagine.” Adam clasped his cup between his hands, batting his eyes and pouting. “'Vagina, how could you betray me? Why didn’t you trust me? Why didn’t I notice that your blush is golden?'”

“'Oh Charlie, I’m not a very good liar. I’m sorry you were too dense to notice the obvious signs.'” Lute sat up, draping the back of her hand over her forehead dramatically. “'You were blinded by my incredibly mediocre breasts.'”

“'I truly must be color blind. After all, I didn’t see that your nipples glow gold. Either that, or I’ve never made you cum.'”

“'Oh no, of course not, I’m too much of a prude to fuck without clothes.'” Lute just smirked down at him, playfully cupping her own breasts. “'It’s all my fault, I ruined it all. Please, forgive me!'”

Adam threw his head back and howled with laughter. He moved his burger aside and dragged Lute down for an eager kiss, one that she happily leaned into. He brushed her hair back behind one of her ears, and he felt her fingers lightly scrape his scalp. It made him exhale into her open mouth, inviting her tongue in. When she abruptly pulled back, he was momentarily confused. But then he realized his container of fries was now in her hand.

“Hey, what the fuck?!”

“I wanted them.” Lute smiled, poking his nose with one. He tried to swipe for it, but she pulled it back. “Come on, ask nicely.”

“You’re a bitch,” Adam huffed, but he rolled his eyes and opened his mouth. “Can I have one, please?”

Lute just laid back down on his stomach, setting the fry on his tongue. He didn’t quite mind being fed like this, and he rewarded her with a lazy squeeze to her ass, absolutely eating up the little sound that escaped her. She shivered and grabbed another fry to feed him with.

Moments like this were nice. The court case had gone very much in their favor, though his accidental slip up about the extermination had definitely pissed Sera off. He didn’t like upsetting her; she did a lot for him, and he really did owe her for a lot of the good he had in his life. But that clown bitch and her stupid dreams, her dumb ideas, all of that…every time he saw her, she just managed to do something that made his blood boil and his teeth grind in frustration, so she fucking deserved the smack down.

Sera’s face once more popped up into his head, and his anger dissipated some. It wasn’t the angry frown of the court; it was the disappointed sigh that he’d heard many times during their one-on-one meetings. He could hear it now, repeating in his head, condemning his mouth for running during the hearing. His brows furrowed, and there was the twist of guilt in his stomach that made him ache.

“Sir?”

He jolted, eyes snapping up to the face that was inches from his. His thoughts must have been showing on his face because Lute was studying him with intense focus. The bitch was good at reading every minute little change in his expression. He rolled his eyes and pushed her face up.

“Fuck off, I’m thinking.”

“Ooh, hopefully that’s not too painful.” Lute gave him a cheeky grin before she folded one of her arms under her chin. Her other hand poked his cheek. “What’s on your mind?”

“…ugh, it’s just… Sera wants to see me tomorrow?” Adam groaned and draped one of his arms over the back of the couch. He sipped irritably at his drink, brows knitting down. “I don’t know, I guess I’m worried that we might have gone a little too far this time.”

“So what? What could she actually do?” Lute shook her head. “She’ll give you another slap on the wrist, scold you a little bit for not behaving angelically, and then send you on your way. Right?”

“That’s the best outcome,” Adam offered. He groaned again and gestured with his drink. “I don’t know, that look she gave me after I sent the bitches back down to Hell wasn’t her usual look – it was that disappointed look I always tell you about, but she also looked troubled and annoyed. Like all these emotions welled up into one big ‘fuck you, Adam’.” He sucked at the straw, making a face when he realized his cup was empty. It bounced off of the far wall after he threw it, and he watched it hit the ground right next to the trash bin. “Maybe I’m overthinking things.”

“Maybe.” Lute reached to pop another fry in her mouth, chewing it thoughtfully for a few moments. “What would the worst outcome be?”

“Hm.” Adam thought on that. His now free hand stroked Lute’s ass up to and along her back, right between her wings, and he could feel each shiver that ran down the length of her spine. “Probably a fuck ton of community service? You know, showing up at the Gates when new Winners arrive and being put on a pedestal for Peter to show off or some shit.”

“Ew.” Lute made a face at that. “Honestly, that’s a pretty scary outcome.”

“Right?” Adam chuckled before sobering. “Ugh, I don’t know, in the past she’s mentioned demotion. But I doubt that’s really in the books because who else is going to lead you girls?”

“I’d do a good job.”

“You know why she wouldn’t allow that.” Adam shook his head, and Lute scowled.

Truly, while Sera had approved the Exorcist Program, she wasn’t fond of the creations from it. That showed in how she generally wanted them to stay relegated to the barracks just outside of Heaven’s main city. There was something to be said about having artificial souls be the ones actually in charge of Heaven’s army. Lute had proven herself as competent and loyal, so the fact Sera couldn’t see that was still frustrating. But that was exactly why Adam was in the role that he was, and had chosen Lute for his right-hand woman – he trusted her implicitly.

Adam let out a sigh and grabbed for the burger on his chest, reaching for the remote and scrolling through the various channels to try and find at least something palatable to watch. The programs all seemed so tame when most of his entertainment came from the annual exterminations. And it wasn’t like Heaven had movies that showed any degree of blood, or even anything problematic. The best he got was some weird program about three cherubs attempting to sway a human to the side of Heaven while stopping a group of imps from doing the same but towards Hell. It somehow managed to be boring even with the inclusion of demons, because the cherubs of course won with all the rainbows and glitter that reminded him more of the damn clown princess than anything Heaven related.

“Ugh, come on. There has to be something better on.” Lute snatched the remote from his hand, resting her cheek on his chest. Adam’s hand that had the remote shifted to cup her cheek, and he forced her to peek up at him.

“You know that no matter what Sera says, I think you’re more than qualified to lead the exorcists,” he told her. She blinked a few times in surprise before rolling her eyes, lightly smacking his chest.

“Of course I know that. She wouldn’t get nearly enough paperwork on her desk if it wasn’t for me. Not that she’s ever actually shown appreciation for all the work I put into everything that I do.” Lute sighed lightly and pouted.

“I keep trying.” Adam furrowed his brows. “I don’t get how she still doesn’t see how alive you and the girls are, even after all this time.”

“Let’s just…ugh, not talk about it. We’re trying to enjoy the night after setting the princess and her pet angel straight; let’s not ruin it with talk about your mom.”

“She’s not my mom!”

Lute lifted a brow at him but refocused on channel surfing while Adam huffed lightly and relaxed to resume stroking along her spine. A wave of protectiveness washed over him, causing him to wrap a wing around her. Lute might not like being seen as soft or weak elsewhere, but in that moment, she pressed more against him and her own wings draped over his body in return.

As it got later, Lute started to drift a little on top of him. He didn’t say anything, instead watching the way she fought against exhaustion – her head kept dipping down only for her to jerk herself up, shaking it. He absolutely loved these moments; she truly was comfortable enough to pass out in his presence. Little things like that just made him smile and preen happily. Once her cheek hit his chest for good, he reached to pluck the remote from her hand. The soft sound of her snoring just made his own chest rumble with an adoring sound.

Trying not to wake her was a struggle, but he managed to get her into his bed and tucked under his covers before he crawled in to curl around her. Feeling her smaller form against his torso as his body nearly wrapped entirely around her was always a comfortable, relaxing position that seemed to dispel all of the worries he had in his mind. And with the upcoming extermination stress, alongside his concern for the meeting with Sera, he needed all the relaxation he could get. Lute’s soft snoring was enough to lull him to sleep as well.

A sleep that was far too short, because Lute also had a bad habit of getting up at the ass crack of dawn because she was ever the routine follower. Adam groaned when he felt her move, shaken from his incredibly light sleep that he tried desperately to fight back by grabbing a pillow and shoving it over his face.

“Sorry, sir.” Lute sounded amused. He felt her lean over his body to press a kiss to the back of his neck, the only thing visible beneath the pillow and covers he was under. “I need to shower and get ready for my day.”

“Why can’t you sleep in? Heaven is supposed to be nice and relaxing, not always going at every minute of the day.” Adam complained, but he did pull the pillow away to peek up at her.

“With the extermination so soon, I need to ensure the girls are in top shape.” Lute shook her head before straightening, putting a hand on her hip. “It’s no different than our annual ones. You just ‘conveniently’ seem to forget how to prepare for those.”

“Mmm, I just trust you to handle everything.” Adam snuggled back into bed but smiled up at her. “Fine, fine. Give me a bit and I’ll head out with you. May as well check over a few things before my meeting with Sera.” He didn’t want to admit just how anxious he actually was, leading to the sleepless night and now the desire to linger at the barracks for a little while rather than try to fight his overactive mind.

Adam joined her in the shower when she stepped in. Despite having her naked body against his, he focused on leaning over her and carefully running the shampoo through first her hair, then moving through the feathers of her wings. She hummed in appreciation, and he just chirped softly down at her. When he finished, he lathered up her body before giving her the space to do the same to him. He relaxed against the feel of her small hands brushing over his skin, making him purr even louder. She knew every spot to touch that made him sigh, and there were a few moments where she paused to plant kisses on his belly or his wrist or his hip, but otherwise they focused entirely on getting clean.

One of his towels was almost a full blanket for her, so he playfully wrapped her up in it while grabbing one of his own that just fit around his waist. She didn’t mind being more or less carried like a roll of carpet back into the bedroom where they were able to dress up for the day. He had a small section of his closet with a few of her identical uniforms just so she always had something clean to change into. Or, rather, she had clean options to be forcibly changed into when he had to wrestle her bloodthirsty ass out of her blood-stained uniform post extermination.

On the way out, Adam dug into the fridge and tossed Lute a breakfast sandwich before grabbing a few of his own, and they took to the sky while munching on them.

Heaven at sunrise was something special; the city itself was cast in beautiful shades of soft pinks and oranges, shining off of the windows and further illuminating the gilded structures of the buildings. With practically no one up and moving, the only sound that filled the air was birdsong that carried through the streets almost like a parade heralding the rising sun. Though Heaven itself was already peaceful, it was these moments that Adam treasured despite often missing them – he preferred sleeping in, so the morning symphony was attributable to Lute as she was the only one worth being awake to experience this with.

By the time the exorcist barracks was in sight, the two had their helmets in place. Lute was always up earliest, though some others were visibly wandering around. Melody and Viola were just outside, both turning to greet them. Adam landed first and Lute behind him, falling into proper step as lieutenant to her commander.

“Morning, ladies,” he chirped happily.

“Good morning, commander.” The two said in unison, following up behind Lute as they stepped inside. It was a little unlike them, but Adam pushed it out of his head for the most part. They were likely not pleased being up so early, either.

Throughout the morning, Adam spent time in his office, looking over papers in preparation for the extermination. Most of it was boring as shit, but it had to be done, and Lute was busy working with the girls to ensure they were prepared for the sooner flight down to Hell. Though he often spent time lounging, he still got his work done. He just needed more time to do so. And maybe he was procrastinating a little bit because he really did not want to go see Sera. The longer he thought about it, especially after such a restless sleep, the more he was worried that this meeting was going to be more than his usual reprimands. After all, this was a pretty big secret that he had shared, and to all of the council in that courtroom to boot.

“Hey, sir.” Lute’s voice startled him from his worry spiral, his gaze snapping up to her in the doorway.

“What is it?”

“It sounds like the new shipment of weapons is ready for pickup at the factory.” Lute walked over to stand by his desk.

“Oh, good.” Adam leaned back in his chair, letting out a breath. It seemed to catch her attention because she moved in closer.

“…still worried about later today?”

“No! What? Why the fuck would I be worried? We already talked about this!” He knew the look she wore under her mask and he groaned. “Look, maybe I was a little…dismissive of it last night.”

“No shit.”

“Fuck you. Maybe not demotion, but…fuck, you know? I did cause problems for Sera, more than I have in the past. And now Emily is involved.” Adam dropped his head onto his desk and let out a miserable groan. “I just…worry I finally hit the Lucifer levels of fuck around and find out.”

He closed his eyes and listened as Lute walked around to his side of the desk. Her hand settled on his shoulder and he cracked an eye open to look up at her, brows furrowing. The damn mask was a lot harder to read than her real face, but she still somehow managed to be placating.

“Whatever happens, you know I’ve got your back, sir,” she offered. “Not to sound all sappy, but you’re stuck with me for the rest of forever. So, if the bitch decides to cause problems, I’ll flip her off with you.”

Adam snorted at that but he pulled her down. Despite their screens, kissing wasn’t impossible, his tongue more than capable of parting the stitching across her mouth. And he took full advantage of that in that moment, something Lute returned just as eagerly before she resumed her proper pose, her hands behind her back.

“You’re the best bitch a guy could ask for,” he teased her lightly. “But…yeah, alright. Fuck it. Sera can’t cause too many problems with whatever bullshit she’s going to whine to me about.” It felt better, and having Lute’s support – though it was never a question – always helped him feel more confident in his thought process. She really did wonders to patch over his insecurities, ensuring he was sound in his decisions.

“Always your bitch.” Lute stepped around the desk and made her way to the door. “Anyway, I’m going to get those weapons. After your little meeting with Sera, I’ll be out on the training field with the girls. Come grab me and we’ll go out for lunch.”

“You got it, danger tits.” Adam leaned back in his chair, grinning as he watched her leave. There, something to look forward to now.

As time grew short, Adam put away the work he had and made his way out of his office. Along the way, he once more passed by Melody and Viola. Though they were wearing their masks, there was a strange sense of them watching him that had some of his feathers fluffing up. Of course, the girls tended to watch him all the time, there was just something… But it was probably some chick thing, and he brushed it off as he took to the skies once more. He really didn’t want to hear what Sera had to say, but it was better to get this damn thing over with so he could put it to rest.

They had an extermination to prepare for, after all.

Chapter Text

Charlie was beside herself with worry. Only a day had gone by since Vaggie failed to show up back home, seemingly vanishing into thin air, and Charlie could do nothing but blame herself for it. Her thoughts continued to go back to their fight when they got back from Heaven, the words she said, the accusations she made, the pain of betrayal dug deeper by the realization that she didn’t give Vaggie the chance she should have to explain herself or her side of things. She was upset at Vaggie for not trusting her, but she herself didn’t trust Vaggie in turn. Any right she had to feel the way she did was adding guilt to the unchecked fire tearing through her chest. She turned her back when Vaggie tried to reach out to her, and now she wasn’t there. She didn’t hold her, and now she was missing.

Why didn’t she hold her?!

“Uh…Charlie? Maybe you should sit down. You’re going to walk a line into the hotel lobby at this rate.” It was Husk’s voice that broke through her mania. His claws were gentle as he led her to the couch where the others were. She allowed herself to collapse, boneless, onto the stiff cushions, even as her mind yelled at her that there was no time.

“Thank you,” she managed to get out weakly.

It was her and the rest of the main members of her hotel family. Angel had Fat Nuggets in his lap while Pentious and his eggs were huddled on the ground. Alastor sat across from her with Niffty and Husk settled next to Angel, favoring his flask. Each one of them, she had failed. Worse still, she threatened their lives by starting a war she had no real path to victory for. As if she needed anymore guilt…

“I know I said I had a plan, and we managed to at least get the aid from Cannibal Town,” Charlie started, but her voice wavered. The bags beneath her eyes hung low, and her cheeks tingled from the tears she no longer could produce. “Carmilla Carmine has agreed to provide us with weapons, so we’re still going to have a chance to fight. I just…”

“You’re missin’ Vaggie,” Angel finished for her, and Charlie felt her chest tighten. KeeKee hopped up into her lap, curling up and resting her head against Charlie’s belly. Running her hand through her fur helped Charlie feel a bit better, but not by much. She wanted to be running her hand through her girlfriend’s hair…

“Yeah.” Charlie closed her eyes and she looked back up at everyone. “The plan stays the same. We’re going to prepare for the attack on the hotel. But…we need to be ready in case…that doesn’t work.”

“In case Vaggie shows up aiding them,” Alastor brought up, and Charlie bristled. “That is only a speculation, my dear. Given what we now know about her, there could be a more specific reason as to why she has yet to return. If she feels she no longer belongs here and that her only connection to Hell has pulled away from her-”

“Don’t you dare finish that sentence!” Charlie was on her feet in a flash, KeeKee letting out a startled sound and fleeing beneath the sofa. She knew that her horns had burst from her skull and her hair was whipping around behind her like its own flame. She bore her fangs at Alastor. “Vaggie would never betray us or this hotel.”

“All I’m suggesting is that we prepare for all possibilities,” Alastor offered back, holding a hand up. “This isn’t a slight to her or yourself, and this isn’t a true belief that she has turned her back on your little project here. But planning for every outcome is the most successful path to victory.”

Charlie felt a growl spill out of her throat. Alastor was her facility manager and he helped her set this whole thing up, but between forcing her to make a deal and his words on Vaggie… She shook her head and tried to calm down, once again returning to pacing the path she had started. Over the furious flowing of blood that filled her ears and muffled the world around her, she could hear Husk and Angel both admonishing Alastor for even suggesting such a thing. It was at least nice to have some people believe in her as she believed in Vaggie.

Alastor’s words briefly sent a tingle of doubt down her spine, but she fought against the rising uncertainty. Vaggie would never betray her. Not after one fight, not ever. There was no doubt in her mind that Vaggie was loyal, even after what had happened in the court room. There was simply no doubt…right?

A hand stopped her from pacing again, this time one that lacked claws. When she turned, she was surprised to find that it wasn’t anyone that had already been there in the lobby with her. Her gaze shifted down to the shorter form of her father. He was wearing a weak smile, but his hand moved from her arm to her hand and he pulled it to his chest.

“Charlie…I heard the news,” Lucifer offered gently. A lot of her walls began to crumble just at his presence, and she felt a tremor run down her spine. “Why don’t we talk somewhere else? Your room?”

Charlie bit her lip, nodding slowly. She glanced back at the rest of her friends before allowing her father to lead her through his portal that carried them up to her room. As soon as she didn’t need to save face or maintain her façade, she once more broke down and flopped onto her bed, burying her face in the covers.

“What am I going to do, Dad…?” she asked weakly when she felt the edge of the bed depress under another form. She looked up to find his own expression strained, his fangs worrying his lip. “Dad?”

“I wish I had an answer for you, sweetie,” Lucifer said slowly. He pulled his hat off and set it in his lap, gripping the edge firmly. “I can’t…help much, at least not physically. The deal I have with Heaven prevents me from hurting any angelic being unless they break the contract first.” His grasp tightened. “I agreed never thinking it would be an issue, but now…”

Charlie grimaced. Rosie and Carmilla wouldn’t be there in person, Lucifer couldn’t help, so it was really all up to them and their individual abilities to fight a battle that would likely far exceed what they were capable of. Even together, she had her doubts that they could make a stand. But she couldn’t let that fester in her, not the way Vaggie’s absence was. She couldn’t afford a complete breakdown.

“Is there…any way you can reach out to them? To…Sera, or maybe Emily, to try and postpone it? Or…maybe see if Vaggie is there?” Charlie asked weakly, pushing herself up to rub at her eyes. “I just…I really need to know what happened to her. If she…”

“If she decided to go back,” Lucifer finished for her. Despite her fervently denying Alastor’s claims, that tiny voice of doubt continued to poke at her. She kept squashing it, really trying to be sure of her trust in her partner, but still… “I can try and reach out. Sera hasn’t exactly been returning my calls, which is surprisingly unlike her.”

“Okay.” Charlie shifted before scooting over to rest against him.

Seven years. Seven years ago, her mother had up and vanished, leaving her completely alone. She hadn’t spoken to her father in quite a few years prior to that outside of business, so she felt very much abandoned in a world that she seemed to be the only one to care about. The pain of having her calls go unanswered each time she tried to get advice or comfort or…just…anything from her mother had manifested itself in an agonizing sting whenever someone else stepped out of her life. So, having him step back into it helped patch a bit of that suffering.

Charlie reached to take Lucifer’s hand, and he squeezed hers in turn, covering it with his other one. She was crying, and all she could do was press her face into his shoulder to let it all flow out of her. At some point, three of his wings were curling around her body, and it reminded her of the times when she was younger and he would carry her through their yard or cuddle her just before bed. The only wings she had ever known before actually meeting members of Heaven. There was a part of her that was twisted with guilt at finding comfort in an angel after scorning her girlfriend for the same thing. Just more to add to the pile.

“Thanks for being here, Dad,” she finally managed to get out once her tears had abated. She reached to rub at her eyes, letting out a shaky breath. “Do you…have any advice, if you don’t have an answer for what I can do?”

Lucifer was quiet for a time. He pressed his head against hers, holding her closer to his side in a way that made her feel like a toddler again. She almost longed for that time free of challenges and difficult choices, when her parents were together and she had them both around. When she just…wasn’t alone…

“The best I can give you is trust yourself,” Lucifer finally answered. When he didn’t immediately continue, Charlie peeked up to meet his gaze. “You are a smart, capable young woman. And know that I will be watching. If they hurt you at all, I can intervene.”

“And what about with…Vaggie? Mom’s been gone for a while now…”

“Ah.” Lucifer grimaced, frowning more. He hugged her a little closer. “Even if we’re separated, I worry about her. But I trust that, if she’s gone, there’s a good reason. She didn’t just up and leave.” He shifted, and Charlie knew he had his own doubts, too. At least she found comfort in not being the only one guiltily questioning their significant other. But if Lucifer wanted to still trust her mom, then…

“There’s a good reason.” Charlie nodded slowly. She shifted against him before moving to get to her feet. “Okay, then…yeah. Yeah! Then in the meantime, we’ll prepare for the fight. Adam is going to be bringing his forces here to the hotel, so…we need to spend time training everyone up. Though I don’t know how exorcists fight…” She shook her head. “We’ll figure it out.”

“I know you will, Charlie. I believe in you.” Lucifer smiled. He, too, got to his feet and put his hat back on his head. His wings pulled into his back once more and he made to leave.

A shrill ring soon filled the room, causing both Morningstars to jump. Charlie fumbled for her phone, eyes widening when she saw the number. Carmilla…

“H-hello?”

“I have received reports regarding Vaggie’s whereabouts.” Carmilla just…went right for it, huh? Charlie was almost hoping to prolong it, to maybe talk a little bit and avoid the growing sense of unease that came from how Carmilla’s voice sounded on the other end. She did not like that. “You may wish to sit down for this.”

Charlie glanced over at Lucifer. Whatever he saw on her face had him immediately returning to her side, easing her back down onto her bed and reaching to take her other hand as comfort. She appreciated that, and she once again leaned against him as she held the phone. All kinds of scenarios ran through her mind and she knew she was spiraling. There were so many terrible follow-ups to that statement that she had absolutely no idea what to expect.

“O-oh, uhm…good. Good, I hope?” Charlie fumbled over herself. “Do you know where she is? Or…what happened to her?”

“I would not describe this as good.” Carmilla sounded a little tense on the other end, which did nothing to help Charlie calm down. “I have received multiple reports from various scouts that confirmed Vaggie was walking in the direction of my factory.”

That…okay, well that was at least some good news. Vaggie was doing exactly what she said she would do, even after their fight. She smiled softly to herself, easing the death grip she had on Lucifer’s hand before refocusing on the phone, brows furrowing.

“But she never made it?”

“No. According to some of these reports, a heavenly portal opened right as she was entering my section of the city.” Charlie’s blood ran cold, tension that had been settled beginning to rise. “There are some disagreements, but the majority indicate that there was a fight. Vaggie tried to run in the opposite direction, but what appeared to be exorcists dragged her through.”

“WHAT?!” Charlie leapt to her feet. She could feel the room around her grow hot, the sensation of her horns bursting from her head adding to it while her hair was undone from its tie, whipping around her. She was sure she almost shattered the phone with the death grip she had on it. “What do you mean dragged through?!”

“Exactly as it sounds.” Carmilla still sounded calm on the other end, though there was also that same tension in her voice. “We did not receive reports of the portal opening, and so close to my territory… I do not like to imagine how many of these could potentially open and have been opened under our noses. The only reason this was reported was because, according to some of these, Vaggie was shouting at them.”

“Those bastards took her back.” Charlie clenched her teeth together. Adam and Lute, it had to be. The court case had been a disaster, and it was clear the two of them had it out for Vaggie with the way they were teasing her while revealing her secret. Adam was already doing everything he could to ruin her life and her chance at actually making her dreams a reality, so it came as no surprise that he would call for Vaggie to be dragged back. That made the situation a lot worse because she really had no way of getting into contact with her now…

She shook her head and worked to rein herself in, reaching to smooth back her hair and check that it was once again clasped against her back with her ties.

“Did your scouts have anything else to report?” Charlie asked.

“That is it. I have nothing else.”

“Thank you, Ms. Carmine. I appreciate your help. If you need payment for this-”

“I am far more concerned with how a portal opened up near my territory without my knowledge, and it required me reaching out to learn of it.” Carmilla exhaled on the other end. “I do not have advice on what you can do for Vaggie now, but keep me up to date. I have a vested interest in this situation now.”

“Of course.” Charlie hung up the phone and frowned, sitting down. She just had to let the reality of the situation wash over her to process what Carmilla had told her.

“Charlie?” Lucifer’s voice had her glancing over at him. She bit her lip at his worried expression before moving over to bury her face against his neck.

“She’s gone. Ms. Carmine says she was kidnapped back to Heaven…” she said weakly, hugging him more tightly. “And I know it was fucking Adam that did it. He’s been fucking up my plans the entire time!”

“That’s…definitely something Adam would probably do.” Lucifer gently rubbed her back, though his own shoulders hunched up under Charlie’s head. “…I’m going to try reaching out to Sera again. There was no agreement in place to allow Heaven to take citizens of Hell, of which Vaggie is one regardless of her origins.” He squeezed her gently before gently nudging her. “Do you at least feel better knowing what happened to her?”

“Kind of? But now I’m worrying about what he’s doing to her.” Charlie clenched her fists but took a deep breath. “Knowing that she didn’t go willingly helps, though. It means that she’s in trouble. And Heaven is still going forward with the extermination. We have to prepare, and when we win, I will demand my girlfriend back.”

“That’s my girl.” Lucifer smiled. He pulled her to her feet. “In the meantime, I will see what answers I can get. Sera owes me an explanation for this.”

“Thanks, Dad. Thanks for…being here, for helping me.” Charlie’s smile softened. “I’ll make you proud.”

“I know you will, sweetie.”

Even though Vaggie was now in even more danger, Charlie felt a resolve that helped to steady her. When she walked back down to the lobby, wanting time to process along the way, she felt a bit of her old self returning. There was confidence in her ability to help her friends, even against the odds that they were facing. She reached to touch the shrunken head that she still had in her pocket, pulling it out to hug to her chest.

When she returned to the lobby, the other patrons seemed to react to her difference in stance as well because some of that forlorn atmosphere from earlier dissipated a little. She walked over to the couch and leaned on the back of it.

“Starting this afternoon, we’re going to perform training drills. Without Vaggie’s combat expertise, we have to rely on what the rest of you know of battle. I’ve…never really fought in one like this before, so I’m open to learning as well.”

“Where is Vaggie?” Angel broached the question, and Charlie just closed her eyes.

“Heaven has her. They plucked her right from the streets of my domain.” Charlie stood tall, her horns curling up from her head. She had always been hopeful, but there was uncertainty in that. There always had been; she questioned everything she did, every step of the way. In the last three years, there had always been one person at her side that believed in her, that championed her cause without hesitation.

But now there was more than hope. She felt confident and determined, because she was going to get her girlfriend back no matter what.

“We are going to fight Adam and his army, we are going to win, and I am going up there myself to rescue my girlfriend if I have to.”

It was motivating enough to get everyone else in the lobby moving. Angel had a decent amount of knowledge when it came to strategy, and Husk was able to provide insight to that as well. The rest, including the cannibals that came downstairs at all the ruckus, settled in to start learning how best to prepare for this fight.

As for Charlie, she needed more time.

The afternoon weather was a nice breath of fresh air after all the heartache inside the hotel. She walked to the edge of the property, taking the time to steady her breathing. She could feel the tears running down her face again, but when she opened her eyes to focus on the heavenly realm above, she could see the red glow.

“I’m coming for you, Vaggie. I promise.”

Chapter Text

Adam braced himself before he pushed the door open. The flight over had felt like the longest one he’d ever taken between the barracks and Sera’s office, the anxiety prolonging it by some unreasonable degree. He really, really did not want to hear what she had to say about what happened at the court case the other day; it wasn’t entirely his fucking fault, she was the one keeping secrets, too! Still, a part of him ached because he really didn’t like to disappoint her.

“Adam.” Her voice already told him how much trouble he was in. He took a deep breath and walked over to the desk Sera currently sat behind, folding his hands behind his back to at least try and show respect. Even seated, she was the only being that made him feel small.

“Yo, Sera. Listen, I get it – I fucked up, okay? The bitch…sorry, the girl just has a way of getting to me, and-”

“You revealed your actions in Hell to the council, and you threatened a protected guest while she was in our realm. I told you to handle it, but I did not say to directly threaten them.” Sera frowned down at him, leaning over her desk. “You more than ‘messed up’; you have caused a disaster that has summoned a meeting of seraphim for a review of how Hell is being handled.”

“Shit.” Adam grimaced, and he really did feel bad about that. He peeked back up at her, folding his wings more around himself. “Look, Sera, we’re still on track for a quicker extermination schedule, and we’ll take out this hotel so we don’t have to worry about Lucifer’s bitch causing any problems, alright? The court fiasco won’t be a big deal.”

Sera exhaled, closing her eyes. Her standing up felt that much more intimidating, and he felt his head duck a little bit as his gaze dropped. He heard her footsteps move around her desk and over to the far window so she could peer out at their realm beyond. Her silence was near palpable, and he felt as if his voice wasn’t strong enough to break through the wall slowly growing between them. And so…he waited. As much as he hated to do it, as much as it wasn’t in his blood to be patient, he waited.

Finally, he heard her approach and felt a hand tilt his chin up, forcing him to meet Sera’s gaze. There was tension around her eyes, something he hadn’t seen since she originally came to him about her concerns regarding Hell and the potential uprising. He didn’t like seeing that one bit…

“Adam, it is no longer my word that dictates how Hell is handled,” she told him, pulling her hand back and moving around to her desk again. “Because of this, and because of the knowledge that Hell has killed one of our soldiers, my responsibility has been reduced to keeping Heaven safe. I no longer have a say in anything beyond our realm, including Hell.”

“Who’s…calling the shots now then?”

“Michael.” She sat heavily in her seat once again, and Adam’s blood ran cold. Michael…the one seraphim he wanted nothing to do with, mostly because of his damn face. Smug bastard wore the face of the very man that ruined his own life...

“That fuck-head?! His lazy ass hasn’t done a thing to help you run Heaven in thousands of years, and now he gets to call the shots just…because?!” He slammed his hands down on the desk. “Why? Don’t you have the power to veto him or something?!”

“Unfortunately, the other seraphim believe I have…lost my control of Hell’s ordeals. That I have overstepped my boundaries as this realm’s guardian by agreeing to the extermination of Sinners without their consent.” Sera closed her eyes, bringing a hand to her forehead. “Even with Emily vouching for me, it was three against two.”

“Ugh. Gabe and Raph sided with Michael, huh? Big fucking surprise.” Adam crossed his arms, shifting his glare to the wall. He had no love lost for those three seraphim; they never approved of him, and he didn’t of them. Fuck them. “So, what does that mean?”

“It means that…Adam, you are hereby stripped of your title as commander of the exorcist army.” His stomach dropped and his gaze snapped back to Sera. “You will rejoin Heaven proper, as a Winner, to live within this perfect realm.”

“WHAT?!” Adam stared at her. Of all the worst case scenarios he had thought of while spending time with Lute the other day, this one hadn’t even been considered. Demotion, sure, but not flat out being fired. “Sera, no fucking way. I’ve held that role practically since I came to Heaven! They can’t just…strip me of it?!”

“They are not.” Sera closed her eyes. “I am. Adam, this is no longer your duty. You should be embracing the afterlife Heaven has to offer for human souls that made it here, not doing the jobs of angels.”

“Sera, come on!” Adam scowled, digging his claws into the desk. “I made one mistake and you’re seriously going to do this?!”

“It is done.” The look Sera gave him when she opened her eyes looked even more strained, and he felt his heart clench. It wasn’t entirely her call, despite what she said… “Please, enjoy your life up here, Adam. You deserve to relax.”

Adam opened his mouth to argue, but Sera just shook her head. The discussion was over.

“…fuck you,” he growled low and turned, storming out of the office. He nearly bowled over a few other Winners when he shoved open the enormous ivory doors, but he didn’t give a single fuck about any of them. Even if he was one, he was still part of the heavenly army, not just some regular soul!

By the time he was on his way back to his office, the sun had reached its peak and was beginning to work towards the far horizon. He sent a few messages to Lute, bitching about being fired and spilling all the things he wished he could do to Michael for taking this one thing away from him. Apparently, Michael had more in common with Lucifer than he’d like to admit; they were both bad for Adam’s life. When he didn’t get a response back, he decided to meet up with her at the training fields, like she had told him to. Sure enough, he could see her standing in her usual spot.

“Lute! Hey!” Adam landed next to her before fully collapsing into a chair he liked to keep out there. “Man, did you see my messages? Apparently, I’m no longer the commander of Heaven’s army. Can you fucking believe that?!” He scowled and flopped over the armrest heavily. “All because of Lucifer’s damn brat. Seriously, I think she’s ruined my life almost as much as her dad at this point. Guess it runs in the family, huh?”

He had been rambling since he landed, so he didn’t notice that Lute’s back was still to him. The only things she said were the counts for reps of the other exorcists below. She hadn’t even acknowledged him, which wasn’t…like her at all. Adam frowned, feeling a sense of unease begin to stir in his stomach as he watched her.

“…Lute?” When he touched her shoulder, she finally looked over at him. She had her mask on, so her expression wasn’t that easy to read, but it still looked far more neutral than it should have as he was commiserating with her. “What’s…going on?”

“I’m running exercises, sir,” she told him. Her voice was…off. It didn’t sound right; it didn’t sound like Lute. There was almost no emotion behind it. And sure, she’d always taken even training very seriously, but this was still beyond anything he’d seen from her before.

“Hey.” Adam reached around, turning her to fully face him. He lowered his voice, shifting it so it was just them. “Did something happen? You know you can talk to me, right?”

Their relationship had always been a strange one; commander and lieutenant, comrades in arms, but they also spent more time outside of work together. They went to concerts, to the movies, she stayed often at his penthouse…they had sex. A lot of sex. But neither vocalized exactly what they were supposed to be. They weren’t necessarily in a relationship, not in the standard husband and wife situation – and the idea of Lute in the role of a typical wife was hilariously terrifying – but they still had something, of that, he was sure. And he reserved his gentle tone for only her.

It didn’t seem to garner a reaction from her, and the tightness in his chest began to grow.

“I’m running exercises,” she repeated from before, almost droned it. “We have been slacking and need to catch up on our training.”

“Bullshit, bitch. You always have our troops in top shape.” Adam gripped her by both arms, brows furrowing behind his mask. “Lute, come on, seriously. I command that you talk to me-”

“I’m no longer required to follow your commands.” His eyes widened when she said that, and he felt sick to his stomach. “I follow new orders.”

Adam wanted to deny it. He quickly released her, taking a step back. The blood in his veins felt like it had completely frozen over, and his stomach churned, making him feel near violently ill. The display on her mask never changed, not the entire time she was staring at him. Her body was held in perfect pose, and while Lute always held herself properly before, in this moment she looked stiff and frozen. Like the perfect doll…

This wasn’t happening, this wasn’t happening, this was NOT happening…! He’d only taken a few hours to go see Sera, there was no way enough time had passed for something to actually…! He’d lost everything before, and now… He shook his head to try and dispel the thoughts.

“Take me to your c-…commander,” he said weakly. He felt his throat close, and tasted bile. But she finally acknowledged something of his, turning and walking towards the main building. Adam didn’t even feel his legs moving as he followed; every part of him was numb.

As they walked, he noticed that all of his girls had their masks on, even while in the place they called home in Heaven. None of their faces were visible. And none of them were off to the side relaxing or lounging, either; they were all in various drills, tirelessly training. Lute ran them hard, sure, but Adam had ensured they knew they could take breaks often enough. Even with an extermination in a month, they didn’t need to always be working. But now…it seemed to be all they could think of. All they were programmed to do.

Once they were inside, he felt the cold sensation of being watched. Every exorcist that they passed by stood off to the side, but their masked gazes followed after him – just like Melody and Viola earlier. There was a very distinct sensation of not belonging in his own fucking place, and he tried desperately to push it aside. To not…focus on it. He couldn’t, because he was barely holding it together. His heart was thumping so loudly that he swore it echoed down the halls as the walls tightened around him. The pressure was growing, his vision was swaying, and he almost stumbled over his own robes. This wasn’t happening…

All of his fears, all of the nightmare scenarios playing in his head since he got there, came to a head when the door to his office was pushed open. Adam had already died once in his existence – in that moment, he wanted to die again.

His office had always been on the messier side, even when he shared it with Lute. But it was now in pristine, perfect condition; no wayward paper, no slightly crooked chair, no item out of place. They had wasted no time in more or less evicting him from his own space. And sitting in his chair behind the desk was the very face he never wanted to see again, only worn by the bastard he had no choice but to acknowledge.

Michael looked up from the papers he had been working on, his icy blue gaze raking over Adam’s very nerves to the point he felt as if he was being turned into stone. He straightened up and rested his elbows on the desk, clasping his hands in front of him and resting his chin on top of his fingers. His six white and blue feathered wings opened up, almost as if he was staking a claim.

But that was the least of his concerns.

Behind his chair on his left stood an exorcist who Adam didn’t actually recognize right away. A new one, perhaps…? Though she didn’t appear to have wings. And Lute walked around Adam, moving to stand on Michael’s right side. Both exorcists mirrored the perfect, frozen pose that Lute had already been displaying back on the training field, that his other girls had shown on his trek through the barracks, and all at once Adam was forced to face a reality he never thought possible.

“So nice of you to join us, Adam.” Michael’s voice was like an electric shock through his system. Even like this, he sounded like that fallen bastard, only it was a smoother voice that held so much confidence it dripped off of his tongue like a toxin. “I imagine Sera has given you the news?”

“What…have you done?” Adam did his best to keep his voice from trembling. His gaze snapped over to Lute, the ache in his chest growing as he saw how stiff she was. How not like her she was.

“I’ve begun cleaning up after you.” Michael leaned back in his seat, gesturing. “You have led the exorcist army for quite some time now, hm? Yet you let things get so incredibly sloppy that it’s no wonder your expenditure has gone through the roof.” He held up a piece of paper. “Every year, you require a new set of weapons for each of your soldiers. Reason – they misplaced them. Angelic steel isn’t infinite, Adam; you’ve caused many a shortage with this request.”

“I want to keep them well armed!”

“You designed uniforms that lack armor. Reason – they look good in leggings.”

“I’m not wrong, am I?!”

“You ordered a new exorcist to be made. Reason – that traitor cunt deserved what she got.”

“I-!”

“You increased the frequency of exterminations. Reason – they killed one of my bitches.”

Adam tensed and clenched his teeth, his gaze narrowing at Michael’s neutral, almost bored expression. What, was he being put on trial here?! How had the last twenty-four hours gone so wrong? He kept looking at Lute, damn near begging whatever greater power there was that she wasn’t actually…

“You kept an exorcist in operation despite knowing it was malfunctioning. Reason – she’s my badass danger tits and perfect the way she is.”

“She isn’t an it!” Adam shouted, slamming his hands on the desk. “You watch your fucking tongue, Michael. She’s the best soldier Heaven has!”

“Perhaps. But it was still malfunctioning.” Michael set the paper down and stood, walking around the desk to stand at Adam’s side. “Along with another malfunctioning one whom you did not decommission properly. I’ve fixed both problems.”

Adam stared. It slowly clicked who the unrecognizable exorcist was. He turned his gaze to that one, really looking at the shape of the horns on her mask and the location of the X. And…Michael had said he fixed both problems…

“You…!”

“They don’t need anything but proper training for battle. Everything else is an unnecessary complication and introduces uncertainty in a fight.”

“How did you ‘fix them’…?”

“Every exorcist was sent back to the facility.” Michael met his gaze evenly. “They were returned to their original programming, ensuring the malfunctions are no longer present.”

Adam’s entire world simply shattered. There was a ringing in his ears that drowned out every other sound. He could feel his breathing picking up, the corners of his eyes were pricking with tears. If they had been reset, that meant that…that everything in the past however many thousands of years was gone. That all the work he’d put in to his girls, to make them their own people, was just…wasted. And Lute…his Lute, the only woman to ever stay by his side, the only one he’d had be forever loyal to him. The only woman who said she would always have his back. The only woman he would have asked to be his forever…

He didn’t even realize he was moving until he had the front of Michael’s robes clenched tightly in one fist. Even if he was a seraphim, he was only a little taller than his twin brother, which meant he was small next to Adam. He had hauled him off his feet with just his one hand, and his other curled into a fist at his side. His vision was blurry, his mind felt foggy, and he wanted nothing more than to punch the bastard’s teeth out.

He never got the chance.

Michael’s bored expression never changed, but Adam was very suddenly ripped back. The wingless exorcist had carefully caught Michael and set him down on his feet, but Lute…Lute slammed Adam into the ground, dragging one arm behind his back until he was sure it was about to pop out of its socket. His other was pinned beneath her foot, holding him completely prone and stuck. Even if he was stronger, she had a hold on him that would make it difficult to get free. And she did it without hesitation…

His gaze shifted up to the screen of her mask, his own depicting wide eyes. Her expression never faltered…

“Lute…” His voice broke. All at once, the rage and fear and downright horror just washed out of him. Lute wasn’t there. She was gone…she had been taken from his life just like Lilith. Just like Eve.

There was a brief flicker that only he caught, a little glitch in the side of her display, but when he blinked it seemed to have vanished.

A hand grabbed him by a horn and forced his gaze back to the seraphim. The neutral expression had shifted into something more of a smug smile, and he lifted a brow down at Adam.

“As you can see, they both belong to me now. In fact, all of them do. You are no longer their commander, Adam. You are a Winner. And Winners aren’t allowed in the exorcist barracks.” He released his horn and stepped back. “Go enjoy your life as one of the souls we keep safe. Find a place to settle down, enjoy some more food and drink. Father knows you’ve indulged plenty as it is.”

The slight at his size barely made a dent in the agony that had frayed every nerve in his body. He knew he was crying, and it was all he could do to shut off the display on his mask to not give the bastard the benefit of seeing it. Lute forced him to his feet, keeping one of his arms pinned against his back. There was no reason to fight back when she started pushing him out the door, leading him down the halls to pass by the rest of his girls that were no longer his. All of them wore that same, blank expression. All of their personalities, their memories, their emotions…gone.

Lute shoved him roughly out of the main door and he stumbled to the ground, cracking the glass of his display. Desperation had him scrambling around on his hands and knees and facing the door as it was closing.

“Lute!” He was so desperate to see anything, any sign of her. He wanted her back, he needed her. He couldn’t lose another one… “Please!”

Lute paused, her hand on the door as it was halfway closed. Her blank display turned back to look at him, watching him for some time. That wasn’t part of her orders, surely… There was another tiny, miniscule glitch along the base of the screen before she slammed the door, cutting off Adam’s line of sight and leaving him slumped on the cloudy ground supporting the barracks.

Adam had no idea how long he sat out there. He stared at the door, the image of Lute standing there burned into his vision. At no point had she hesitated to follow her new orders from Michael, including throwing Adam out of his own place. His stomach churned painfully over on itself and his heart was aching enough that he wanted to reach into his own chest and carve it out to try and ease the pressure. On the outside, his body was numb. He didn’t feel the softness of the ground beneath him nor the warmth of the setting sun. Every part of his body was flushed with a cold that went marrow deep, a horror that threw his thoughts into a spiraling descent of lonely agony.

Finally, he managed to pull himself out of his stupor. He slowly got to his feet and turned, opening his wings to carry him back to Heaven proper. At least he still had his penthouse, but the inside felt cold and empty. The crushed cup was still next to the trash bin in the corner of the room, and the container of fries that Lute had snatched from him was resting on the side table by the couch. Only yesterday, he had been laying on the couch with her on top of him, and now…

He collapsed onto his bed, reaching to pull his helmet off and setting it on his chest. He stared into the display. All the numb his body felt heavy beneath had started to turn into a pain that burned at every nerve – pain, and anger. His gripped the helmet before sitting up and chucking it at the wall, watching more of the glass shatter before it bounced to the ground, laying motionless and blank. As blank as Lute’s…

“Dammit,” he cursed, falling back again and digging his claws into the bedsheets. There was no way she was just…gone. Not his Lute, not his badass bitch. But…even if she was still there, he couldn’t do anything. Michael now called the shots, and he was supposed to just…enjoy eternal existence as a Winner – nothing more.

With numb and angry hopelessness, Adam rolled onto his side and sought escape in unconsciousness, hoping for a better world than his waking nightmare.

Chapter Text

Emily was usually an understanding person. She wasn’t quick to anger, she preferred to get to the bottom of a situation before casting any kind of judgment, and she tried to not hate anyone or anything.

But this…this, she hated.

The court had been called back in at the behest of Sera, though it so quickly became apparent it was more than just her and Emily handling the meeting. Joining them in the highest echelon of seating were the other three seraphim that Emily didn’t spend a lot of time around – Gabriel, Raphael, and Michael himself. They’d met recently to decide upon who would manage Hell now that Sera’s capability had been thrown into question, but that had been a very brief meeting and still over the communication orbs. Them being in person made Emily feel that much smaller than she already was, and she sunk a little into her seat. Her hands gripped the folds of her dress, squeezing firmly to try and distract herself.

It wasn’t even them that made this bad, however; it was the two figures behind Michael. Two exorcists, and she recognized one of them. One had no wings, the other wore a familiar helmet. Lute, she stood there motionless and obedient to Michael. Adam wasn’t there, either; his pew was completely empty. He had been demoted, sure, but she never expected Lute of all people to join Michael so willingly, duty or not.

“Now that we’re all settled in, I’d like to get this meeting started.” Michael’s voice boomed through the courtroom, easily commanding every eye looking in his direction. There was no need for human disguises here; all of Emily’s eyes were locked on him and his fully winged glory. It was hard to believe this man was related in any way to Charlie… “There was discussion between the High Seraphim of Heaven regarding the leadership and decision making of this realm and its neighbor – for safety, and comfort.” His wings carried him over his seating to fly around the large orb in the center of the room.

Emily bit her lip and tried to sneak a peek up at Sera with one of her lower eyes. The avian form hid a lot, though some of the eyes in her hair seemed to show a lot more emotion, heavily lidded and not watching Michael. When she noticed Emily looking, she subtlety shook her head and forced her focus back up. Emily frowned more but did the same.

“As you are all well aware, Sera has been this realm’s guardian for many eons, dating back to even before the creation of Eden.” Michael lazily traveled around the room, his arms behind his back. “And the fact that it stands as tall as ever is a testament to how successful she has been.”

Below them, more of the crowd started to murmur in agreement. Emily saw heads nodding, even some smiles, but then there were also a few shakes. Those are what Michael seemed to focus on.

“However, recent events have thrown that into question.”

The large orb flashed briefly before displaying the corpse of an exorcist. Though the knowledge had started filtering out slowly, this was blatantly presenting it. Even Emily felt her stomach sink at the sight. Never before had any of them seen so much golden blood spilling out onto the ground, nor what was so clearly an angel lying motionless. Headless.

“Nearly six months ago, one of our very own exorcists fell at the hands of the demons in Hell.” He made sure to practically force the orb into everyone’s face, and Emily visibly recoiled when it got to her and Sera. “And yet, who here heard about it?”

A growing sense of uneasiness and discomfort filled the room, palpable enough for Emily to feel it in her own spine. More of the court was whispering, and a lot more of them were shaking their heads. Even Emily herself hadn’t heard about this. She peeked up at Sera, but the other seraphim sat stone still. The only movement was her hands tightening in her own dress.

“I suspected as much.” Michael moved to hover in front of Emily and Sera. “Never before has an angel been slain. We have had injuries, of course, but not enough to spill so much holy blood. And in such an unholy place.” He shook his head, putting on quite the performance since his angelic form didn’t have a mouth.

More muttering, louder side discussions, and Emily saw Sera’s beak clench tighter. She tried to offer her comfort, but Sera only curled more in on herself. It hurt Emily that much more because she couldn’t do anything. So much pain and unhappiness in the room that she could practically taste it, yet she couldn’t do a damn thing to stop it. She was supposed to make sure Heaven was happy, Winners and other angels.

“We all appreciate what Sera has done for us, and for Heaven.” Michael resumed his movements around the courtroom. “And we can acknowledge how much of herself she has given to keeping Heaven safe. But knowing that an angel’s life was taken while she was in charge… It’s not something that I feel comfortable with.”

“With all due respect, Michael, I am not on trial here.” Sera pushed herself to her feet, frowning up at him. He turned to meet her gaze and the two just eyed each other. “Let’s focus on the next steps rather than detailing my mistakes.”

“But that’s just it, Sera. Your mistakes have led to quite a change in Heaven.” He gestured to the orb, having the image separate to show three cherubs. “You are the one now in charge of a Heaven that lost an angelic warrior as well as banished three of our cherubs.”

“They have nothing to do with Hell-”

“They were fighting demons on the surface. Demons bold enough to walk on Earth as you have failed to keep them in line.” Michael lifted his brow.

“There is a difference between hellborn and Sinners-”

“Not enough difference for it to matter.” Michael turned his back, leaving Sera staring after him. “Sinners and demons are the same – corrupted, twisted creatures that don’t deserve an afterlife. They should all be crushed and dusted into oblivion.”

Emily stared up at him. That was incredibly extreme, even for a warrior like Michael. She gripped her dress tighter and looked to Sera who was still just frowning, standing and leaning over the banister. At least other members of the council seemed concerned by that as well, the uncertain sounds of hesitancy growing louder by the second. Yet despite that, Michael didn’t seem fazed.

“If anyone sees fit to question me, I’d love to hear it.” Michael turned to face them. Once more, he presented the orb of the dead exorcist. “This is how they treat us. If you advocate for them, you’d be advocating for murderers, for rapists, for war criminals…for monsters.”

“They’re not all monsters!”

Emily’s eyes widened. She found herself on her feet, mirroring Sera’s pose as she clutched the banister. All eyes were on her; Michael in particular was now staring hard, and she really squirmed beneath his gaze.

“What was that?”

“They’re not…they’re not all monsters.” Emily lifted herself from her pew, despite Sera’s warning to stop. She flew over to the orb and brought up images from court, specifically those pertaining to Charlie as well as the soul she advocated for. “Charlie Morningstar is trying to help souls that want to be better find redemption. How is that such a bad thing?”

“It would bring those very souls here, were redemption possible.” Michael watched her. His eyes never changed, but she could tell that he was displeased by her interruption. “What do we do when we find an angel dead in our own realm?”

“W-well, only those who prove redeemable would make it-”

“And how do we know when a soul proves that? If the divine order sent their souls to Hell in the first place, what makes you think anyone down there can change?” He was suddenly in her face, and she realized just how much smaller she felt when presented with Michael’s many eyes. “How do we know they won’t simply relapse into the very person that sent them to Hell in the first place? You risk the souls of our kingdom for the delusional dreams of a demon?”

Emily opened her mouth, but she really didn’t have any words to counter Michael. She felt her wings curl a little more around herself, in particular the two smaller ones on her head. Even though she wanted to believe in Charlie’s vision, there was that seed of doubt that Michael planted which brought up a good point – what assurance was there that any soul that made it to Heaven would remain good?

“That is enough, Michael.” Sera’s voice cut through the tense atmosphere. She coaxed Emily back to her seat and refocused on him. “We are here because you wanted to present another option that would build off of the annual exterminations.”

“Yes.” Michael’s gaze still burned into Emily and she had to drop all of her eyes.

She had felt much more confident when it was simply Sera and the court. She wanted to believe Charlie, and the proof in the orb had definitely shown that at least some of her tactics had worked. But Michael…put some of that confidence into question. Did Charlie even think about that? Did she have an answer?

“The exterminations are required, whether we like it or not, because the souls of the damned need to be culled so their numbers never become a problem. What was started cannot be undone. Hell as a realm serves its purpose as a sieve to filter out those humans who do not belong in Heaven. Now, they languish in a realm full of sin. While I do believe the entire realm requires purging, perhaps we can…humor the Morningstar interest of cleaving out the fat. To kill those who deserve it and leave behind those who pose no threat.”

Emily blinked, looking back up at him. The others around the room murmured in what sounded like agreement, but from her vantage point, she couldn’t even see the pupils of his eyes – they were simply dark.

“If we’re more directed in our purge, if we uphold the divine order and kill only those who deserve it, would that not be better for both realms? We don’t have to kill indiscriminately; we can be selective.” The way the orb glowed, the energy displaying an image of smiling demons all praising the radiant presence of Michael himself, left a sour taste in Emily’s mouth. But there was even more agreement in the crowds below her. When she looked down, she saw smiles and head nods. This was…not sitting well with her.

“And how would you propose we do that?” Sera asked. From what Emily could see, she wasn’t entirely convinced, either.

“The exorcists have served our domain well.” Michael held a hand out. The two stepped forward before Lute took to the air, moving to fly beside him. “But their design is flawed. The way they were handled, they were more akin to rabid animals.” The orb flashed images of exterminations again, truly violent to the point that some of the other court members had to turn away. Emily forced herself to watch. “I propose we make some improvements.”

“…what kind improvements are you talking about?” Sera leaned forward over the banister more.

“I’m glad you asked.” Michael gestured to the flightless exorcist. She picked herself up onto the banister and, from behind her, unfurled mechanical looking wings that seemed just capable as regular wings of carrying her. There were some sounds of amazement down below, but Emily just felt her stomach churn that much worse. “For those of you here who are not aware, exorcists are not human souls. Nor are they heavenborn – they are heaven-created.”

Emily blinked. Even she hadn’t known that, they all seemed so real. And seeing Vaggie with Charlie, she showed such a wide range of emotions, how was that possible if they didn’t actually have a soul…? Once again, she looked to Sera, who was clearly tense.

“Our dear head seraphim requested their creation following the First Man’s design. That’s another thing that she kept from everyone.” Michael’s gaze studied Sera, who just looked away. “But the design was flawed from the start. They have little armor, their weapons were often left behind, and they were able to fight against orders.” He gestured to the exorcist in question. “Case in point. This one was aiding demon kind, having turned its back on Heaven entirely.”

Emily’s grip on her dress tightened, but she felt Sera’s hand cover hers. She shouldn’t get involved, not right now. Not while Michael had practically everyone else captivated. But when the armor-winged angel removed her exorcist helmet, and Emily saw her eye… She wanted to cry.

There was nothing there. No light, no emotion, no nothing. Vaggie looked completely dead.

“I’ve since worked out the malfunctions. As you can see, it has been returned to the fold. Of course, that wasn’t enough – it was damaged, but that gave me the idea to instead give it wings like this. They would be harder to remove, allow for better movement in the air, and can even be used as a defensive option.” Michael held his arms out. “But we can go beyond that. We can turn them into proper units, defenders of Heaven’s ideals.”

He brought the orb up and presented quite the change in uniform – golden armor plates that protected them, giving them cover that the current uniform did not. The masks were no longer the admittedly creepy stitched smiles, but rather visors that covered all but their mouth. A single, glowing blue eye showed upon the display. By all accounts, it gave a much more heavenly look than what the exorcists currently wore. But there was also just something so…soulless about them. Then again, if exorcists lacked souls-

Emily quickly shook her head. No, they were people no matter what. She’d spoken to Lute before, spoken to the other girls, there was no way that they weren’t also people. Created, sure, but they weren’t just machines…

“Rather than exorcists, I’d prefer the term ‘guardians’.” Michael opened his arms wide. “Their task is to guard our realm against demon kind. In a sense, they could also guard those fallen souls that aren’t chosen for annual purging. The souls who make it to our realm, the Winners, were chosen by divine judgment – our guardians will be Hell’s divine justice. We will decide who lives and who meets the bitter edge of holy steel.”

It still sounded like the exterminations to Emily. She looked down at the faces of the other courtroom participants. The problem was, the idea of choosing who lived and died almost seemed to make it more palatable for those below; as if the indiscriminate killing was the problem, not the act itself. And when she looked at the images of these ‘guardians’ and the blank expression on Vaggie’s face…

Emily peeked up at Sera who was mirroring a similar frown, but soon the side conversations in the courtroom had become loud enough that it was obvious everyone else agreed with this course. Michael was clearly eating it up, some of his eyes closed as if the words of the others were giving him the assurance he was looking for.

“If that is approval, then I will move forward with this plan-”

“What’s going to happen to them?” Emily couldn’t help herself. She was watching Vaggie and Lute, really disturbed by their stoicism. “Vaggie isn’t a resident of Heaven, she belongs in Hell. It wasn’t a malfunction; she chose where she wanted to be! You can’t just change them!”

“Tools can be replaced and upgraded as needed, Emily.” Michael gestured to Vaggie. “And this one, why would you be okay with condemning one of our own, misguided soldiers to the pits of Hell? Are you saying that angels belong there? Is that not you trying to determine divine judgment?”

Emily grimaced. Yet again, she felt all eyes on her. And yet again, she didn’t really have an answer. She just…didn’t like how Vaggie was looking, and her mind kept bringing up Charlie’s face when she learned what Vaggie was. Her fingers dug more into her dress.

“Do not worry about them,” Michael offered, and his voice softened. “All I’m doing is gearing them up to better survive in Hell. No more decapitations, no more damaging, no more malfunctions – they’re better off like this. I’m doing this for the good of everyone, the exorcists included.”

They’d reached a final verdict. Emily still stood against it, but she was the only one. Even Sera eventually gave her approval – it felt like a betrayal to Emily. Then again, Sera had done much the same after Charlie’s hearing. She’d always seen Sera as strong, always someone to look up to, but right in front of her eyes she was folding against her own very ideals.

As everyone else filtered out, Emily just slumped in her chair. Before long, it was just her and Sera, who reached a hand out to touch her shoulder.

“Emily-”

“Don’t.” Emily held a hand up. “Just…don’t. Everything that just happened, everything discussed at that meeting…how is choosing who lives and dies any better or different than killing human souls? How are these guardians, these soulless…constructs, any better than the exorcists that were actual individuals, Sera?” She stood and turned to fully face her. “How is any of this better for Heaven or Hell?!”

Sera frowned softly at her before taking a deep breath. She ran her hand over her hair, pulling back her more avian appearance and closing the rest of her extra eyes.

“It has been decided, Emily. Your focus should be solely on Heaven and the Winners that reside within our realm.” Sera put her hands on Emily’s shoulders, but Emily shrugged them off. She didn’t even care about the hurt expression on Sera’s face. “…you will understand, someday.”

“No. No, I won’t.” Emily just shook her head and left Sera there.

Her mind was riddled with questions and concerns and everything that had been discussed during the meeting. Seeing the two exorcists alone had her chest tightening, but something worse was waiting for her outside.

A crowd of Winners was standing in a half circle by the door of the courtroom. Emily excused her way through only to find Adam pinned to the ground. Michael was rubbing his cheek, once more wearing his more human look so his furious frown was that much more obvious. But her focus snapped back to Adam, seeing Lute as the one pinning him to the ground and near threatening to break his arm.

“You bastard!” Adam spat, struggling. “You had no fucking right to take her from me!”

Michael walked to where Adam’s head was, his arms folded behind his back. A silent command had Lute putting more pressure on Adam’s shoulder, making his teeth grind together. He looked exhausted, and his face was sunken. The fact Emily could even see his face was surprising, in fact; he didn’t have his helmet on. There was so much hurt in his eyes…

“I’m sure you can find a nice Winner here to settle down with. Perhaps someone that doesn’t wear the blood of its enemies on its uniform.” Michael’s voice was frigid. “The being you liked was no different than a demon from Hell. There was nothing angelic about how it handled the exterminations.” He paused before getting to his feet. “In fact, if you want to sleep with a demon so badly, perhaps you belong in Hell. You’re hardly a Winner yourself, Adam. But we both know there's nothing down there for you.”

Adam growled before his face was shoved into the ground by Lute. His hands flexed at his side as Michael walked around with Vaggie following. When he was far enough away, stepping through the crowd of Winners, Lute picked herself up and followed immediately, leaving Adam face down on the ground. He did not get up.

The crowd around them dissipated, leaving Emily to walk over and help Adam up. He almost recoiled at first, but when he saw who it was, he allowed her help.

“Adam…”

“There’s nothing you can say that’ll make me feel better, Em. Don’t bother trying.” Adam reached to rub his shoulder, his gaze stuck to the ground. Emily had never seen so much pain in someone before; it ran so deep that she almost felt it in herself, and she placed a hand to her chest to try and stem it.

“I won’t. I don’t…like any of what’s going on, either.” She looked at the retreating backs of the two exorcists and Michael. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know anything about that.”

“I know.” Adam put a hand to his head. “I know you didn’t, kiddo. I’m not upset with you.”

Emily frowned deeply before wrapping her arms and wings around him. It seemed to startle him at first, but then he leaned over and pulled her into a tighter hug as well. His shoulders were tense and his breathing labored in an attempt to keep himself as calm as possible, and her heart just broke for him. There really was no joy to bring to him, nothing that she could do to help, and that made her feel almost useless.

“…could I ask a favor?” Adam asked suddenly, pulling back to look Emily in the eye. She blinked and peeked at him, tilting her head to the side.

“Anything?”

“Can you make me a portal to Hell?”

Emily stared at him in surprise. She opened and closed her mouth a few times before her brows furrowed.

“To Hell…?”

“I don’t have the power to do it anymore, not since I got my fucking title stripped.” Adam scowled. “…but I can’t stay up here. I want to cave in Michael’s skull every time I see his smug ass. And Lute…” His voice choked and he took a shaky inhale. “Please, Em?”

“I…” Emily bit her lip. She looked up at the tower the courtroom was in. She had been powerless to do anything for the exorcists, anything for Vaggie or Lute… She shook her head before meeting Adam’s gaze. “On the condition that you find Charlie and you tell her what’s going on. She must be worried, and she deserves to know.”

“…yeah.” Adam exhaled. “Fuck, fine, I’ll do that.”

Emily nodded. She helped him to his feet and he led the way to his penthouse to grab just a few things. It felt like she was going directly against Heaven by doing this, but right now she wasn’t exactly fond of the realm herself. So, when Adam was ready to go, she opened the portal in the center of his penthouse. She met his gaze just as he walked up to it before offering a nod. The smile he gave her back was hauntingly soulless, and then he stepped through and was gone.

“…I’ll figure something out,” she mumbled, an echo of the words she’d said to Charlie. Because right now, words were the only thing she felt like she had.

Chapter Text

Alright, so he may have misjudged how good of an idea it was to be sent to Hell after promising to invade the Princess’ hotel first, increasing the frequency of exterminations, and simultaneously outing her partner as an exorcist and mocking her in court. Really, it had been a bit of a spur of the moment decision after having his ass handed to him by Lute yet again, being unable to get any reaction from her outside of whatever Michael wanted her to do. He was pissed, upset, and flat out fucking mourning the loss of his best girl because she really wasn’t showing any signs of still being there. Making rash decisions was pretty common for him.

This time, though, it really was a stupid decision.

“Would you just…stop!” Adam yelped as he ducked under another ball of fire launched at his face. The portal Emily had sent him through put him right at the hotel. Maybe it was her plan to have him get slapped around a bit or something, though…okay, the little seraphim was too nice for that. Her hellish counterpart, however, had wasted no time in lashing out as soon as he arrived. And the hotel had quite a lot more people staying at it than he had anticipated.

“What are you doing here?!” Charlie flung another ball of musical flames in his direction that he slapped aside with a swing of the broadside of his axe. “You said a month!”

“Look, a lot can change in two days! Or however long it’s been – FUCK! – and I’ve turned over a new leaf. Y’know, peace, redemption, trust.” Adam put his hands together but ducked when more fire was thrown his way. There were more people pouring from the hotel and he knew for a fact he wouldn’t be able to handle all of them. “Look, princess, I know we got off on the wrong foot. Wrong side, really, but I wouldn’t be down here unless I needed to be, alright?!”

“Where is Vaggie?!” He thought Charlie was stuck on the ground, but that didn’t stop her from trying to lash out at him. She looked damn near feral – the appearance at the hearing paled in comparison to what he was seeing below. She had a long black tail that whipped behind her, and her bared fangs looked even sharper. At some point, a trident appeared in her hand and she had every intention of using it to its fullest, something Adam had to desperately block with his axe when she leapt up at him.

“Bitch, would you calm down so I can talk?!” Adam yelped when a black tentacle snaked around his ankle, slamming him into the ground. He only just managed to get free before a hail of bullets peppered the spot his wings had been in, and he tried to get into the air. “Cut it out!”

“If you stop trying to run, maybe they’d stop trying to catch you.” That fucking voice. Adam bristled, all of his feathers fluffing up indignantly before he swung his axe at the source that had been right behind his ear. There was a poof of red smoke that parted with the swing. “Oooh, not quick enough.”

“I’m really not in the mood to deal with you of all people!” Adam snapped. No, he did not need to see Lucifer, did not need to hear him. Of course he’d be at the damn hotel with his precious daughter, he should have seen that one coming. But he hadn’t interacted with him in so long… “Get out of here!”

“Nah. You threatened my daughter. Now, I know I can’t really do anything to you, but I’ll get in the way before I let you lay a finger on her.”

“I’m NOT going to hurt her!” Adam snapped. He swung at Lucifer again only to be caught by another black tentacle that dragged him to the ground, right where Charlie’s trident would have driven into his wing if it wasn’t for his axe that he just barely managed to bring up to block it. “Fucking Hell, bitch, stop!”

“Then tell me where she is. Where is my girlfriend?!” Charlie’s voice was echoing, and more and more of her body seemed to be changing. The ivory-colored skin started to darken, turning almost greyish black with red coursing visibly through her veins. First one hand, then both. He was watching her become almost an entirely different creature all together, very unlike the bumbling girl he first met five months ago.

“She’s in Heaven!” Adam stumbled back. He was trying really, really hard not to hurt anyone because that’s not why he was down there. He didn’t give a rat’s ass about any Sinner or hellborn, but at the moment he needed to be somewhere that wasn’t up in Heaven.

“We’ve already figured that out.” Charlie ended up charging him, pinning him to the ground. She’d grown a little larger, her claws becoming sharper and more dangerous. Adam could only bring his axe up to stop her jaws from snapping at him.

“Lucifer, fuck, call your freak of a daughter off!” Adam hissed, practically fighting to keep the claws away from him. It didn’t help that he was surrounded, the black tentacles actively trying to help Charlie tear into him. “I didn’t do anything to Vagg…sorry, I’ll say it right, Vaggie!”

“Yeah, we’ll need more than that.” Lucifer landed, standing at Adam’s head and frowning down at him. “…why are you here alone?”

“Because I…fuck, bitch, get OFF! I…Michael is calling the shots now and he took Lute and Vaggie and they’re gone and I didn’t know where else to go so I fucking asked Emily to open a portal to Hell because I didn’t want to stay in Heaven where I lost my best girl!” It all came tumbling out of Adam’s mouth before he could stop it, and he squeezed his eyes shut.

The pressure on his axe eased and the heat coming off of Charlie’s body seemed to dissipate. He chanced a peek and met her wide-eyed gaze, the red of her demonic side with the fear of her more normal appearance. She eased back on his axe, stumbling briefly to her feet before falling on her backside.

“W-…what?” she asked. The hurt in her voice was so clear that it even made Adam flinch a little. He slowly pushed himself into a sitting position, setting his axe down on the ground next to him and frowning. He hated that he didn’t have his helmet, but that had been left in pieces in his penthouse. Plus, it was a reminder of what he’d lost…

“After the court fiasco, Michael basically swooped in and took charge.” He glanced up at Lucifer who was wearing a concerned expression that Adam fully understood. Of course, Michael’s twin would know exactly how problematic that was. And though he really had a bone to pick with Lucifer right now, he’d come down here for…not exactly the bastard’s help, but not to start any fights. “We were…Lute and I were talking, and things were normal. But Sera wanted to talk to me. And when I got out…”

“What did you mean by ‘they’re gone’?” Charlie asked. There was a tremble to her voice.

“I…” Adam bit his lip. Sure, they were enemies, but he knew what she was feeling. Even if Vaggie hadn’t been in Hell for long, he understood how the news was affecting her because it was affecting him as well. No, he wasn’t feeling bad for the bitch he had every intention of killing. No, of course he wasn’t projecting onto someone else because the agony of losing Lute had caused irreparable damage to his mind to the extent that he was seeking help and fucking comfort in Hell of all damn places. He reached to rub at his arm, shifting his gaze down. “…Vaggie and Lute are following Michael now.”

The way Charlie seemed to shatter was almost visceral. She stared at him, tears gathering in the corner of her eyes as the rest of her demonic side fell away. Adam really didn’t like that look, but he recognized it – it was the very one he’d worn the moment he realized that Lute wasn’t there. That she was gone and never coming back because that’s what happened when you reset something that was artificially created. Every attempt he’d made had been met with nothing – no reaction, no slight change, just…bland, monotonous responses.

Lucifer stepped around Adam to pull Charlie against him, shooting Adam a frown that only made him bristle a little, his golden wings puffing up.

“This better not be a sick joke.”

“Do you see Lute anywhere?!” Adam snapped, throwing his hand around. “Why the fuck would I be lying and down here without her?” He could feel the seams starting to come undone for himself as well, and he ground his teeth. Really wishing he had his helmet now. “I saw it with my own two fucking eyes, Lucifer – they weren’t there. There was nobody fucking home. Lute attacked me and kicked me out of my own office!”

Lucifer furrowed his brows. Adam knew that they hadn’t spoken in a long, long time, but dammit they used to be close. He held Lucifer’s gaze for as long as he could before he felt his jaw aching at how tight he was clenching his teeth together. Just as he was about to lash out, however, Lucifer let out a breath.

“Why don’t we take this inside? This sounds a lot more serious than I think any of us initially thought.”

“Thank you. Fuck’s sake.” Adam picked himself up, scowling and brushing the red brimstone from his robes. He chanced another look at Charlie who was just looking so lost and upset, and his stomach clenched again. He did NOT care, not one fucking bit. No, it was just him feeling sympathy because she felt what he felt. That was it, that was fucking it. If this wasn’t happening, he would still be looking forward to killing her and her girlfriend and all her little hotel friends. Surely…that was it.

Lucifer led the way into the hotel but Adam knew he was on thin ice immediately. The crowds of Sinners were practically suffocating, and he kept his axe in hand as he followed after the fallen bastard. Thankfully, Lucifer waved away all but the small selection of what Adam could only assume was Charlie’s close-knit group, not that that was much better.

“Maybe she should go lay down?” Adam mumbled after a moment, watching Charlie. “She’s not looking too good there-”

“Don’t baby me.” Charlie frowned before shaking her head. “…I need to know everything that happened to Vaggie, and you’re going to tell me the truth. Got it?”

“Ain’t getting lies from me, girl.” Adam held his hands up. He settled heavily down on the couch, taking up the entire space and leaving no room for anyone else. Didn’t give a damn, he wasn’t here to make anyone comfortable. Hell, he didn’t even want to stay in the hotel, he just…he wasn’t even sure what he wanted anymore. With Lute gone and his title stripped, what the fuck was there for him?

“Go on, Adam. Let’s hear it then.” Lucifer helped Charlie sit down in the armchair across from him and stood next to it. Everyone else remained close to her, giving a very distinct feeling of him against them. Whatever, he would fight them all if he had to.

“Like I said, Michael’s made a power grab in Heaven.” Adam frowned, brows furrowing. “And in doing so, he reset all the exorcists to their base programming.”

“What do you mean base programming…?” Charlie’s voice wavered.

“Exorcists aren’t real souls,” he explained. Another thing Vaggie had kept, though in this situation he didn’t blame her; even Lute hated being reminded that she wasn’t real according to Heaven’s definition as they lacked organic souls. “And because of that, they can be…reset, essentially.”

“And Vaggie was…?”

“I’m not even sure how he got Vaggie.” Adam furrowed his brows. “It was only, like, a whole fucking day after the court case that I had to go meet with Sera. And in that time, he somehow managed to get Lute and a number of the other girls at the barracks. Vaggie was already with him when I confronted him.”

“So, it wasn’t…you or Lute?”

“Couldn’t have been. Right after the court fiasco, Lute and I were at my place eating dinner. And come morning, we were doing drills and I had to go see Sera. There was no time for either of us to make a grab.” Adam frowned more. “…and besides, we wouldn’t have anyway. When I said we’d hit your hotel first, I meant it – we had no interest coming down any sooner than that. Full offense, this place is the worst. Like I told you when we first met – it’s a fucking bummer, man. And that hasn’t changed. I wouldn’t be down here if I had no other choice, bitch.”

“Adam, watch it.” Lucifer growled but Adam rolled his eyes.

“With no due respect, Luci, I don’t give a rat’s ass what you think. I’ll call your delusional fucking brat whatever I damn well want. She’s just as responsible for this mess.”

“I didn’t do anything!” Charlie leapt to her feet, frowning at him. There was still that haunting, hollow look in her face but some of that anger sparked to life. That was good, because she still needed to be ready for an attack… “All I want to do is help my people.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ve heard the fucking spiel.” Adam brushed her off. “That disaster of a court case is what got me canned from my role as commander, and I wouldn’t have spilled our secret if it wasn’t for you-!”

“Adam!” Lucifer snapped. “This isn’t a competition. Get back to what’s important, tell us more about Michael and whatever is going on in Heaven. Throwing blame around won’t do or help anyone.”

“Fuck you, as if you care about anything else.” Adam crossed his arms, his wings curling more around himself. He looked off to the side before exhaling. “…as far as I know, the extermination is still scheduled for the start of next month. Which means we’ll be dealing with Michael leading an army of exorcists that have been completely redone. What that means, I don’t know. I did see Vaggie fitted with angelic steel wings, so that’s probably a good indication of what we may be looking forward to.”

“‘We’?” Charlie frowned at him. “What do you mean by we? This isn’t your fight-”

“It is now.” Adam dug his hands into his arms, gritting his teeth. “The bastard stole my best girl from me. Fucking erased her from existence and took the only fucking thing in Heaven worth wanting to stay for. Whether you want me to or not, I’m going to be part of this fight when it shows up.”

“Like we can trust that you won’t just join Heaven when they arrive!” one of the demons behind Charlie scoffed indignantly, scowling. Angel Dust, if Adam remembered correctly. The porn star. “You’ll just buddy up if things go south our side.”

“Piss off, slut. You don’t even know me!”

“I know that you’ve been nothin’ but trouble for Charlie, and you threatened us. Oh, and you revealed Vaggie’s secret which started the fight to begin with. Far as I’m concerned, you’re why she’s there in the first place.”

“I didn’t come here to be belittled.” Adam jumped to his feet, flaring out his wings. His pose had the others tensing up and grabbing for weapons as well. Maybe he could just clear the damn place out by himself. He’d come here with the sole purpose of getting away from Heaven, and maybe at least passing the news on to someone that would understand the situation he was currently dealing with. But if he needed to strike ahead of the extermination-

“Everyone, calm down!” Charlie’s voice echoed above the rising tension. She was standing, doing her best to hold herself together. There was a strength there that Adam had to admittedly respect, especially when she somehow managed to put on a damn smile despite everything she’d just heard. It didn’t quite reach her eyes, but she was trying. “Adam. Is there anything else you can tell us?”

Adam scowled. He looked to the hell-fucks behind Charlie, gripping his axe firmly in his hands to the point his knuckles ached, before he forced himself to calm down. Once he lowered his wings, the others across the room eased their stance as well. He flopped back down onto the couch and ran a hand through his hair, shifting his gaze to the fire.

“…that’s about it. Far as I know, Vaggie and Lute are both…” He didn’t want to say it again, he’d already brought it up a few times. But it was his reality that he had to embrace. “…gone.”

“And there’s…nothing we can do…?”

“I doubt it, kid.” Adam frowned. He sunk back onto the sofa and brought his hand to his forehead, shifting his gaze away from them and up towards the run-down ceiling of this ratty ass hotel. “…I’ve never sent an exorcist in to be reset before. I don’t know…what the odds are of it failing, but neither of them seemed to hesitate following Michael’s orders.” He shifted his gaze back to Charlie once he lapsed into silence.

Charlie shivered at that knowledge. She leaned back against Lucifer and worked to steady her breathing. That smile was still there, but it felt more like it was her attempts at bearing the pain; a grimace. Adam felt his stomach churn over on itself and he dropped his gaze to the floor. He refused to feel guilty, but maybe with how he was feeling, he felt responsible for her ending up this way. He wasn’t going to show any weakness here.

“…if that’s all, I guess I’ll go find somewhere to hang out until the inevitable war comes your way.” Adam made to get up, but Charlie shook her head.

“We have p-plenty of rooms here.” She was starting to break fully now, but Adam gave her the chance to force herself through what she wanted to say. “We have somewhere that you can stay. It’ll help us keep an eye on you, but…also means you’re here when they come.”

“Charlie, are you serious?” Angel hissed from behind her. Even Lucifer reached to touch her elbow, and Adam had to suppress a frustrated snort and roll of his eyes when he saw that.

“Fucking chill, I’m not here to cause problems. And I’ll keep repeating that until you believe me, or until we’re all dead because there’s an army of killer angel babes aiming their blades here.”

“Because of you.”

“Fuck you and get off my dick, you whore!”

“You couldn’t even afford me-”

Charlie suddenly pulled away from her father and went running for the stairs, cutting off the rest of Angel’s response. He grimaced, turning to watch her go along with everyone else in the hotel. Adam frowned a little himself and slumped back, running a hand down his face. Dammit all…

“Charlie said you can stay here.” Lucifer’s voice brought his attention back over. “And…I trust my daughter. But I swear, Adam, if you do anything to her or anyone here-”

“Oh my fuck, what do I have to do to prove that I’m not here to cause any problems?!” Adam rolled his eyes, pushing himself to his feet. “Show me to whatever ratty ass room I’m expected to stay in and let’s just be done with this conversation for now, okay? Fuck’s sake, you’re really annoying down here compared to Eden.”

Lucifer made a face but didn’t say anything, instead moving over to lead him up the stairs.

The inside of the hotel really was a run-down piece of shit, with peeling wallpaper and broken doors. The many eyes that seemed to be watching them from every corner also sent uncomfortable shivers down Adam’s spine, but he forced it to the back of his mind and focused on following the short bastard.

“Here.” Lucifer opened one of the doors into an equally disgusting room, and really Adam was questioning the sanitation of that damn bed. But…he was here now. And he quite literally did not have a way back up to Heaven.

“…I want to have a talk with you at some point,” Adam commented, turning to eye Lucifer. The shorter man met his gaze, brows furrowing.

“I’m more worried about my daughter right now. But if we can find time.”

“Good.” Always worried about someone other than Adam, tch. Still, he was happy to be alone when Lucifer closed the door. He wandered over to the window and sat down, peering up at the heavenly realm overlooking Hell. The fact that he wasn’t there anymore, that he wasn’t likely to ever go back at this rate, weighed heavily on him. Sera, Emily, the few people he actually liked. Lute… He squeezed his eyes shut before turning to throw himself onto the bed. Despite everything, despite…this mess, there was still a part of him that was damn near desperate enough to hope that Lute was still there. That he could still reach her somehow.

“You’re better than that, bitch,” he mumbled into the dusty pillow, hugging it to his face. “I know you are.”

Chapter Text

It had only been a few nights since Adam had gone down to Hell, but in that time, he barely got a wink of sleep. Every time he closed his eyes, he just kept seeing Lute’s mask and the lack of expression on it, he could feel the knee digging into his back as she pinned him down. Every single wrong thing about her kept playing over and over in his mind, stopping only when he gave up sleeping and instead went to walk aimlessly around the hotel. There were a few times he stumbled upon one of the patrons and startled them, but he’d just grumble about it being the wrong room and continue off in another direction. The lack of sleep was really showing on his face whenever he looked at his reflection after a shower. But it was more than just that; he was still in mourning. Sure, he was damned determined to believe that Lute was still in there, somehow, but there was a part of him that couldn’t help but be realistic. He’d lost his first two wives, why did he expect any different with his third?

Other than a few accidental encounters, he'd managed to avoid the hotel residents often with his wanderings and penchant for staying on the roof or even in the air of Hell, but eventually he couldn’t escape Charlie. Especially not when she cornered him at the end of a hall, the look on her face the only reason he didn’t just snap at her and waltz past.

“I need to know…if there’s anything you’re keeping from me.” If he was struggling to sleep, it was nothing compared to Charlie. She looked awful. And even though she was absolutely the enemy, and he’d laughed in her face during the courtroom incident, right now he understood what she was feeling. And maybe he felt a little bit bad about it because he understood the pain himself.

“Look, girl…I’ve told you everything.” Adam frowned. He rubbed the back of his neck before shaking his head absently. “I don’t have a plan or whatever, I don’t have an idea of what to do when I see her next, I don’t…” He stopped when he noticed her eyes were watering. “…not for your sake, but I wish I had a different answer. And I get it, you’re going to blame me-”

“No.” Charlie’s response was so soft he almost didn’t catch it. His brows furrowed as he watched her. “This is my fault. I shouldn’t have chased her off, I was just surprised, and…” She bit her lip before hugging herself. “I pushed her away, and n-now she’s gone.”

Adam blinked. At any other point since meeting Lucifer’s brat, at least up to Michael’s fucking take over, he wouldn’t have cared. Maybe even mocked her, laughed in her face, Hell – he could see exactly how Lute’s face would scrunch up with laughter, the back of her hand up against her chin as if holding her head from rolling off her shoulders, eyes closed and brows downturned in a cruel sneer. But in this moment, there was a deeply uncomfortable twist to his stomach. She blamed herself, and there was probably some truth to it, but…if he hadn’t revealed to the court the truth of the exterminations, maybe both women would still be here with them.

Cursing softly to himself, Adam walked over and absently draped a golden wing over her. It caught her off guard, and she blinked up at him with wide, red eyes and a face marked with fallen tears. The look was so pitiful that it made Adam look away, but he kept his wing above her.

“We’re still enemies,” he said firmly. “If none of this was happening, I’d be coming to this ratty ass hotel and tearing it down to its foundation. We’re only in this situation because someone else hurt both of us.” He heard a shaky exhale and bit the inside of his cheek. “…but…maybe I’m a little sorry about what happened in the courtroom. A little sorry, not much.”

He didn’t hear an immediate response and peeked down to check on her, finding her watching him with a wide range of emotions. It was hard to pin one down, and when she realized he was watching her, she reached to rub at her eyes to try and pull herself together.

“I’m sorry, too. About…what happened to Lute. No matter who they are, I wouldn’t wish something like that on anyone. Even my enemies.” Charlie shifted before taking a deep breath. “Even if your intention wasn’t to help me, thank you for telling me what happened to Vaggie. I won’t rest until I get her back.”

“…yeah. Same as me with Lute. Rest of my girls, too, if I can.” Adam eased. They had a common goal now, something he never would have dreamed of sharing with the Princess of Hell herself. But it did mean he wasn’t in this alone, and something about that at least eased the tension that had been aching his joints and pressing down on his spine since Lute was taken from him. He pulled his wing back and offered his hand. “Truce, then. We’re going to get our bitches back.”

Charlie blinked a few times. Her gaze dropped to his offered hand before she took a deep breath, reaching to mop the tears from her face, and used her dry hand to take his.

“We’re going to get our bitches back.”

The nice moment, brief as it was, erupted into chaos not a second later as it seemed like something had crashed into the hotel. The building trembled around them and Adam caught Charlie before she fell to the ground, brows furrowing as he looked around.

“What the fuck?” He looked to Charlie, but she just shook her head.

“I don’t know…loan sharks, maybe?” She pulled away from him and started running, Adam following after her as the hotel shuddered once more.

By the time they made it to the lobby, they could see the destruction that had managed to crack through the wall by the bar. The feline bartender held the tall spider twink in his arms, pulling him away from the rubble that seemingly fell on top of him. Outside, flashes of light showed what seemed to be whoever was attacking locked in combat with someone. Adam frowned and made to step forward, but a few playing cards dug into the ground at his feet.

“Hey!”

“Back the fuck off.” The feline demon hissed, his ears pinning back.

“Husk, what-?” Charlie started, but she was cut off.

“Should ask him, seeing how it’s one of his attacking us,” Husk hissed, adjusting his hold on the spider demon. It looked like he had been caught in the blast, but his chest was still rising and falling.

“What…?”

“I don’t know what the fuck he’s talking about.” Adam scowled.

“Bullshit! That out there is an angel, and she came right for the hotel!” Husk pointed in the direction of the ruined wall with the cards. Adam’s eyes widened and he immediately started running, ignoring the voices that carried after him. An angel…? What angel? The only ones that were ever sent down into Hell were his girls, but they were never sent alone. And extermination day was still a couple of weeks away…?

He stopped in his tracks at the edge of the blown open wall, his eyes widening as he took in the sight before him.

Lucifer, of course, could only try his best to reason with the aggressor. Adam knew the pact made between him and Sera, something that had been put in place as far back as the first extermination because they didn’t want him getting involved. He’d been perfectly willing and accepting to the idea at the time, but in this moment… It did him no favors against his heavenly opponent. Which meant it was mostly him trying to dodge around all of her attacks, because it most definitely was a her. Only…was it one of his girls?

The angel was dressed entirely different than a normal exorcist. Gone were the black, grey, and white uniforms, replaced instead by gilded armor that covered her body. Rather than curve-hugging, it was practical, with tight fitting metal from gauntlets to sabatons, capping off well sculpted greaves beneath a breastplate. There was a tasset hanging from around her waist that flowed much like the black feathers of her wings, which also had golden filigree covering the limbs and speckling her feathers. To complete the look, her helmet with the stitched screen was replaced by a solid helmet of metal with wings flanking each side. It only covered her eyes and nose, leaving her mouth visible. And on the front of the metal was a single, glowing blue eye.

Adam couldn’t tear his gaze away. He couldn’t tell which of his girls that was because she wasn’t wearing her helmet, and her body was entirely wrapped in gold armor that removed any defining curves. Even the weapon had changed – none of her girls used a damn lance. It took him a moment to really notice that what he thought was a gauntlet on one of her hands was actually the back of the lance itself, and when she next aimed to charge Lucifer, the lance was thrown forward to show that she no longer had an arm, leaving only a port for the hilt of the lance to slot into.

Lucifer managed to dodge the lance jab, but when it dug into the ground below, the exorcist used it to pull herself forward on connecting wires. The seraphim was caught off guard by the sudden movement, far faster than any one of Adam’s girls from before, and she managed to drive a glowing, blue spear that appeared in her remaining hand into his side.

“Dad!” Charlie’s voice startled Adam as she had come running up right behind him. The two watched as Lucifer whipped around, reaching to hold onto the magical spear.

“Charlie, get back inside! Adam, what the fuck is this?!”

“I don’t know!” Adam shook his head. When he tried to step forward, shadowy tendrils rose up around him, separating him from Charlie and aiming to wrap around him. A powerful push of his golden wings kept him out of their grasp, getting him into the air. “Would you fucking quit it?!”

The source of the tendrils, unsurprisingly, was the red bastard that seemed to be the focal point of where the shadows came from. One of his eyes was visible, looking back at Adam, and he could have sworn the iris was in the shape of a radio dial. When he turned back to the aggressive angel, the shadows followed. She had pulled her lance from the ground and was swooping through the tendrils, dipping and diving to avoid being grabbed. Adam hadn’t noticed it before with just the lance attack, but she was moving incredibly stiffly; when she got out of range of the shadows, she hung in the air almost as if something was suspending her other than her flapping wings. Her limbs jerked and her head rolled, twitching around as the blue eye surveyed the surrounding area. Something was horribly, horribly wrong… The way she once more charged at Lucifer, ignoring the shadows entirely, was also concerning. She knew about the contract, too…

Lucifer growled and tried to use his six wings to buffet the exorcist, aiming to knock her off course, but she aimed the lance again. When he tried to shift forms, however, his body only partially changed and the spear in the side of his body glowed brighter. It pushed a shout out of him that was amplified when the lance tore through one of his wings.

“DAD!” Charlie’s voice again, and she started running forward when his body lurched in the sky.

Adam frowned, watching the way Lucifer shuddered before shifting his gaze down to Charlie. His brows furrowed in thought, but his body was already moving before he could stop himself. Wings folding to his back, he went into a steep dive towards her. They flared out to ease his descent, but he still more or less drove her into the ground. He was sure that she was a strong bitch, but he still held back.

On any other day at any other point, her surprised and pained shout would have satisfied him – he would have taunted her, mocked her for her weakness, celebrated the fact that he had wiped that damn smile off her face. Today…it made him flinch, but it got the reaction he was looking for. He felt the tendrils wrap around his body, ripping him away from Charlie and squeezing the breath out of him. He wheezed, watching as Charlie pushed herself up shakily, black blood leaking from her nose and the cut on her cheek that she’d gotten when he’d slammed her down. When her gaze shifted to him, she looked equal parts hurt and furious, the red bleeding into her eyes.

“You lied to me!” she shouted, the ties in her hair snapping away and causing it to flow wildly around her, curling around the horns jerking out of her head. “I trusted you and you lied to me-!”

“I didn’t!” Adam wheezed. He struggled in the tendrils and shifted his gaze back up to the angels in the air, watching Lucifer struggle to hold back the lance trying to impale him, his five good wings flapping wildly to keep him airborne. Charlie’s voice had brought his attention down, and he looked just as pissed off when he saw the state she was in. The shadows squeezed harder around Adam, and he did his best to maintain his breathing. “Lucifer! I struck a hellborn!”

Lucifer froze. He held Adam’s gaze for a second before he whipped around. With his grasp on the lance, he was able to drag the exorcist closer to grab her by her helmeted head and spike her entire body down into the ground. Unlike what Adam had done to Charlie, Lucifer didn’t hold back – the giant crater created around the body of the angel was wide and deep. He growled, ripping out the glowing spear and diving after her, striking her even harder. Adam could feel the power of it as far away as he was and it made him flinch.

“L-let…me go,” he tried to bite out, looking first at the radio demon before shifting his eyes to Charlie. “It could be Vaggie.” Her eyes widened and she turned to run in that direction, leaving Adam wheezing in the shadowy grasp. He turned his gaze to the bastard holding him, eyes narrowing. It definitely didn’t look like he was going to let him go, so he pushed his magic to coalesce in his hand, manifesting his axe and slashing it through the shadows. More tried to stop him, but he once again took to the sky and flew the short distance over to where the crater was, and where Charlie slid down to try and stop Lucifer.

“Dad, wait! Don’t kill her!” She caught his sleeve, freezing the punch he was about to slam into the metal face of the unmoving figure.

Adam hesitated, lowering himself on the other side, unable to tear his gaze away from her body. Even like this, her limbs twitched a little, almost as if something was still trying to move them even after the damage done to the armor. When he landed, Lucifer rose his voice but he didn’t hear what he said, flat out ignoring the Morningstars in favor of crouching next to the angelic form. With the wings not moving, he was able to make out the coloration of the feathers. His stomach twisted in realization and he let out a shaky breath.

“Lyre…” He was gentle as he touched the helmet on her head, but when he attempted to remove it, it held fast. His brows furrowed in confusion. The blue eye was still displayed across the front of it, and the longer he stared at it, the brighter it seemed to glow until an image was projected up just above them. It made him fall back with a surprised sound, his gaze snapping up to the figure that flickered into view.

Michael…Adam felt himself bristle as he watched the angel stare down at the exorcist body below, his arms behind his back and his six wings held out proudly. His voice came through, flickering a little from the damage to Lyre’s helmet.

“You will go down there and you will do as much damage as you can. Send back the reports and diagnostics during the battle, and test your new equipment on the Devil.”

“Yes, sir.”

“And give him this message: Brother, Heaven is no longer interested in playing your games. You have failed to contain your realm, and with angelic blood on your hands, you no longer get a say in how we handle it. Your people have enjoyed freedom in an afterlife meant for punishment – now, they will fall to the holy wrath of our guardians. Stay out of my way, and maybe I will allow you and your daughter a safe haven in a realm to be purged.”

“Yes, sir.”

The image cut, and the blue eye on Lyre’s helmet grew dim.

Adam stood there, staring down at her for a long time as he repeated the message in his head. The way she spoke, the responses to Michael, were so robotic and static – exactly as Lute had sounded before. Knowing that all of his girls were likely in a similar state made him feel sick to his stomach, and he had to turn away from the form for a moment and take a deep breath.

“Adam.” Lucifer’s voice caught his attention. He closed his eyes, tilting his head back and trying to stabilize himself, before turning back to the seraphim.

“What?”

Lucifer socked him in the cheek as soon as he turned, making him stumble back. It surprised him more than hurt, but then he bristled furiously, flaring his wings out behind him and snarling.

“What the fuck was that for?!”

“You hurting my daughter.” Lucifer shook his fist out before putting his hand over where he was still bleeding from the angel’s attack, gold leaking over his fingers.

“You were getting your ass kicked,” Adam growled before he dropped it. That was deserved, he understood, but at least it helped them stop Lyre.

Speaking of, her chest was still rising and falling weakly, indicating she was alive. Her visible mouth was partially open with her breathing, but otherwise she looked like she’d crumbled almost like a doll. Adam sat down and carefully pulled her into his lap, folding his golden wings around her form. Seeing one of his girls like this hurt enough, but imagining Lute…

“This is what you meant?” Charlie’s voice was soft. Her nose was still bleeding, but she ignored it in favor of crouching down next to Adam to look. “Her name was…Lyre?”

“Is.” Adam hugged the form tighter, gritting his jaw. “She’s still alive.”

“But not herself.” The way Charlie said it made him tense up. Once again, he attempted to remove the helmet over Lyre’s face, but it seemed almost glued. What the fuck had Michael done to her…? His hand shifted to the missing arm, the lance loose and laying a few feet away but still connected by a series of wires that plugged into her empty shoulder. He stroked the spot, unable to even find where the metal ended and the flesh began.

“Not herself,” he agreed weakly. He clutched Lyre to his chest before pushing himself to his feet, cradling her. “She’s out for now, but I need to know what all…this is. And if every one of my girls is like this now…”

“This was only a test, too.” Lucifer looked up to where his brother’s image had been projected, grimacing and rubbing his bloodied side. “…we’re looking at a far more dangerous situation if they’re made stronger than that.”

Adam took a deep breath. He once more looked to Lyre, reaching to gently stroke the part of her cheek was visible, before making a decision. He started back towards the hotel, pausing only to cleave the wires connecting the lance to the shoulder port. One less weapon to worry about, though his girls had never been able to create glowing spears like the one she had injured Lucifer with. That definitely came from whatever Michael did to her…

“Adam? Hey, what are you doing?” Charlie stiffened, immediately running after him. He could hear Lucifer following her in turn.

“I’m taking her inside,” Adam responded, not bothering to look. He hugged Lyre closer to his chest.

“But she’s-”

“She’s one of my girls. You invited me to stay at the hotel, well I’m bringing what belongs to me inside with me.” Adam’s grip tightened. He once again looked down at the unconscious angel. “…and if all of them are like this, we need to figure out how this armor works to help them. That includes Vaggie.”

There was no response behind him. He had to be at least a little grateful that he had Vaggie to leverage against Charlie, otherwise it would be a lot harder to get help. Though…the state Lyre was in made him more and more concerned with what Michael had actually done to them. Without getting the mask off, he couldn’t check over her face or even see if there was anything in her gaze that wasn’t vacant. They needed to figure this out.

Chapter Text

Emily frowned. In only a couple of weeks, Heaven had become almost unrecognizable. Everything in Hell and with the exorcists had been kept under wraps, even from her, with only Sera and Adam knowing. Now that it was out, Heaven itself was changing. Winners were actively confused as to why there were armored guardians around the city, why there were images of Adam being shown around asking if anyone had seen him, and why there was a curfew. Night time wanderings were restricted with the risk of Hell actively looming, or so Michael said. As if making everyone afraid was going to help whatever he was planning.

And speaking of the guardians, seeing them was even worse for her. Sure, she hadn’t actually known many of the exorcists outside of Lute, and even she was loosely known through Adam. But seeing them standing still, unmoving, on the corners of walkways or flanking important buildings was disconcerting. All clad in gold, all moving stiffly, all silent and expressionless with only the single, blue eye magically adorning the helmet. Winners might not see them as anything more than machines, but Emily knew better…

She glanced over her shoulder, eyeing up the one following after her. The guardian had essentially been glued to her since Michael assigned them to important angels of Heaven. He claimed they were to keep everyone safe – the council, other seraphim, anyone with any small amount of power. But Emily was entirely unconvinced of that. He didn’t care about their safety, not at all. It sent a shiver up her spine when she watched the glowing blue eye on the helmet, focused entirely on her, the head only moving whenever she did to keep her firmly in its line of sight.

“I wish you would at least give me privacy in my own home,” Emily mumbled quietly when she arrived at the base of her own penthouse, shoving the doors open and passing by another guardian. So many, and it made her heart ache. Was Sera complicit in all of this? Was she just…letting it happen? Had she put her foot down? It was difficult to imagine Sera simply accepting what seemed like a complete shift in Heaven’s atmosphere, but…it was also difficult to imagine Sera agreeing to the extermination of human souls, yet that had been revealed.

How was she supposed to ensure happiness now, when the threat of a Hellish invasion was at the forefront of everyone’s mind thanks to Michael?

Emily groaned and dropped face first onto her bed, tugging at her hair. When she heard the metal footsteps of her stalker, she flicked a finger and simply closed the door in her face. She half expected the guardian to simply shove through and into her room, but thankfully she had a moment of reprieve where she could just lay in bed and think.

Adam’s disappearance had caused quite a stir in the high council, and of course she was questioned as people mentioned seeing her follow him home. But all she said was that she helped him lay down after being unnecessarily brutalized in front of the seraphim court. That had at least shut a number of them up, because no one wanted to admit that a guardian had thrown a Winner to the ground. They were trying to push that these…things were necessary for everyone’s safety, after all. But it did at least mean that Adam was safe in Hell, as safe as an angel could be down there. She sincerely hoped she hadn’t caused problems there for Charlie…

“Ugh.” Emily rolled onto her back and dug the heels of her hands into her eyes, rubbing them in frustration. “I wish I knew what to do, Sera. None of this feels right…” She looked towards a number of pictures she had adorning her wall throughout her bedroom, primarily focusing on those of her smiling with the other seraphim. Even in a still image, the smile felt so fake now. Where once she looked up to her, thought herself lucky to learn from such a storied member of Heaven’s elite, now she was almost bitter towards her.

The sound of wings pulled her from her stupor, and she sat up in bed to look outside. It was beginning to get dark out, so the curfew was soon to be in effect. It wouldn’t be surprising if someone was going home and passing by her penthouse, but…they weren’t going in the direction of the homestead part of Heaven. She moved closer to her window and continued to look until she finally saw the six silvery wings of the tallest angel in the realm. She was flying quickly, and headed into the city, flanked by two guardians.

“Sera…?” Emily frowned. She cast her gaze back towards the door where her own was before she hopped down and ran over to her closet. She ditched her puffy white dress in favor of some tight fitting, darker clothing that wouldn’t stand out as much and gave her a bit more mobility. She hadn’t exactly trained to be anything other than a council member, but she did work out at least a little – it would help being more mobile. And, with one more glance back towards the door where her own guardian was, she quietly snapped her fingers and created at least a somewhat convincing looking lump in her bed. If they weren’t programmed to investigate, maybe that would be enough…

She carefully pushed open one of her windows and took to the sky, keeping lower to the ground and in the shadows of the tall buildings cast by the setting sun. She had to do her best to avoid the more active guardians now roaming the city, losing track of Sera a number of times as she had to duck out of sight. Everything was just so tense and uncomfortable; it wasn’t the Heaven Emily recognized. It wasn’t home…

Eventually, Sera landed at the base of the main court of Heaven, a lucky break for Emily since she was used to the building and knew its interior. Of course, it was also completely surrounded by guardians as well. Emily frowned, watching for an opening after Sera and her escort had vanished through the door. Her smaller form became quite the boon once she was able to move behind a series of bushes, finding a small window that was propped open. She moved as silently as she could, slipping inside and landing on the cold linoleum within.

Her breathing was almost deafening in the otherwise silent building, and she quickly covered her mouth with her hand. Her heart was thundering wildly in her chest, but she willed it to calm so she could listen for sounds. When she heard nothing, she carefully started creeping through the halls, taking silent steps rather than flapping any of her wings to try and avoid being heard. It was tense, and it was something she’d never had to do before, so the fear of being caught mixed with the guilt of doing something she knew was against the rules made her jumpy and twitchy. But she also had to do this, because she needed to know what Sera was up to. She just…needed to know.

After a while of wandering, she finally heard voices coming from further up in the tower, echoing softly down from the spiraling staircase. So far, Emily hadn’t seen any signs of guardians within the building itself, but she did hear the telltale sound of metal footsteps echoing as well, cutting off the voices so she couldn’t tell who was speaking. She bit her lip before carefully ascending. The first set of guardians became visible mere seconds before they would have definitely seen her, and she had to veer off to the side to duck behind a marble statue. Her fear had only worsened with how close she was getting to being found, and she had half a mind to turn and run back home.

Only…what good would that do? Heaven was in a miserable state, Winners were being terrorized by the concept of an invasion that didn’t seem to even exist, and the exorcists had been twisted into something else. No one else was trying to do anything, no one else seemed to even care.

Emily closed her eyes and worked to calm her hammering heart once again. When the echo of metal footsteps grew distant, she slipped back out from around the statue and continued her ascension to the same level that the voices were coming from. Now that she was closer, and the metal clang of footsteps wasn’t as deafening, she recognized Sera’s voice. And…Michael’s. Her stomach churned a little as she carefully crept closer, moving down the hall only to jerk back when, around the corner, she saw almost a full dozen guardians standing outside of the door where the voices were coming from. Definitely…not getting too much closer. It meant she had to strain her ears to try and listen to what they were talking about; clearly they’d been talking for a little while as they were arguing.

“-can’t keep this up, Michael. Our souls are actively hiding in their own realm. Very little have been able to enjoy the activities they once did because of the fearmongering that you have caused.” Sera’s voice sounded frustrated, and if Emily peeked just a little around the corner, she could see her shadow move across the door. It looked like they were in her office, or…at least what was once her office. Had Michael taken over that much…?

“It is a temporary and necessary state to keep Heaven in,” Michael responded. He almost sounded bored, as if he was hardly paying attention to her. “You have kept the truth from them for far too long, Sera. They have every right to know if Hell is a threat. And, given an angel has fallen in its depths, there is for sure a risk.”

“An exorcist, not a Winner.” Sera was moving again, Emily watched as her shadow moved along the walls. “You make it sound as if every Winner in Heaven is in danger.”

“As far as they are aware, they are. It gives credence for cleansing the realm – public support is important, after all.” Once again, Michael seemed to just brush her off. “So what if they don’t know that it was just a tool we broke down there? The risk is still very real, you even believe that Hell is uprising.”

“That…is different, I did not cause a panic across the promenade.” Silence for a few moments before Sera said something almost too soft for Emily to hear, so she strained her ears more. “…and they are not just tools. I’m not sure that I agree with your…choice regarding them.”

“What, the guardians? They’re far better and far less tacky than the pimped up pinup girls that Adam used to use them as. Seriously, you agreed to their dress code?”

“Adam was choosing to be their leader, so I left the decision up to him.”

“And thus, you had a group of secret, artificial souls dressed in thigh highs and tight-fitting clothing that offer very little in the ways of protection.” Another bit of silence, and Emily couldn’t help but scowl a little. It wasn’t like they had been showing any skin, the outfits weren’t that outrageous, surely…?

“They were still effective for thousands of years at maintaining the population in Hell, something that you never aided me with despite being a warrior, need I remind you.”

Even from out here, Emily could feel the tension start to rise. The silence was near palpable before she heard the heavier footsteps of Michael walking through the room, and she squinted at the cracked door in an effort to see what was going on. Sera really did not sound happy at all about any of this, but she also wasn’t actively trying to stop him. Not that…Emily really knew what she could do in this situation; Michael really had his fist near over everything in Heaven now.

Unfortunately, she couldn’t see much from her vantage point. She looked around the hall and noticed a little alcove just below a window that was too tight for most angels, but her stature would be able to fit in. If she could just…

One of the guardians turned her head at a sound coming from the room, and Emily quickly moved to the closer little spot. She held her breath, waiting to see if any of the guardians had seen her, before slowly and carefully peeking around the pillar in front. Her wings were folded so tightly around her body, and she willed her halo to lessen its glow so she wasn’t visible. At least, she hoped she wasn’t… But now that she was here, the quieter voices were once again more audible.

“…so, you’re going to listen to what I have to say. You forget, you already had your chance to show your capabilities of controlling Hell and ensuring the safety of the souls in Heaven. You have failed, and in doing so started an uprising. You failed before in Eden, and you failed now.” Michael’s voice sounded different now – he was barely concealing his rage and frustration, and there was almost a growl in his tone as he spoke. Emily furrowed her brows and ducked back around when she heard some of the guardians shifting as if seeking entry into the room.

“Adam was effective at quelling said uprising. And there is no way for Hell to even receive access to Heaven without someone here aiding them.” Sera’s voice sounded strained, but she was still holding her own. Maybe there was something to admire about her…but Emily shook her head. “If you are going to maintain the extermination schedule, we will see how effective your supposed guardians are.”

“Oh, I assure you, they will be far more useful than the dressed-up swine that Adam made use of.” Michael’s footsteps grew louder, and the door creaked somewhat, spilling golden light into the otherwise dim hall. Emily was afraid that he would see her, and she quickly pulled backwards into the alcove and covered her mouth, pressing as close to the wall as possible. But it seemed he was only opening the door to let in a number of guardians because he stepped right back into the room. “As you can see, I’ve put a lot of effort into improving them. And, most importantly, they follow orders without hesitation.”

The silence that followed made Emily squirm even more, but she was able to pull her hands away from her mouth and take a steadying breath. She really wished she could see what was going on inside of the room; this stillness seemed far more tense than the prior ones, and she peeked around the pillar again to try and see what was going on.

“…you replaced their limbs? Michael, regardless of what you think of them, these are still angels. You cannot simply replace parts of them like they are…machines!” Sera had never sounded that angry, not in all the centuries Emily had known her. Emily furrowed her brows and clutched her knees, taking a moment to study one of the nearest guardians. If what Sera said was right, then…she noticed that the nearest one seemed to be lacking defining features around her hip area, and sure enough her legs looked to be entirely made of golden springs and armor plates, no sign of flesh. He had mutilated them…?!

“You barely recognized them as souls yourself, Sera. Don’t try and lecture me about what is and isn’t appropriate.” Michael’s voice only made Emily bristle even more. He was so nonchalant about twisting the exorcists, as if he truly saw them as nothing more than constructs. “Besides, I’ve sent one of them down already to prove that they’re far more capable than the exorcists ever were. Not only have I tested a number of limb replacements, I’ve also given them the ability to wield magic – something you seemed to expressly forbid when they were exorcists. Why is that, Sera?”

Sera didn’t answer right away. She remained quiet inside of the room, to the point Emily thought she wasn’t going to talk at all, before it came out soft and under her breath.

“…I did not want them capable of using magic, in case of complications.”

“In case they went rogue and suddenly the enemy has holy magic that we both know can actually harm and even kill angelic beings,” Michael supplied for her.

“It does not matter now. Why did you send one of these…things down without consulting the council first? With everything else going on, all actions in Hell should be done with the universal agreement of the council members-”

“Spare me the lecture, Sera. You didn’t consult the council before approving the creation of the exorcists; I’m just following in your footsteps.” Michael was moving again, and the guardians he had brought into the room were sent back out into the hall. “Regardless of what you think of me, I’m taking a more active role in keeping Heaven safe rather than your passive role of communicating with my useless slob of a brother. Despite all of your discussions with him, you still humored his daughter bringing her blasphemous self up into Heaven, alongside a traitor might I add, and nothing has changed. Nothing has improved, Hell is still interested in seeing Heaven fall.”

Silence filled the room and the hallway outside for even longer than the prior moments, making Emily think the conversation was over. She looked around, planning her way out, but was stopped by Sera’s voice, so soft it was almost a whisper.

“This is not right, Michael… We should reconsider, meet with the council and discuss further actions regarding the guardians. We should not be treating other angels like this.”

“Sera…let me make this easy and clear for you.” Michael’s shadow moved across the doorway, and Emily frowned as she watched his six wings flare out behind him. “I will do whatever it takes to keep Heaven safe. I will not let you nor your favorite little angel get in my way. If you aren’t willing to listen, maybe I can go through her instead.”

There was a sharp, audible gasp from Sera on the other side, and a familiar flash of light indicated her form shifting to her true and proper one, beak and all. Emily frowned, feeling her legs tense up and her wings quiver.

“If you are suggesting what I think you are, you best watch yourself, Michael,” Sera warned. The rage was similar to when she had seen the guardians’ limbs…it sent a shiver of nerves rushing down Emily’s spine, settling uncomfortably in the pit of her stomach.

“Oh, Sera.” Michael didn’t sound perturbed by it at all, however. “You think you still have some degree of control here, but you don’t. And if you try anything, you know I can take everything from you. Everything.” His voice dipped lower and echoed some, carrying down the hall like a haunting promise. It made Emily brace herself, preparing to bolt.

The tension was near palpable, spilling into the hallway, and as soon as the guardians weren’t looking, Emily slipped around the corner again. She heard Sera’s voice float down the hall after her.

“Alright. You have my word – I will not try anything.”

Emily had no idea what to make of what she had just overheard, but she definitely knew she wasn’t supposed to know any of that. The hammering of her heart felt stronger and even more painful, and the tension had started to pool tears in the corners of her eyes. She had never before felt so hopeless and lost, and…and…

Caught.

Just as she slipped out of the back of the hall, she turned and came face to face with a guardian. It wasn’t the one assigned to her, she was able to recognize that, but a wave of heart-stopping dread filled her. She couldn’t feel her limbs, couldn’t move her body, she just…stood there. Staring at the single, blue eye peering down at her. Behind it, she noticed this guardian had mechanical wings instead of the gilded black and white of every other guardian.

“…V-Vaggie,” she offered weakly. “I know you…have no reason to trust me, but if there’s anything of you left in there…” She wasn’t sure what would happen if she got caught, but it definitely wouldn’t look good being found outside of the courtroom just after Michael and Sera had such a conversation as the one she had overheard. “P-please…?”

Vaggie stared blankly at her, unmoving. Emily held her gaze for a time, trying to still her breathing and calm her heart, unsure of if she could even move. She glanced around, expecting the sound of other guardians showing up, but…nothing. No one was coming, at least she didn’t think so.

She took a chance and moved away from the wall, a few steps in the direction of her penthouse. The golden helmet turned so that the blue eye could continue to track her, but she still never moved. Emily kept moving further and further away, but Vaggie never shifted more than to watch her.

“If…if you can hear me, I promise I’m going to try and figure out how to help you,” she whispered. Even if this got back to Michael, she wanted to help. She had to…this wasn’t right, this just…

Emily opened her wings and took to the skies, leaving Vaggie behind just watching her. So far, so good… And she was able to slip into her open window without being caught outside. There was a part of her that was worried, deeply so, that she was allowed to get home on purpose. But her shadow was still outside of her room, she checked when she opened the door, and the guardian didn’t react any differently. Maybe it was all…fine.

It was a relief to get into her shower, standing under the warm water and just letting the tense evening wash down the drain at her feet. She closed her eyes, running Michael and Sera’s conversation through her mind, hearing the words they had said. She still hadn’t gotten her answer if Sera was okay with everything, but she was at least attempting to stand up to Michael. Though, whatever leverage he had, it was definitely stopping Sera from going further.

But for the time being, Emily was too tired to think more on it. She collapsed into bed with her nightgown and just covered the back of her head with a pillow, groaning into the mattress. For now, she would just…embrace sleep and forget about the horrors that Heaven had become.

Chapter Text

“And what do we do if she wakes up and blasts a hole in the hotel?”

“I don’t know.” Charlie frowned. It was a good question, though – Adam had brought the unconscious angel up to his room in the hotel, and no one knew what to do with her. So far, it seemed she was still unconscious, though how long that would last as it had already been a number of days… It had everyone on edge, and Charlie really couldn’t blame them. For the most part, she’d made sure the floor Adam was staying on was empty, not that it would help if this Lyre individual started shattering walls again.

“She could kill anyone here, or she could blow the place up!” Angel in particular was irate after having the wall blown in on top of him. He was still nursing an ice pack on the lump, a scowl settled on his face. “I don’t know that we can trust him, Charlie.”

“So far, he hasn’t caused any issues.” Charlie frowned. She still didn’t trust Adam, and her face still hurt from where he’d driven her into the ground, but…so far, he had kept his word. Even against Lyre, he gave Lucifer the means to stop her attack. Maybe he really was telling the truth.

Charlie looked around the hotel at everyone, a number of cannibals lingering by the stairs along with the usual group, before coming to a stop. They needed to know more about whatever had been done to the exorcists, because if Vaggie… Her heart ached, imagining Vaggie in a similar state. The helmet was firmly stuck to Lyre’s head, and she was missing an entire arm. How anyone could do this was beyond her…

“Husk, can you make sure people run through their drills today?” Charlie looked over at the bartender, who just nodded his head. “I’m going to go call someone. We need more help here…”

She gripped her phone, stepping outside of the hotel and sitting against the wall, her fangs digging a little into her lip. She wasn’t…entirely sure who could help – Lucifer was already there, and her mom still wasn’t responding. Just in case, she did try yet again, listening to the familiar dial tone on the other end. Once, twice, thrice, and…the fourth carried it to voicemail. Rather than leave another one, she simply ended the connection and buried her face against her knees. Even after all this time, and having her dad back, it still hadn’t filled the hole left by her mother’s disappearance.

Her fingers were typing before she could stop herself, and she peeked above her knees to check the short message she had sent. To Vaggie… She’d been doing this nearly every hour, in between training and meals and planning. They’d received a basic collection of Carmilla’s weapons, but Charlie sent in some special orders for her companions that would better compliment their fighting capabilities. At least they could practice, but it wasn’t enough of a distraction to stop her from sending messages.

’I miss you, so much. And I know you aren’t getting these, but I want you to know that I’m going to get you back.’

Charlie frowned at the message, hugging her legs a bit closer to her chest. Slowly, she scrolled back through the history, feeling her chest ache when she realized just how many messages she had sent now without a single response. It helped her feel better to try, even if it amounted to nothing. Her scrolling carried her up to the very first discussion about if they could talk when she got back from the Carmine factory.

So far, the overlord had been incredibly helpful. And…maybe someone familiar with angelic steel could help further…

“Do you have any updates to provide?” Charlie almost jolted when the voice came through her phone’s speaker. She hadn’t realized that her fingers had gone to her contacts and pulled up the arm dealer’s direct line. Her cheeks burned in embarrassment but she cleared her throat, rubbing at her eyes.

“Y-yes! I…sort of. Sorry, Ms. Carmine, I wasn’t even thinking when I called.” Charlie shifted before picking herself up, walking away from the hotel to travel across the stretch of land between it and the main road. “Another portal opened above the hotel a few days ago.”

“And what came of it?”

“An exorcist. Or…well, whatever exorcists are now?” Charlie exhaled. “The angel that came through was covered in angelic steel, and one of her arms had been replaced with a lance. A-and her armor and helmet seem just…fused to her. Like it’s her body now. We can’t get it off, she hasn’t woken up, and none of us are really sure what to do.” She realized she was rambling and her cheeks warmed. “Sorry, that’s probably more than you need to know.” There was silence on the other end, and she frowned a little before peeking at her phone. “Ms. Carmine…?”

“I wish to see this…exorcist. I will be there within an hour.” Charlie didn’t even get a chance to respond before the line went dead. She pulled the phone away from her ear and stared at it, brows furrowing. Not what she had expected, but she couldn’t deny a slight bit of hope creep into her. Surely if anyone could figure out what next steps were, it would be her?

As promised, Carmilla arrived flanked by her daughters before the top of the hour. Charlie opened the door and offered a small smile before standing aside. The lobby had been cleared of almost everyone else save for the employees and Adam, who was holding Lyre in his lap. When he saw the overlord, he tensed up, covering Lyre with his wings and narrowing his eyes.

“Ms. Carmine, welcome to the Hazbin Hotel!” Charlie almost leapt into her practiced speech, but this wasn’t a potential patron, so she instead led the way over. “Adam, Ms. Carmine is here to look at Lyre.”

“Don’t trust her.” Adam scooted back, his feathers starting to puff up.

“Adam-”

“I am here for benign purposes, First Man.” Carmilla’s silvery gaze bore into Adam, unflinching and sharp. She gestured towards the sofa with a large hand. “Do not waste my time, I am uninterested in harming the girl – I simply want to see what we are working with.”

Charlie half expected Adam to retaliate, especially with the sneer plastered on his face. Instead, he carefully carried Lyre over and laid her out on the couch, staying close and still watching Carmilla distrustfully. But the overlord simply ignored him, moving to crouch next to the fallen form. While she worked, Odette and Clara stood behind her, giving her space so that no one crowded her.

The first while was silent. Carmilla’s large hands were deft as they inspected the sections where the golden armor was bonded to the woman’s body. In particular, she focused on the helmet, her brows furrowing as she attempted to remove it just as they all had. She touched where the blue eye glowed from the display, tilting her head slowly to the side.

“Odette, please pass me my supplies.” She held a hand out, her daughter promptly passing the container over. She dug out a number of tools, one of which was used to scan over the visor. Her brows furrowed some. “This is Michael’s magic.”

“Yeah. Fucker took over Heaven.” Adam folded his arms, tapping his foot impatiently. “…took all my girls and, I’m assuming, made them into this.”

Carmilla glanced out of the corner of her eye towards Charlie, and she bit her lip. No doubt Carmilla understood what that meant for her as well, and she wrapped her arms around herself. She couldn’t hold that sharp gaze and had to drop her own, and she felt Angel lead her to the armchair to sit down.

The overlord pulled out a number of other tools, none of which Charlie recognized the purposes of. She could only assume they had something to do with Carmilla’s profession as an arms dealer, because that was really the only explanation. But she did lean over to try and watch as Carmilla managed to get a thin edge of one tool between flesh and metal. She leaned over the slumped body of Lyre more and pulled over what looked more like a blade, sliding it under the small opening she’d made beneath the helmet.

A few moments later, Lyre seemed to come around. She began moving, letting out a startled sound as Carmilla continued to slide the blade further and further underneath. When she tried to move, Carmilla’s gaze snapped to Adam.

“Hold her still, or I will do more harm than good,” she snapped. Adam bristled but he did move over to hold Lyre down. She tried turning her head away, but he reached an arm around her neck and held her in a headlock for Carmilla to continue working.

“What are you…doing?”

“There seems to be…something, like wires, holding the helmet to her cranium.” Carmilla furrowed her brows. She was able to pull up some of the helmet, though she still had a way to go as she continued to cut. Lyre only struggled more, her wings starting to flap. It required Odette and Clara to come around to fully hold her down.

It was a long while of fighting, cutting, and restraining before the helmet was finally free enough to be pulled from her head. What was beneath, however, was nightmare inducing. Charlie felt nausea threaten to overcome her, and she brought a hand up to her mouth. Behind her, all four of Angel’s hands that had been comforting her tensed and tightened their grip, and she heard him curse under her breath.

Lyre’s entire face had been mangled – there were many points where the wires had been embedded directly into her flesh, now leaking gold around parts that still poked free. Her eyes were gone, leaving empty sockets that had more wires that were still connected to the helmet, the inside of which was an intricate, nightmarish layer of cords and coils, some of which still connected to parts of the woman’s skull. And despite still having hair, large chunks had been torn free to make room for the helmet to attach firmly to her skull.

There was so much blood, and so much damage, that Charlie had to finally turn away or she knew she was going to vomit. Seeing that didn’t help her concerns for Vaggie, and now all she could imagine was the empty socket she already had with wires protruding from that in much the same way as with Lyre. Her face mangled and twisted like this… The shudder ran down her spine and she almost choked on a horrified sob.

Lyre was still squirming, her breathing hitching some. Charlie took a steadying breath and glanced back in time to see Carmilla reach with the blade and start cleaving the rest of the wires connecting the helmet to the woman’s eye sockets, setting the item aside and really looking at the damage done to her face. Despite how stoic the overlord normally was, even she had a tightness around her eyes that made her look uncomfortable with what she was seeing. She caught the girl’s cheeks, tilting her head from side to side, before closing her eyes. Her hand began to glow with a deep, saturated color.

“The fuck are you doing?” Adam hissed, moving to stop her. But Odette held an arm out, stopping him while the overlord worked. The magic carried into Lyre, causing her body to tense up before slumping.

“…Artificial souls are no different than manufacturing inanimate, angelic items,” Carmilla stated. “And that just so happens to be my specialty. For the time being, I have essentially put her to a rest state so I do not have to worry about her thrashing while I investigate further, now that I can better see what I am working with. Release her.” Her daughters stepped back and Adam, after hesitating for a moment, followed suit. It left Lyre laid out on the couch for Carmilla to start doing much the same to the rest of her body, carefully slicing wires that kept metal connected to her flesh.

Charlie willed herself to move to the other side of the sofa to see, grimacing at how much golden blood there was leaking around the figure, being periodically dabbed at with cloths held by Odette and Clara. Lyre’s skin was a darker grey, more like Vaggie’s, which did not help calm Charlie’s panicked heart. If her girlfriend was like this…

Carmilla stopped when she had pulled off almost all of the armor. Though Lyre had her other limbs, there was a lot of damage where the metal had been either bound, wired, or welded to her very body. Some parts were so firmly connected that they couldn’t be removed with the equipment Carmilla had on her. When the exorcist was fully revealed, they were left with a badly injured, horribly mutilated, small woman that couldn’t be much taller than Vaggie. The empty sockets in particular continued to be haunting, and with the wiring embedded in her face, there was an almost skull like appearance. Everything was sunken and sickly.

“…Michael has gone too far.” Lucifer had been silent for most of it, but he was bristling now. His own horns were poking out of his head, and he was trembling with unchecked rage. “This is…this isn’t right.”

“Coming from the Devil,” Adam growled out. He looked just as mad, all of the feathers in his wings puffing up.

“I don’t do anything like this. I never have.” Lucifer shook his head, leaning against the back of the couch.

“Dad, please…” Charlie frowned. She held a hand out before looking to Carmilla, who had an equally haunted look in her eyes. “Ms. Carmine…?”

“I suppose I never considered looking beneath the mask,” she said slowly. “All I knew at the time was my daughters were in danger, and I had to give them the chance to flee. To see the state of this exorcist, this…woman…” She closed her eyes and exhaled. It was a bit surprising to see the woman oddly distraught when she had been the one to kill the exorcist before.

“The one you killed-”

“Wait. SHE killed Symphony?!” Adam’s voice rang out. Charlie’s gaze snapped to him, and he looked livid. “All of this started because Symphony was killed! And you brought the cunt who did it to work on my Lyre?!”

“Adam, hang on-”

“No. No, fuck that.” Adam held his hand out, the axe materializing in his grasp that he then pointed at Carmilla. “You’re the reason everyone is…that Lute…”

Carmilla calmly got to her feet, somehow able to regain her composure despite being so forlorn before. She faced Adam directly, her arms still behind her back, and her gaze bore into his with an intensity that Charlie had not seen since…well, since her own mother scolding her…

“The anger you feel regarding the death of one of your girls is equivalent to the threat your girls posed to my daughters.” She held a hand out, easily blocking her daughters from Adam’s sight. The tension in the lobby was growing, with Adam brandishing his axe and Carmilla’s eyes beginning to glow. A fight would likely have broken out if it weren’t for the movement on the couch.

Lyre shifted, bringing her one hand up to touch at her head before turning it from side to side. Unlike when she was wearing the armor, she moved more fluidly and more hesitantly. Slowly, she pushed herself up, her breathing beginning to speed up the more she looked around. Like she was trying to see something… Charlie felt her chest clench at the display.

“…h-hello?” the exorcist’s voice broke. “I can’t…who’s there…?”

“Right here, babe.” Adam immediately dispelled his axe and moved to sit on the couch with her. She reacted instantly, turning towards his voice and burying against his chest. He wrapped his arms and wings around her, hiding her from the view of everyone else. Charlie could see the frown just visible on his face as he cradled her. She hadn’t seen Adam’s face before he showed up at the hotel, and even here he usually wore a scowl or a frown. Right now, however, he looked just…broken. “I’m right here.”

“Commander?” Lyre’s voice sounded so weak. “I don’t…w-why can’t I see anything…?”

“Shhh.” Adam held her closer. “Why don’t you tell me what you remember? And we can maybe figure that out together.”

“I-I remember…being told to go t-to the facility by a seraphim – the one w-with…the blue cheeks?” Lyre visibly shivered in his wings. “He told me I needed to…I was b-broken, I think. It’s hard to remember…”

“Don’t push yourself too hard.” Adam’s voice was so gentle, and he shifted a hand up to keep everyone else quiet. Not that anyone was looking to interrupt as they watched the pair. Charlie especially felt her heart aching at Lyre’s voice. It was near impossible to connect this to the exorcists that slaughter demons eagerly.

“After…after that, it felt like I was asleep? But not…I wasn’t dreaming, I was just…aware, sometimes. Aware, but I c-…I couldn’t move.” Lyre’s voice hitched. “I couldn’t move. I couldn’t do anything, I j-just . I watched them take m-my arm, and then…then I c-couldn’t see anymore.”

With Lyre hidden, Charlie could only watch Adam’s expression change. His eyes tightened, his jaw worked, and she swore she saw tears forming in the corner of his eyes. But he took a deep, steadying breath, and ducked his head down, speaking directly to her.

“Who is ‘them’?” he asked. “Who did you see do this?”

“I didn’t recognize them, b-but they wore that seraphim’s symbol.” Lyre’s voice trembled even more, and she whimpered. “I couldn’t see. I could feel, I could hear, but I c-couldn’t see. I couldn’t stop myself.” Her whimpers dissolved into sobs, and Adam tightened his hold on her. “I’m sorry, sir.”

“You got nothing to apologize for, bitch.” Adam opened his wings a little as he shifted, having Lyre lay across his lap instead so she could rest. “Nothing is your fault; you were just following orders. Don’t you blame yourself.”

“B-but-”

“Unless we’re talking about your sexy, tight ass, no buts.” Crass, but that put a small smile on Lyre’s face. Adam continued to pet her hair gently, his hand smoothing over the spots that had gone bald from where the helmet had been hooked to her flesh. “Do you know about the others…?”

“I…know that I was the first to be…‘upgraded’.” Lyre shuddered. “I was the first to be sent out to test. I remember he…wanted good results, that I was to stay down here while s-sending back information on how I performed.” Her hand shifted, touching at her empty shoulder and flinching hard. “He w-wanted me to attack the princess’ hotel and make sure she got a message to her dad.”

“Yeah, I saw that.” Adam put his hand over hers, coaxing it from her empty shoulder. “Got the message loud and clear. He mentioned coming down here and apparently killing everyone. I’m…assuming with the others?”

“Y-yes.” Lyre tensed a little. “That’s right, that’s…yes. The others, they’re all…they were taken to the facility, too. I remember leading M-Melody and Viola…” Her voice broke again. “I took them.”

“Don’t think like that, focus on the details.”

“R-right. Yes, sir. Before my sight was taken, I saw others…they were being tested on. Limbs removed, pieces t-taken off…” Lyre shifted, wrapping her good arm around Adam’s torso. Her voice dipped. “I saw the lieutenant. And…I must have been seeing things, but I swear I saw Vaggie.”

Charlie stiffened, and Adam seemed to tense up much the same. She opened her mouth to speak, but Adam put a finger to his own and shook his head. The look in his eyes was likely mirrored in her own – both aching for news on someone important to them.

“What did you see of them?” Adam pressed. The fact he was able to keep his voice calm was damn impressive.

“Vaggie had…she had wings grafted onto her body. Metal, like the…my fake arm.” Lyre shifted before shuddering, burying her face against Adam’s large belly. “…Lute was missing an arm, too.”

“Damn them.” Adam clenched his jaw, running his hand along Lyre’s back gently. “Do you know if they…I mean, you’re cognizant now…?”

“I don’t know. I was in and out, and then it was just…dark. My body wouldn’t respond. I don’t know why I can, now…”

Charlie shifted her gaze to Carmilla, whose brows were furrowed above her cold, silvery gaze. Something she had done, perhaps? She’d mentioned putting her under…maybe it was almost like a computer? A hard reboot, if they weren’t real souls? But if they had been fully reset, and their souls were fake, how could Lyre remember now…? She hated how few answers she had, and the pile of questions only grew.

“Okay. That’s okay, I’m glad you can.” Adam shifted. “The others…do you know if their eyes were…?”

“I don’t,” Lyre offered weakly. “I don’t know if they were also…I d-didn’t see anything before I lost my sight.” She was starting to whimper again, and her body was twitching. “Sir, I don’t like this. I don’t like being b-blind.”

“I know.” Adam frowned more. “We’ll get you fixed up-”

“N-no! I don’t want to go back to the facility!” Lyre jerked and sat up quickly, shaking her head. “P-please, sir, I don’t want to go back. I don’t want to go back to being in the dark, not knowing where I am, not being able to control myself. I don’t…I can’t…!”

“I know, I know.” Adam tried to console her, but she was panicking. She made to get up but Adam caught her, pulling her back against his chest and holding her once again. “Shhh, Lyre. You’re okay.”

“I’m not!” Lyre wailed. “I can feel his orders, I c-can feel the dark coming back. H-his orders…he wants me to send him data.” She grabbed at her head, digging her fingers into her scalp and pulling at her hair. “I need to…I’m supposed to stay here, I’m supposed to test until I can’t. I don’t want to, but I can’t…”

The way she went from sorrowful to damn near manic was terrifying. Charlie took a step back, following with everyone else moving to give Adam and Lyre space as she began to hyperventilate. Adam was doing his best to hold her, but she was pulling and thrashing to get free.

“Lyre! Dammit, bitch, calm down!”

“Please, d-don’t let him take me back, sir!” she was begging, pleading, even as her body seemed to move on its own. The helmet that Carmilla had pulled off before was facing them, the blue eye glowing brightly. Charlie frowned and moved over to grab it, only to hiss out as the metal burned her hands, recoiling and shaking them both out. Adam growled and tried to block the view with his wing, but Lyre was still pushing at him, trying to free herself. “Commander, please!!”

“I’ve got you.” Adam forcefully hugged her to his chest, his arms holding her writhing body close. “I’m right here, Lyre. I’m here.”

“I d-don’t want to go,” Lyre whispered. “I don’t want to go back to the dark. Please, Adam…”

Adam shuddered. He was definitely crying now, his teeth grinding together as he buried his face against Lyre’s neck, reaching to stroke between her wings. No matter what he did, her body was fighting against her, something struggling against the controls she’d managed to snag back. His hand moved up from her back to her neck, a bit of golden energy flowing down his arm to the tips of his fingers, and a shudder ran down his spine. He lifted his head and pressed his lips against her temple, squeezing his eyes shut.

SNAP.

The hotel lobby went silent as Lyre’s body slumped against him. His hand, large enough to wrap around her entire neck, pulled back and her head fell at an awkward angle. Still, he held her close, his body heaving silently.

“Adam, what did you do…?” Charlie was the first to vocalize. She took a step closer. “Maybe we could have saved-”

“Don’t.” Adam’s voice sounded so dead. “Just…just don’t, okay? I know my girls. I know what they need…” He adjusted his hold on Lyre and every part of him shuddered. “I know how to handle them. Lyre didn’t want to go back…and she didn’t want to stay blind. She gets to…to choose how to live, even if she doesn’t anymore.”

Charlie frowned. She opened her mouth again, but her words died in her throat. She looked around at everyone else in the lobby, all in varying states of uncertainty and horror. Carmilla especially looked haunted, and she held her daughters that much closer to her.

It was Lucifer that moved first, walking over to the helmet that had burned Charlie’s hands. He reached, picking it up despite the smoke that coiled from his palms, and held it level with his own face. His brows furrowed as he studied the eye before he sneered.

“This is too fucking far, brother.” His voice echoed through the lobby, and Charlie saw his eyes bleed red. “You pushed an angel to seek death rather than go home. Her blood is on your hands.”

The eye blinked and flickered briefly before going dark, and Lucifer chucked it against the far wall with a low snarl. By now, the shrieking from Lyre had gathered the cannibals into the lobby as well, and Adam was tensing up as they eyed the angel’s body. But surprisingly, Alastor was the one to intervene.

“I think it best if we return to Cannibal Town for the time being,” he announced before turning to Charlie. “We shall still have their support, but I believe we should find elsewhere to stay. It’s clear our foe is readying an attack far more dangerous than the exterminations we’ve seen before, and we are yet ill-equipped to handle more of them.

“Fuck you, radio freak,” Adam bit out. His voice still sounded so heavy.

“Alastor’s right, though.” Charlie frowned. She shook out her hands again before looking at everyone. “If…we don’t actually want to kill the exorcists now, we should…find somewhere else. Maybe we can use a motel in the city, or-”

“My factory,” Carmilla interrupted. “You may stay with me at my factory. I would like to spend more time looking into the angelic steel used for her armor, and that helmet. If I can decipher the method used for control, it would prove beneficial if there is interest in saving exorcists.”

Charlie looked at her in surprise before nodding. How could she not – the location of angelic steel production in Hell would probably be the safest place to prepare for whatever stage was next. The actual extermination was still scheduled, and there was only a handful of days until then…

“Okay, everyone – pack up whatever you want. I wouldn’t leave anything valuable at the hotel. If Michael is going to send an army here…I don’t trust that they won’t level it to the ground. But it also gives us more time to prepare, to learn about whatever happened with Lyre, and we will help those we can.”

“We’re really gonna’ risk our lives for killer angels?” Angel frowned a little. “Seriously?”

“We’re going to defend ourselves,” Charlie stepped in before Adam could snarl a response. “Whatever that looks like, we’ll deal with that then. But Vaggie is still out there, and I want to save her.”

Angel frowned but he did concede her point.

While everyone else went about packing up their stuff, Charlie walked back over to Adam who had yet to move from the couch. He still clutched Lyre’s body close, rocking it as if he could still comfort her mania-induced terror. It was a painful sight to witness, and it really gave more…for lack of a better word, humanity to the angels she had so scorned before.

“After…Carmilla has a chance to inspect her, would you want us to…have a proper burial for her?” Charlie asked. Adam gave her a sharp look, but it did ease after a moment.

“She belongs in Heaven,” he said weakly. “B-but if we can’t…I guess, then, a proper burial would work. She did enjoy her job down here, so it wouldn’t be that crazy for her final resting place to be here, too. If I can get Symphony’s body, I can do the same.” His shoulders hiked up a little. “…I can’t lose all of them. We need to figure this out.”

“And we will.” Carmilla’s pointed shoes carried her over to the two of them. “I give you my word that I will seek answers for this…reprehensible treatment of angelic lives. Artificial or not, there is no excusing such mutilation. And I should be able to collect the body of the angel I slew to return to you as well.”

“…thanks. I guess.” Adam nodded. He shifted before hauling Lyre’s body up with him. “Guess we should head out then. Need all the damn time we can get to get to the bottom of this.”

Carmilla nodded. Her daughters had taken to getting the armor pieces gathered up into a cart they had brought with, and Lucifer went to grab the helmet that he chucked, placing it in the cart as the heat seemed to have dissipated. The group went off ahead of them, the three Carmines and Adam, while Charlie and Lucifer waited for the rest of the hotel to get packed and head out. A lot had changed in this final month before the extermination, and Charlie was afraid that it was beginning to weigh down on her. Every new bit of information coming from Heaven was that much worse than the last, and after seeing what happened with Lyre…she couldn’t lose Vaggie. Not like that.

She felt Lucifer’s hand take hers and squeeze it gently. At least…at the very least, she had her dad here to help her. At least she wasn’t entirely alone.

Chapter Text

Extermination day was tomorrow. Normally, Adam would be hyping up his girls with some awesome speech that he was proud of, backed by his best bitch to the cheering crowd. Especially now since this was sooner than the last extermination, only six months since the one they’d lost Symphony during. It was the best time of the year because it was the only time there was actually any genuine entertainment in Heaven rather than some lame show or movie that always had to have bright colors and minimal violence.

Now, though…now he wanted nothing to do with it. He could still feel Lyre’s limp body in his arms, her head bent at an angle because of him… He didn’t even want to finish the thought, quickly shaking his head and crouching next to the small headstone they’d placed at the head of Lyre’s grave. It felt wrong having her here in Hell, but Heaven wasn’t exactly home anymore. And they would never put to rest an exorcist. Not in their perfect city on their perfect clouds. It made his blood boil, but it soon drained out of him to leave nothing but a chill that made him feel sick to his stomach.

“I’ll make sure no one else stays in the dark where you were,” he mumbled, placing his hand on the stone. The way Lyre had reacted only made him that much worried about the rest of his girls. And Lute…missing an arm, and who knew if she still had her eyes? Had she lost them like Lyre had? His hand clenched hard on the stone, and he willed himself to release it so he didn’t crack it. Dammit all…

“Adam?” The voice startled him and he whipped around, coming face to…well, stomach with Lucifer himself. He scowled a little down at him before immediately turning away, hiking his shoulders up and wrapping his arms more around his lower torso.

“I’m not in the mood.” He tried to sound standoffish and bitter, but even he could tell how exhausted his voice was. Fuck, when had he last gotten a good night’s sleep?

“I just…I wanted to come check in on you.” Lucifer stepped up to him, but Adam just kept his back to him. “I’m sorry, about your girls. The two you lost, and the rest…”

“Yeah, right. All of Hell is probably going to be celebrating this,” Adam scoffed. He took a few steps away but didn’t want to leave Lucifer alone by Lyre’s grave. Even now, he was protective of his girls. “I don’t know that I should even be sticking around here.”

“Where else would you go?” Lucifer was at his side now; the voice being louder made that obvious. Once upon a time, he would have loved to have Lucifer give him his attention, even be close to him like this. He had wished for it, practically begged for it, long after Lucifer had been thrown to the pits of Hell. It wasn’t something that was easy to break – he longed for a kinship that had been killed millennia ago. Now…

“I’ve been left alone by everyone else in my life, why try any different now?” Adam commented bitterly. “Everyone else just…leaves. Always.” He felt himself slipping a little and he turned away further, eying up the large factory that they were now staying at. Away from the hotel, keeping things under wraps, it was far safer for him and everyone else there to avoid the initial target of the extermination. Still, it was just a further reminder of how far he’d fallen in just a month. From Heaven to the deepest pits of Hell. “I might as well disappear.”

“So…what, you’re not actually going to do anything about your girls?” Lucifer asked. He took a step forward, brows furrowed. “Are you just going to hide-”

Adam had him by the collar, dragging him up to his level and flaring his wings out behind him furiously. The bastard had no fucking right to talk to him like that, not after everything he’d done, after ruining his fucking life and the lives of all of humanity. He turned and slammed him into the nearby tree, pinning him firmly there.

“Don’t.” Despite the rage boiling inside of him, he was able to control himself and maintain his more deadpan voice. He still narrowed his eyes and watched him. “I will try whatever I can to help them. Even if it means…” He stumbled at the end of his sentence, his eyes widening a little.

“…even if it means killing them.” Lucifer, damn him, was still calm. He was watching Adam with a look that almost reminded him of Eden. “We might not be able to save any of them, Adam…”

“Like you give a fuck.” Adam growled. “You’re free to tear them from the sky now that the contract is broken. Isn’t that going to make this easy for you?”

“Things are different than they were a month ago.” Lucifer shook his head, brows furrowing some. “Everything with Michael…and what he’s done to them…none of that is right. And despite what you and Heaven seem to believe, I don’t want a war. I never had an intention of rising up against Heaven. I don’t want Heaven to suffer! I still…it was once my home…” He slumped a little in Adam’s hold.

“Tch.” Still...Adam eyed him closely, his brows furrowing a little. There did seem to be a degree of honesty on Lucifer’s face – the way his eyes downcast, the way he sort of hung in Adam’s grip. Without his wings, he looked so different from his brother. The red helped, too. He looked so small like this. Of course, he still ruined Adam’s fucking life. “So, what are you saying?”

“I’m saying…we should at least try and help.” Lucifer shifted. “We can maybe…I don’t know, knock them unconscious? Though if your entire army is coming, we may not be able to risk that.”

Adam’s jaw clenched. He didn’t want to lose any more of his girls – two was enough. But Lucifer was also right; in the midst of battle, there really was no option to hold back punches if things grew dangerous. And they were bound to; his ladies were numerous. If…if it came to it…

“Try.” Adam dropped Lucifer abruptly, sending him to the ground. “We can at least try. If their goal is to still purge Sinners, that means they’re likely going to split up into smaller groups. At least, that’s how I did it. Who knows what Michael will do now?” He turned back to Lyre’s grave, clenching his jaw. “If we can’t…help them…”

“Swift deaths.” Lucifer picked himself up, rubbing his throat. “Carmilla seems dedicated to helping.”

“Good. I still haven’t forgiven her for Symphony. That started this whole fucking mess to begin with.” Adam shook his head.

It was because Adam was looking away from Lucifer that he noticed something happening in the distance. Golden light began to swirl in the sky, above where the hotel stood just outside of the city. His brows furrowed before he opened his wings, flying around the factory to get a better view. It wasn’t just him, either; Charlie was there with Carmilla, watching the gold begin to grow and expand until it opened into a full portal. Even from this distance, they could see a number of shapes flying through to surround the hotel. Not a full-fledged attack yet, but still a half dozen.

“What…are they doing? We still have a day…” Charlie questioned weakly, eyes widening. Adam didn’t have an answer, his wings stiff as he watched more of his girls. He couldn’t tell who any of them were, not from this distance and they all clearly wore the same damn armor.

They got their answer soon enough – the hotel was blasted with a series of blue that caused the building to shudder. Charlie gasped beside him, and the other residents were soon coming out to watch with her. The small swarm of exorcists tore into the building, seemingly attempting to rip it down to its foundations. Adam had the distinct feeling this was meant to be a surprise attack, given that was where Lyre had been sent. They’d been there so very recently…Hell, they’d only just settled in the Carmine factory. Lyre had just been a scout…

From where they were, they saw the building break beneath the blasts of blue light that seemed to be coming from the attackers’ hands, similar to what Adam was able to do. Lyre had only shown the ability to create a magical blue weapon, and they weren’t supposed to have any. That was…definitely not the case now. Which made them a lot more dangerous than just having angelic steel. And before long, the attacks brought the structure crumbling down.

“No…” Charlie took a step forward, almost stumbling. Adam was the quickest, catching her before she could hit the ground. She had mentioned this before they left, but to see it happen was different. He frowned, surprised by his own reaction to comforting his enemy. Though…really, she wasn’t his enemy anymore, was she?

“They were hoping to catch us there.” Adam straightened her before pulling his hands back, stuffing them in his pockets. “That was an ambush attempt.”

“We could have still been there. And we wouldn’t have been ready…” Charlie shuddered. Lucifer had caught up at some point and he pulled his daughter against him, holding her close. “We would’ve been buried…”

“As much as I’m not happy with it, your…co-host of the hotel made a good call in having us leave,” Lucifer commented, scowling at the praise. At least he and Adam could agree on their feelings towards the radio freak.

The group disappeared into the rubble of the hotel only to come back out, hovering in place for a time. It almost looked like they were searching, likely for Charlie’s little group of misfits. There were only six of them, it was possible that he could maybe…

Adam was moving before he fully thought it through, ignoring the voices calling after him. His wings lifted him into the sky and carried him in the direction of his girls as they seemed to turn back towards the gate. The more they could clear out before the main battle, the better, and so he angled himself to be between them and the portal, his wings easily carrying him faster than the strange way that they moved, similarly to the jerky motions of Lyre. Like someone piloting his girls’ corpses…

“Hey, ladies.” He put on a grin, stretching his wings nice and wide and crossing his arms over his chest. “Leaving so soon? Maybe I could take you all out on a date instead, like we used to.” Of course, he got absolutely no reaction or response from them. Six glowing, blue eyes were locked on him atop emotionless, covered faces. A few tilted their twitching heads to the side, and various weapons were gripped. “Aww, what? Got someone else you’d rather ride?”

Adam’s body tensed up the longer they just…didn’t respond. The uncanny way they moved was only worsening the pain he felt towards his girls, and he reached a hand out to summon his axe. Better to at least be armed. His gaze snapped from one girl to the next, eyeing the limbs that had been replaced or the weapons they were wielding. That one was missing both legs, that one both arms, that one an arm and a leg… Their skin tones were varying shades of grey, all except one.

One of them was missing an arm, and the only skin visible beneath her helmet was bone white. From a distance, she didn’t look any different from her sisters, but up close…he could see the scar from her lip down her chin, and the small marks in her black wings that always grew back even after a good preening session. It was all these little differences that made Adam’s chest begin to tighten. He could easily recognize all of his girls, but there was only one of them that he knew to this degree.

“Lute…?” he breathed, eyes widening. He almost missed movement from one of the other girls, too fixated on the one he was sure was Lute, but he managed to bring up his axe in time to deflect a blast of blue that came bursting from the other’s open palm. This roused the rest from whatever stupor had held them, because they all leveled their weapons on him. Even Lute…she brought her arm up, bracing her other hand on the wrist to hold her aim steady.

Adam folded his wings and fell just as the blasts went out, taking his chance to dive towards the ground below. He only had to peek back to find that all six of them were chasing after him. At the head was Lute, the other five following in tight formation. Tighter than any formation he had come up with before. So, Michael was definitely training them to work more as a team. That was only further proven when one of the girls slipped off to the side and aimed to head him off.

What Michael didn’t realize was Adam wasn’t the leader of the exorcists through nepotism alone.

With a strong push of his own wings, he shot vertically, in time to avoid the pincer move and causing two of them to crash into each other. They fumbled a little, attempting to stop their descent to the land below. That left four more, and he worked to throw them off. At least if he could fight them one at a time…

Three of the four remaining broke off. With Lute chasing him still, the other three managed to corner him. One of their halberds swung through the air, and he had no choice but to catch it with his axe. But that left him open to take a blast from one of the other girls, singing his clothes and biting into his flesh. He clenched his jaw, brows knitting, before he twisted his axe, swinging it with the halberd still stuck to it in a wide arc, sending its wielder into the one that had shot him. It knocked the pile into the final girl, but that was when Adam realized that Lute was missing.

Pain exploded from his shoulder, and he turned his gaze in time to see the golden blade disappear behind him as it was wrenched out. The very blade he had gifted her, confirming who it was beneath that mask. Cursing, he whipped around and managed to catch the next swing of her blade with his axe. He was stronger, but she still had plenty of strength behind her as well, and he was down an arm with the injury to his shoulder. Bitch still went for the weak spots…

“Lute!” he snapped, gritting his teeth. “Come on, bitch, you’re better than this!” He managed to shove her back, his wings adding distance between the two of them. “You’re not someone’s pet!”

Lute didn’t respond. Her head twitched to the side, that blue eye cutting into him, before she was charging forward again. Her real hand had her sword, and her fake glowed with the blue light that Adam had come to recognize from the exorcists. She brought it forward to launch a blast at him, but he swung his axe and hit the side of her entire body with the broadside, knocking her off course and sending the prepared blast in the direction of Pentagram City. Oh well, that wasn’t his problem. What was his problem was the other girls recovering and coming to aid Lute. He clenched his teeth, having to turn and block another blast of blue only for Lute’s blade to slice through feathers on his wings, catching him off guard again. Even if she was under control, she was still the best of his girls.

The other three were finally starting to catch up, but they never made it to him – black shadows rose up from the ground, dragging them down by the ankles The remaining two were met with a golden blast that knocked them backwards, sending them close enough to the ground that the shadows were able to grab ahold of them as well. The few that managed to pull free clashed with the arrival of more of Charlie’s little group. Even if they weren’t well trained combatants, they were doing a good job against his girls. Well, what his girls had been reduced to…

“Adam!” Lucifer popped into view in a puff of red smoke. “We’ve got them. You can handle one, right?”

Adam rolled his eyes. But he didn’t get a chance to respond as Lute was once again charging him. Though he blocked her blade, the claws of her metal arm tore his shirt, raking across his skin and catching a few more feathers. He hissed and flapped away, once again swatting her with his axe.

“Ow! You dumb fucking bitch – I liked that shirt!” He seethed furiously. “Would you just stop and listen to me?! You’ve got to still be in there!” He grabbed her when she came for another strike. Her wings beat against him, and especially this close he was able to see all the weird twitching that her body did. None of her movements were natural, and it made him squirm uncomfortably. “Quit fighting me, lieutenant!”

There was a moment where Lute seemed to tense up, her fighting coming to a complete stop before starting up again. From his angle, he noticed a little glitch to the blue eye on display. Just like on her exorcist mask. It was visible only briefly, and then she was once again fighting against him, but that gave him a tiny spark of hope. It looked like a hesitation, and that glitch…

“Come on, danger tits. I know you’re still in there,” Adam pressed, wrapping his arms around her despite the pain to his injured shoulder. He rested his chin on her shoulder, pressing his face against the cold, golden mask. “Come back to me, lieutenant. That’s an order…”

Again, there was the pause. And again, she managed to shrug it off. She writhed in his hold, trying to blast magic back at him. He had to grab her wrist, using his size and strength to hold her back. There was something, but he couldn’t seem to quite reach it. And Lute wasn’t easy to knock down, the bitch had a head as hard as angelic steel. His teeth ground together.

“I know you’re not this weak,” he hissed down at her. “You aren’t this pathetic.” The writhing got stronger, and she threw him off. He tumbled through the air, barely able to dodge the next jab of her sword. He flipped over her and summoned his axe again, swinging it into her body. Aiming to spike her into the ground. Maybe if he could knock her unconscious like Lyre… But she managed to catch herself right at the ground, her wings flapping hard. Even when he aimed to dive at her, she was able to jump out of the way. Fucking…there was a reason she was his lieutenant. “Stop fucking moving, Lute!”

Still the jerk to a stop, and he used it this time to grab her and pin her to the ground, using his weight to hold her down. She was once more struggling, but with the ground below and Adam on top, she wasn’t getting far. He was desperate to see anything, anything at all, that could show that she was still there. That his Lute, his danger tits, his partner, his lieutenant was still there. But even though there were brief moments of her seemingly pausing at his commands, there was just nothing substantial.

“Maybe you…are that weak.” Adam wasn’t sure why he said it; the words simply slipped out of his mouth before he could stop them, and he felt immediately bad about it. No, Lute wasn’t weak, whatever this was was just strong-

He was almost headbutted, only having the time to jump back because he saw her head moving. She picked herself up, and the glitching on her mask had become a lot more obvious. The only visible part of her face, her mouth, was now turned into a downward frown rather than the neutral expression she had been wearing before. It was the biggest change, and Adam’s brows rose curiously.

“…I mean…fuck, Lute, I really thought you were stronger than that,” Adam drawled out, adjusting his stance. He continued to watch her posture, her mask, that blue eye that was locked on him. Her wings opened and flexed. “I made you my lieutenant because I thought you were the strongest of my girls.” He half turned, leaning on his axe and seeking out the others that had come with her. For the most part, Charlie’s little band of misfits seemed like they were handling them. Two were on the ground while the other three were on the backend, being outnumbered now. “I guess I was wrong.”

Adam was slammed into the ground, Lute moving faster than she had up to that point. It fully caught him off guard, and rather than try and blast him, she aimed a punch at his face. Her mouth was open and showing clenched teeth, and her breathing was a lot harsher now. He managed to reach and catch her fist, holding it back, and had to catch the other to do much the same. This was different, and the front of her helmet was beginning to glitch even worse. He bared his teeth and shoved her back, opening his wings and flexing them as far and open as possible.

“I should have gone with someone else. Lyre was going to be my lieutenant until you beat her in combat, or maybe I could have gone with Tits? She always had quite the figure among the exorcists.” Adam had to jump back as she lunged at him with a now audible growl, and that spark of hope was beginning to grow. It was the most response he’d managed to get out of her since he’d gone to see Sera…

Lute wheeled around. The feathers on her wings had visibly puffed out, doubling her size but, more importantly, displaying the emotions he was actively trying to illicit from her. That only happened when she got particularly angry, like when he stole her favorite rom com disk set. Or when he was caught slacking off from training. He flapped his wings and carried himself further from the ruined hotel with the express purpose of putting distance between himself and everyone else. No one was going to help him with this; this was his.

Sure enough, she was shooting after him. The blue eye on her helmet was glitching consistently now, and even over the wind of them flying, he could hear her furious breathing. The twitchy movements that she had been displaying were almost non-existent now; they were fluid, with every purpose of getting her hands around his throat in some way. He focused on ducking away from her, getting them further from the hotel and even the city itself. Just them…

Another lucky shot sent Adam spinning downwards, and he crashed into the ground, leaving a shallow crater. The smaller form slammed into his stomach, pushing the wind out of him. He once again had to stop her fist from striking his face, tilting his head away when she threw her other, metal fist in retaliation. It drove into the ground below him, easily digging into the Hellish earth.

Mad, but she wasn’t furious yet.

“Oh, I know.” Adam licked his lips, staring up at her glitching helmet. “Maybe I should have chosen Vaggie-” Her fist actually got him in the cheek that time, and his head snapped back.

“If you ever say her name again, I will shove my sword down your throat until you’re pissing blood.” Lute’s voice was strained, and the blue eye had almost entirely glitched out of existence. She was shaking with barely contained rage, and her mouth was pulled down into a deep scowl.

“I don’t know, bitch. If you can’t shake off a little bit of reconditioning…” Adam drawled. He had to jerk his head aside to dodge another fist. He took the momentum of her punch to drag her down into a firm, needy kiss, holding her even while she tensed and went to push away.

She struggled against him angrily, but he held her firmly in place until she slowly started to calm. The front of her helmet had entirely blinked out, leaving it a blank gold. He missed seeing her eyes, and the fear of what happened to Lyre once again gripped him. Would he get to see those again…? Was she blind beneath this fucking thing? He reached and ran his hand along the edge of the mask once he pulled back, his thumb stroking the part of her cheek that was visible. It caused a shaky breath to escape her open mouth.

“…sir?”

Her voice was so soft, so uncertain, and Adam’s chest clenched. He pulled her into another, gentle kiss, wrapping his other arm around her lower back to hold her close to him.

“I’m right here, babe,” he mumbled against her.

“…I can’t…I can’t see anything…?” Her hand came up, touching at the helmet and trying to push it off. “What the fuck is going on?”

“Take it easy. We need to get this shit off of you…” Adam frowned. That didn’t fill him with confidence, but he hoped that was because of the helmet itself and not what was beneath. Testing it showed that it was likely wired directly into her like Lyre’s had been, so they would need more precise tools to be able to get it off. But this was the first time they’d manage to bring an exorcist around without first removing the helmet and giving her a restart. “Hey…tell me how you’re feeling. Exactly.”

“I…” Lute frowned a little. She turned her head from side to side, as if trying to see something before her fingers curled into fists against his chest. “I feel…off. Bad. Something is really fucking wrong, and I’m having to actively fight to stay awake.”

“Hold onto that, bitch. That’s an order.” Adam frowned deeply. He held her closer, folding his wings around her body so it was just them, curled up on the ground of Hell. “…it’s been a month since you told me to meet you for lunch, so you fucking owe me.”

“A month…? How…?” Lute’s breathing hitched in her panic. She buried against him more. “Why can’t I remember the last month?”

“Shhh. For now, just focus on all that anger you have towards me. Think that’s what brought you back around.” Adam kissed her cheek, not wanting to give any attention to the offending helmet. “My angry, broken bitch.”

“Shut up.” Lute nuzzled him as best as she could, a tremor running down her spine. He didn’t need her to tell him how she was feeling when her body spoke for her, and he was desperately afraid of her slipping like Lyre had. They needed to find a permanent way to keep them around…

“If you feel yourself slipping, tell me immediately. I’m somewhere you can get help, but I don’t want to lose you.” Adam shifted before sitting up, allowing her to simply crumble against his chest. She was holding her fake arm, and he shuddered imagining how she felt right now. But, stoic as ever, his Lute was holding it together well. As much as she could, anyway, with him noticing her little tells.

“Yes, sir.”

The sound of approaching wings had him tensing up, but it was just Lucifer. Adam kept his wings wrapped around Lute as he got to his feet, cradling her protectively. The Devil seemed to regard him before a small, though pained, smile cross his face.

“How…did it go?”

“I’ve got her, but I don’t know for how long.” Adam shifted. “We need to get back to the cunt’s place and hope she’s got a better method of getting this shit off of them.” He paused and regarded Lucifer, brows furrowing. “And the others…?”

Lucifer’s smile slipped a little and he frowned, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Two of them didn’t make it,” he offered quietly. “We tried everything to subdue them, but…we couldn’t. They tried to kill Charlie.” Adam tensed at his words, a tremor running down his spine. “The other three, however, we managed to knock out. Charlie and her group are taking them back to Carmilla’s now.” That eased him a little. He peeked down at Lute, listening to her breathing and how it continued to shudder.

“I need to get Lute back, too.” Adam nodded. He adjusted his hold as he opened his wings before taking to the sky, Lucifer bringing up the rear. Losing two more wasn’t great, and he was sure this wouldn’t be the end of the number of his girls that he would lose. The extermination was tomorrow, and those that hadn’t already come down here would be coming in full force. All of his girls, storming the city and attempting to do…whatever it was that Michael was planning.

At least he had Lute back. He just…needed to find a way to keep her his.

His thoughts were interrupted when a flash lit up the center of the sky. He and Lucifer came to a stop, turning to watch as yet another holy portal opened. Only…this one was different – Adam had never seen one like this before. There were symbols and intricate patterns around the edges that held glyphs in a language even Adam himself didn’t understand. But the sharp intake from Lucifer indicated that he had. His gaze snapped down, and…he’d never seen Lucifer’s face twisted into such fear. His pupils were pinpricks, and his breathing had started to pick up.

“Woah, hey, hey.” He carefully adjusted Lute so he could guide Lucifer down to the nearest rooftop, trying to steady him. “You don’t look so good…?”

“That portal…that’s what I fell through,” Lucifer whispered. Every part of him was trembling. “That’s…that’s what brought me here, Adam.”

Adam’s brows furrowed. It took him a moment to put the words together before he stiffened and whipped around, squinting against the light. There was a small form of white and pastel blues that came falling through it a few moments later, chased by something glinting gold, and he tensed up.

“Lute, I need you to stay here, okay? Trust me,” he whispered urgently, crouching down as he propped her against the wall. “I’ll be right back.”

“I…y-yes, sir…” Lute frowned. She reached a hand out towards him, and he felt awful leaving her. But he couldn’t wait.

“Lucifer, please watch her. Do not hurt her,” he growled, but Lucifer didn’t look to be in any state to do more than stare at the portal. No, he wasn’t going to feel bad for the guy, even while he looked so small and scared in that moment.

Adam opened his wings and turned, taking off towards the form as it came crashing down into the center of the city.

Chapter Text

“What do you mean he sent down more?!” Emily stared. It was time for her weekly tea with Sera, not that she’d wanted to actually spend time with her. Ever since she’d listened in on Sera’s meeting with Michael, she had wanted to keep her distance from both seraphim. But she didn’t want to seem suspicious. Or guilty. So, she finally decided to take Sera up on her offer to actually meet.

“Michael is in charge of Hell’s dealings now, Emily. I am only telling you because he sent down your personal guardian and I have reached out to get a new one assigned to you.” Sera just sat there, holding her tea cup to her lips and sipping at it. As if things weren’t horribly wrong, as if she hadn’t just given up all control to someone who was actively turning Heaven into a prison where no one could do what they wanted under the banner of ‘safety’. Sera, who was someone Emily had constantly looked up to, who preached virtue above all else and welcomed souls to a realm they could truly feel safe in, who taught Emily how to be kind and care for those under their wings, and she was just fine with what Michael had changed.

“How can you sit around and pretend like this is normal, Sera?!” Emily jumped to her feet, slamming her hands on the table and catching Sera off guard. “How can you sit there and watch Michael take over? Heaven has become something that I don’t even recognize, and you somehow expect me to keep everyone happy while they’re constantly worrying about some Hellish invasion?!” She flung a hand around, gesturing primarily toward the only door of the room. “People are afraid, and you don’t even care!”

“Everything that is being done right now is being done for the sake of those we are responsible for,” Sera said slowly, her brows knitting as she stared down at her cup. “Michael is the angel of battle – he knows what he is doing, Emily. We should not question the council.”

“He doesn’t! He’s changed all of the exorcists into weird…doll things that walk around spying on people all day, and he’s sending them down to harass Sinners in Hell. Why? The extermination, which I’m still not exactly happy learning about, isn’t even until tomorrow but he’s already trying to cause issues down there.” Emily shook her head, her hands curling into fists. “…I always thought you were strong. But you’re just a coward.”

Emily never liked upsetting anyone, and she caught the hurt on Sera’s face as she turned and stormed out of the room, her own tea untouched. None of this was fine, okay, or acceptable, and she wasn’t going to curl up somewhere to hide. She was a seraphim, too; a member of the council. Her word mattered, just the same as Sera’s, as Michael’s, as Gabriel’s and Raphael’s. Just because she was younger did not mean she was less important, and she was absolutely going to use her voice to advocate for not only Charlie’s people, but their own as well.

When she stepped out of Sera’s home, she took the time to collect herself and look out to the main city of Heaven. Winners were almost non-existent now, so few of them actively walking around because they would rather stay inside where they were safest. Many truly believed that they were about to be attacked, and it didn’t help that Michael was fostering that fear by erecting billboards and other signs warning all of Heaven’s denizens that there was a genuine risk of Hell invading them as they had procured a weapon to open portals.

What good was an angel of joy when no one was around to feel it?

Emily frowned when she heard the metal footsteps that she had learned to resent and just turned her back to the new guardian forced to follow her, intent on making her way in the direction of the main office of Heaven. She was nervous, of course, and she had to rub her palms against her dress. But she was also determined. In the hearing with Charlie, she had promised her that she would figure something out but didn’t. When Michael had presented the newly designed exorcists and shown up with Vaggie and Lute at his sides, she had backed down. She was tired of being afraid, tired of being unsure about next steps when everyone else seemed so sure of themselves. So…now she was, too.

The guardians standing at the entrance to the main office parted without issue, allowing her to step out of the sun and into the cool, silvery halls. Hearing the clomping of metal footsteps behind her further reminded her of her stealth mission when she last overheard Sera and Michael talking, but she pushed the guilt out of her mind and solidified her determination, keeping her gaze ahead. She was allowed to be there, she was no longer sneaking, and she was going to use that confidence to her advantage.

Michael seemed surprised when she pushed open the doors. The room was practically full of his guardians, all of them standing partially motionless other than the unnatural twitching of their bodies. They didn’t even stand like they had any degree of awareness… It made her sick. Her brows furrowed when she noticed only Vaggie standing behind him.

“Michael, we need to talk,” she said firmly, doing her best to keep her voice steady.

“Emily.” Michael lifted a brow before he gestured at the chair in front of his desk, leaning back and watching her with his cool, icy gaze. “To what do I owe the pleasure? We didn’t have a meeting scheduled.”

“You would push it out, just as you keep pushing out my requests to discuss the dealings of Hell.” Emily didn’t take the seat. She stood her ground, all of her eyes locked on him while he lingered in his human appearance. She wasn’t going to back down. “So, here I am, and I’m going to make you listen to me.”

“Hmm.” Michael lifted a brow, but he didn’t adjust his pose behind the desk. “Alright. You’ve caught me in a good mood. Let’s hear what’s so important that you came barging into my office to talk to me about.”

“I want to talk about the exorcists.” Emily gestured at all of the gold-clad figures around them. “We have only had a month to process the existence of the annual exterminations, and you have refused to hold any of those meetings.” She turned and started pacing. “And now I hear that you’re sending down exorcists ahead of schedule…why?”

Michael studied her. The way he was holding his gaze level made Emily wilt a little, but she kept her head high and her wings out, turning once more to face him. She met his gaze, unlike in the courtroom when she’d had to drop it and look away. Not this time, Michael. She was done being intimidated.

“I see, Sera must have told you.” Michael shook his head before getting to his feet. He placed his hand on the desk, running it over the surface as he walked around to the other side. “I had told her that was not a good idea, but I guess she decided she knew better than the decision we all agreed on.”

That finally caught Emily off guard. Her brows furrowed in confusion, and she shifted her weight, keeping him in as much of her sight as possible. That they had all agreed on? There had been no discussion, no agreement, nothing that she’d heard to explain… Wait. That she’d heard of. Her eyes widened, and an unfamiliar flash of anger raced through her.

“You’ve been holding meetings without me!”

“The delicate matters of Hell require a certain experience that someone so young lacks.” Michael shook his head. He was closer now, and he started walking around her. “You were not there for Hell’s inception, the creation of a realm so vile that souls which sin are automatically condemned there. You are too young to remember the earlier days of Earth after the first humans were cast from Eden, how the forbidden fruit immediately corrupted nearly every human soul to the point that far more fall to Hell than ascend to Heaven. You are simply too young to speak to something like this.”

“I’m not a child!” Emily snapped. She was turning her head, her eyes following him as he moved. “I’m a seraphim, too! And I belong in those meetings!”

“Not only are you too young, but your purpose doesn’t involve war or protection.” Michael didn’t hear her, or at least pretended to not. He continued the circling, his own human form slipping. The smaller wings covered his face, leaving only his one, blue eye visible there. But eyes opened up along the other wings expanding from his body, and his wings were definitely larger. She braced herself but still did not back down.

“My job is being impacted by yours interfering with the daily lives of Winners,” she pressed, clenching her hands into fists. “I cannot bring joy to our souls if they are kept afraid of a threat that hasn’t even been proven to exist!”

“Hasn’t it? The fact that Lucifer willingly sent his daughter to Heaven is a good indication that Hell is preparing something. You fell for her lying pleads – no demon cares about redemption, their souls are rotten.” Michael stopped in front of her, his eyes burning holes into her very soul, it felt like. “As I said, you are too young and idealistic to understand.”

Emily bristled. All of her feathers stood on end, and she held her scowl up at him, holding herself up to his own stature. He wasn’t much taller than she was, only a head, but he’d always seemed larger than life. Or…maybe she knew Sera best, and her stature was what Emily attributed to the other seraphim. How could she ever compare to these larger than life figures, when Sera herself seemed so out of reach? But in this moment, standing face to face with Michael, she realized that he wasn’t that much larger. He wasn’t that much more important.

“It doesn’t matter what you say, or what you think. I’m one of you, and I demand to be involved in meetings dealing with Hell,” Emily said, raising herself on her toes so that she was even more level with him. There was a smug satisfaction that he took a step back, and she used that momentum to step after him. “And I demand a reconsideration of what happened with the exorcists.”

Michael’s eyes narrowed. He watched her for some time before turning his back, walking over to the desk and sitting down. His angelic form slipped away, once again hidden beneath the visage of a pale human with blue cheeks. A hand ran back through his hair, and he took a deep, seemingly steadying breath.

“You’ve grown a spine, Emily. I’m impressed. But you also have thrown your lot in with the wrong side of this war,” he finally said, resting his hands on the top of the desk. He leaned back in his chair. “Just because you are a seraphim does not mean you have the privilege to be in every decision. Isn’t that right, Sera? It was your call to keep her out after all.”

Emily stiffened. She hadn’t even heard the door open, yet there she was – Sera stepped around her, a frown on her face as she went to stand next to Michael’s desk. There was a forlorn, guilty expression that kept showing through her attempts at keeping her face neutral, but she did lock eyes with Emily.

This wasn’t…actually happening. Emily felt like her heart had been ripped from her chest and stomped on the ground. Earlier that day, she and Sera had been having tea together, and now…she stood next to Michael, seemingly without hesitation. It was pure betrayal, there was no getting around that, and she felt anger the likes of which she had never felt before begin to boil up inside of her. She clenched her fists before taking a step forward.

“You kept me out of the meetings?!” She snapped. The anger in her voice had the guardians around the office twitching more, and she swore she heard one step forward. “Sera, how could you?! I thought you trusted me! I thought you believed in me!”

“There is more to this than you think, Emily.” Sera frowned. She folded her hands behind her back but never once turned her gaze from Emily. “There are dangers that yet lurk in Hell that do seek to invade Heaven, and we must do our due diligence. Demons are not souls worth saving when the vast majority have no interest in redemption.”

“You haven’t given them a chance!” Emily flung her hand in a wide arc to the side, once more flaring her wings out. Sera still managed to make her feel small, it wasn’t like the face off with Michael. “You haven’t even tried to see if they can change! We saw Charlie’s patron, the porn star that did everything on Adam’s list. You saw it yourself! He’s changed!”

“And what happens when he regresses?” The calmness in Sera’s voice was only making Emily that much more frustrated, and she grit her teeth. “What happens when a Sinner makes it to Heaven and decides to go back on the change they experienced in their heart? What about Winners who were taken from Earth far too soon? If they see their aggressor suddenly arrive in Heaven, should we not take their pain into consideration?”

Emily stopped dead. She hadn’t actually…considered that. If a Winner was murdered, or had something that much worse happen to them by a Sinner and said Sinner arrived in Heaven… She let out a shaky breath, feeling part of her hesitation poking through before she shook her head firmly.

“That’s why we vet! We still don’t even know how someone gets into Heaven, so it might not even be possible. But for those in Hell who want to get better, we can’t just give up on them!”

“Emily…”

“No, Sera! I’m tired of you treating me like a child! I looked up to you! I considered you to be the paragon of Heaven, the image of purity and love! You’re the one who taught me to care about every Winner I meet, to care about even those poor souls on Earth who suffer because that is by design. You taught me to love, to embrace, and to bring joy to those who need it.” Emily was sure there were tears in some of her eyes, but that was the benefit of her true form – there were simply too many for anyone to see for sure that she did. “I looked up to you. I thought you were the most divine being in Heaven. I thought you really cared about souls! But you don’t. You only care about yourself and your appearance! You willingly gave Heaven up without even trying to fight for it!”

Emily was breathing hard once she was done with her tirade. There was something inside of her, deep inside of her, that ached. The ache only grew when she saw Sera’s face fall into something that looked much more like shame, and her large wings folded against her back.

But Michael was watching Emily with a harder expression, his brows knitted low over his eyes. He brought his hands forward so he could rest his chin on top of them, leaning more over his desk.

“That was quite the speech, Emily,” he said slowly. “And it would probably have held more weight…if you hadn’t delivered a Winner directly to Hell. Someone with a very in-depth knowledge of our infrastructure, our army, and a number of sensitive documents that no one but Heaven’s elite should have any knowledge of. If seems you willingly gave Heaven up, too.”

Emily froze. He shouldn’t have known that for a fact, yet there was no hesitation in his expression. It felt like he was actively trying to carve out her insides with that icy stare, and there was more movement of metal behind her. Her wings quivered a little, but she refused to be intimidated by that.

It seemed as if he had been keeping that information from Sera, too, because the larger seraphim was staring down at him in surprise.

“Adam is…in Hell?” she asked. She had been constantly talking about not seeing Adam the few times Emily was willing to listen to her, and the concern in her voice had almost convinced Emily to tell her the truth. She was mostly glad she hadn’t.

“Sent to Hell by one of the only few people capable of opening a portal,” Michael responded simply. “And his presence has caused the guardians that I’ve sent down to fail in their scouting missions. Seven girls have been killed now. Their blood is on your hands, Emily.”

“What? No, I…” Emily’s stance was finally starting to break. She took a step back, feeling her true form recede back in an effort to close all of her eyes against the knowledge. “That’s not…my fault, you’re the one that sent them to Hell!” And Adam would never…these were his girls, surely?

“I only sent them down to try and find our wayward Winner. I believed him to be held against his will, yet discovered he has been helping Lucifer.” Michael shook his head. “The first guardian I sent down was killed by his very own hand, after all. I sent down six more in an effort to subdue him, to make him realize that he did not need to fight us. But he killed them, too – including his lieutenant.”

“What?!” Sera and Emily both echoed each other, now staring at Michael equally. His expression never shifted, but his gaze had definitely hardened. There was judgment there that made Emily squirm.

“Adam would never hurt Lute,” Emily pressed. She frowned before pointing directly at him. “She isn’t even Lute anymore because of you! Like what you did to Vaggie!” She turned her hand towards the stoic guardian standing behind Michael. “You’re making them attack him on purpose! You don’t care that he’s down there!”

“…is this true, Michael?” Sera had shifted, moving to stand next to the desk and facing him directly now. “You told me that Adam was missing but you have been following evidence of him within our realm. You never told me he ended up in Hell.”

“Emily kept that from you, too,” Michael responded, brushing her off, but Sera leaned more over the desk. Her presence was demanding, especially when comparing how tall she was next to Michael.

“Regardless of your personal feelings about Adam, we do not attack Winners, Michael. Even if they refuse help.”

“Watch yourself, Sera.” Michael’s voice dipped into something far more threatening. He turned his gaze to watch her out of the corner of his eyes, and Sera stiffened. She clenched her teeth, digging her fingers into the desk, before forcing herself to stand back.

Emily frowned. She thought back to the evening that she had overheard the two of them, how Sera had seemingly been standing against Michael until he threatened her. Threatened to take away everything from her. Emily saw Sera as many things in that moment, but she had already given up her power over Heaven. Even in her home, there was precious little to take from her as she was as minimalist as one could get. What else could she lose…?

Realization hit her hard, and she braced herself.

“Sera!” She caught their attention again, but she stared directly at Sera. “I know you don’t fully believe everything that he is saying. You don’t think Adam is a lost cause, you care about him!” Sera’s frown grew, and there was pain in her eyes that Emily could easily make out. “…and you don’t have to protect me. You don’t have to give up the realm just to keep me safe. I can handle myself, and I want to help you get your place back. What Michael has done isn’t right – you know that, I know you do!”

“Emily…you do not understand-”

“I heard you confronting Michael! You told him he shouldn’t be treating other angels like this. I know you never liked the exorcists, but you didn’t send them to their deaths! They are angels, too, and you’re standing aside so Michael can send them down to die!” Emily clenched her teeth before taking another step forward. “He was threatening me. He thinks he can hold me over your head, but I’m not afraid of him, Sera. I’m not afraid to fight for the lives of every angel, including those he’s mutilated!”

Sera’s eyes widened. The expression on her face shifted from surprise to pain as she grimaced at Emily’s words, and that gave her hope. Sera wasn’t bad, she wasn’t evil, she was just…protective of Emily herself. She always had been, and while Emily could appreciate it, she wasn’t a little angel anymore – she hadn’t been for quite some time. She wasn’t afraid of Michael, and she wasn’t going to let him hold Sera hostage to her own fears.

“Sera, I would give serious consideration to your next words,” Michael tried to warn, but that seemed to be exactly what Sera needed to knock some sense into her. She stepped around the table and took a stand next to Emily, holding out her wings and keeping her head high.

“Michael. I must agree with councilwoman Emily – you have gone too far. The deaths of these guardians are on your hands. And now, hearing that you have actively attacked a Winner, that is simply unforgiveable.” It was Sera’s commanding voice, and Emily perked when she heard it. The very voice that had marked her as the leader of Heaven, because she knew how to hold and present herself. “I will be cancelling the extermination, effective immediately, until the council can reconvene and discuss your guardian project.”

Finally. Finally, some change would be coming to Heaven. Emily felt a bit of relief flow into her, watching Sera direct her ‘mom’ voice on Michael. Even if it was just the two of them against Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, it was better than being alone. And she was sure if she spoke to Gabe, she could sway him. He was normally the more agreeable of the three. Raph wasn’t that bad, either-

“Then I have no choice but to consider both of you as treasonous.” Michael’s voice cut through Emily’s joy, and the sense of dread before doubled. She took a small step back, but Sera held her ground.

“You are the treasonous one, Michael. And you do not get a say in how to handle other seraphim without the council.”

Michael’s face broke into a smile, and Emily tensed when she heard the cacophonous symphony of metal steps. The guardians were finally moving, and they were closing in on Sera and Emily. More had seemingly melted out from the shadows, and the door behind them even swung open to permit more. Dozens of them… Emily was forced closer to Sera as they were surrounded.

“You see, Sera…that’s exactly your issue.” Michael got to his feet again, walking around the outskirt of the ring of guardians. “You always try to fall back on the council. You never take the initiative. You needed Adam to push you into the exterminations, despite your fear of demon rebellion. You didn’t like the exorcists, yet you didn’t do anything about them.” He walked through the guardians, the sea of gold parting to let him walk right up to her. “And you still won’t take definitive action against Hell. It’s always the council this, the council that. Well, I no longer care what the council has to say. I’m going to finally see that realm dismantled, and expose the wickedness of those souls who aren’t worth saving.”

“You can’t!” Emily gasped out, but Sera held a hand out. She was worried Sera was reconsidering her side of the argument, but she kept her glare down at Michael.

“You cannot keep us here,” she told him firmly. “Emily and I are going to walk through that door.”

“Try it.” Michael stepped back into the horde of guardians, disappearing.

Emily didn’t get a chance to respond. Sera flung her hand in a wide arc around her, knocking back enough of the crowd surrounding them with a silvery purple wave of magic to give them a beeline for the door. Emily stumbled after her once the taller woman began to move, her six wings carrying her into the hallway outside. Her brain did manage to catch up after a few moments, and she started flapping her own wings to keep up.

They flew through the halls, but they ran into more guardians at every turn. Despite Sera’s efforts to beat them back with her own magic, more simply replaced the ones she struck. They didn’t seem to back down, either; as if the magic wasn’t impacting them as much. Emily tried to use some of her own to help, but they soon found themselves in the lobby. In all directions, a sea of gold was closing in around them. Emily was pressed against Sera, back to back in an attempt to find a way out. Emily thought to open a portal, but the magic fizzled out before she could even focus long enough.

“Sera…!”

Sera turned back to look at her. She tried to create a portal as well, her own magic more powerful than Emily’s, but it also fizzled out. Nothing. They couldn’t get out of this without fighting. Sera tensed and pulled Emily closer against her, folding her lower wings around her protectively.

“There’s nowhere to go, Sera.” Michael’s voice rang through the halls. “I’m the only one with the power to open a portal in Heaven now. It was primarily to ensure Emily couldn’t open anymore ways to Hell, but I’m even more pleased that it also stopped you two from leaving.” His wings carried him above the crowd of golden armor, his icy gaze burning into them both. “Now, why don’t you both turn back and we can handle this in a mature manner?”

“And what do you plan on doing with us?” Sera demanded. Emily leaned more into her, gripping her robes, but peeked around up at Michael. She hadn’t expected all of this when she went to confront him…

“I can’t have you free in Heaven any longer,” Michael hummed lightly. “But you also can’t be banished with all that you know. So, I’m going to lock you both up. Surely that’s more desirable than being on the run? It isn’t like our prison is cruel.”

Sera’s hand gripped Emily more firmly. Her face was turned up towards Michael, so Emily couldn’t see her expression, but the tension had not left her body at his assurances. That was reason enough for Emily to not want anything to do with whatever prison he was talking about. Why did Heaven even have prisons? Who would be locked up?

“No.” Sera’s form was beginning to shift, her proper angelic avian form appearing. “We are not going with you, Michael.”

“It’s nice that you still think you have a choice.” Michael’s cold smile fell away. “Grab them.”

Sera turned to Emily, crouching down and pulling her into a firm hug. Emily was caught off guard, returning the hug with a confused look up at the taller seraphim. But Sera was not looking at her – instead, she held her hand out. Emily could feel her magic swirling around her, stronger than she had ever felt before. Strong enough to keep the guardians away. She wasn’t sure what this was, but she clung to Sera near desperately as it swelled in power and presence.

“What are you doing?!” Michael’s voice was just audible above the rushing energy, but Sera didn’t respond. Her beak was clenched and her eyes were closed. There was perspiration running down her cheeks. Perspiration…and tears.

“Sera, what-?”

“There is one way to keep you safe and away from Michael. At least…I hope.” Sera’s voice was strained. She opened one eye and peeked down at her, giving her a tight smile. “I pray that one day…you will be able to forgive me.”

Emily didn’t get a chance to question her – Sera suddenly shoved her forward, and Emily found herself falling. Time seemed to simply slow around her as realization started to catch up. It wasn’t a portal like the ones they had been able to open – this one was stronger. Longer. She didn’t simply stumble through like she expected; rather, she was falling. She stared up at the portal entrance, watching Sera centered in the frame. Her eyes widened in horror.

“Sera-!” she shouted. She wanted to be mad at her, but…as soon as she tried to scream out at her, Emily’s face was splashed with gold.

All of Sera’s eyes widened, and they shifted to the golden blade protruding from her chest. Her breathing hitched, blood pouring from her open beak. She reached to grip it, but a glowing, blue spear joined it, coming from the right. Another followed, and then another. Emily was close enough to be covered in the golden blood that splashed from Sera’s body with each impale, all of it happening in the blink of an eye.

Absolute horror tore into Emily as she stared up at the other seraphim, forced to watch as her legs crumbled beneath her. She tried to reach out, she tried to flap her wings against the pressure dragging her down, but she couldn’t fight it. All she could do was watch Sera reach her hand out. Rather than aiming for Emily, the edges of the portal slowly began to close in, shrinking the opening until there was barely anything left. Until all Emily could see was the blood pouring down the front of Sera’s dress, staining silver and blue with deep gold.

“SERA!” Emily screamed.

Before the portal closed, a golden helmet forced its way forward, and Emily found herself falling with a guardian chasing after her, brandishing a similar golden weapon as what had been impaled through Sera’s chest. Nothing she could do stopped the pull, but she was at least able to fend off the attempts the guardian made at stabbing her with her own magic. She managed to shove the weapon back just as they passed through the other end of the portal.

Red filled Emily’s vision, and a near unbearable heat blasted her from all sides. Her focus was on the guardian, however, and holding back the blade of the weapon. It was why she didn’t realize that the ground was rushing up to greet her, at least not until she slammed into it. A scream was ripped out of her mouth as pain lanced down her spine, and her vision swam when her head bounced off of the stone. Her wings had taken a brunt of the landing, however; feathers had been torn, parts of the arms had been snapped from the impact, and tears cascaded down her cheeks as pain consumed seemingly every fiber of her being.

The only reprieve was the guardian seemed to also be knocked for a loop, but she was quickly recovering and brandishing her weapon once more at Emily. Panic and desperation swirled in her as she scooted away.

“S-stay back!” She flinched, closing her eyes and flinging her magic at the other angel. It wasn’t the only hit, either – she was desperate to fight the guardian back, suffering through the pain and the horror and every emotion that was tearing her apart. She lashed and struck out and screamed and cried and sobbed and begged and-

“Em! Emmy! Hey, easy, easy!” Someone grabbed her, gentle of her injuries, but she immediately began to panic and squirm.

“Get off! Get away from m-me!”

“Emily!” She was forced to look up into a familiar face – Adam was frowning down at her. “You’re okay. I’ve got you…”

“Adam…?”

Emily wanted to say it more, but it was at that moment it felt like her body ignited. Pressure grew against the top of her head, and she felt the ache deep within her wings, accompanied by a sharp pain that ran down her spine to her tailbone.

All she could do was scream.

Chapter Text

Adam hadn’t been able to get to the falling figure before she struck the ground, but he did arrive at the crater that resulted from it in time to see Emily struggling against one of his girls. The golden warrior was threatening her, trying to strike out at her with a glowing, blue weapon similar to what had been used to stab Lucifer alongside her usual golden weapon. He rushed forward and managed to rip the woman off of the wailing seraphim, focused primarily on getting to Emily now that he could see the damage from her fall.

But just as he managed to get her to look at him, her body tensed up and she began to scream.

He panicked. He helped Emily to the ground as she held herself, digging her fingers into her hair as golden blood began to leak free. She was already splashed in it, gold drenching her face down the front of her dress, but more was beginning to actively leak seemingly from between her fingers. There was nothing he could do, no help he could provide, nothing as he was forced to simply stand and watch.

At least, until he heard the metal footsteps.

Adam wheeled around in time to block the strike from a sword, his axe easily pushing it aside. The exorcist that had come through with Emily, or whatever the fuck Michael was calling them now, looked a little beaten down after Emily’s flailing, but the blue eye still glowed brightly and her body still jerked forward. She seemed entirely focused on Emily, however – a silent order driving her to strike the target ingrained inside of her. That was how Adam could look at it. He frowned and swung the broadside of his axe, sending the golden-clad body flying into a building in the distance. Try to knock her unconscious and bring her back…but she was pulling herself free without issue and charging at her again.

“…fucking Hell, Amp. You need to stop!” He recognized her, the little mark on the side of her cheek just visible beneath the helmet. He caught her in her next attempt at getting to the screaming Emily, slamming her into the ground and holding her down. “Come on!”

Amp didn’t respond quite like Lute – there was no hesitation, just immediate struggling. Every time he’d manage to reach a part of Lute that was there, she had frozen if only for a second. But his girl here didn’t, and it got harder and harder to hold her down while Emily wailed for help and reprieve from her pain. He slammed Amp’s head into the ground, causing her head to roll a little and her body go limp. But it still twitched, as if trying to move, and he more or less grabbed rubble to bury her under for the time being before he was rushing back to Emily. The sight that met him almost brought his meager lunch back up.

Emily was doubled over, her hands pulling at her hair around spiraling black horns that jutted from her skull. Her wings had darkened, the white feathers replaced with solid black with flecks of deep, vibrant purples. A long, black tail was coiling and thrashing as she tried to curl up to dispel what looked to be deep, horrific pain. When Adam tried to touch her shoulder, she recoiled harshly, but her eyes did open. Rather than the soft, pastel blues he was used to, he stared into deep violet eyes that…had pupils shaped as slits, just like Lucifer.

“Fuck, Emmy…” He slowly crouched down.

“W-what’s happening to m-me?” she whispered, grinding her newly grown fangs together through her whimpers. There was nothing that could be done until the changes eased, leaving her a trembling, miserable little mess, curled in the fetal position. By this point, she was more golden than any other color, between her own and whoever had bled on her before…

“…think I can carry you now?” Adam asked, reaching a hand out again. “We should get you somewhere safe.”

Emily’s lip wobbled a little before she nodded, though she hissed and squirmed when he did pick her up. At this point, he didn’t even care that his new favorite Hell shirt was ripped and stained; he had more important matters.

Though, speaking of…

Adam turned back to the unconscious body of Amp, brows furrowing. He managed to scoop her up, though Emily let out a panicked sound when she was pressed against the body.

“Easy, she can’t hurt you now,” Adam offered. “I just want to make sure I get her to where we’re going, in case we can help her.”

“C-can you…?” Emily peeked up at him before turning her face entirely against his shirt, digging newly grown claws in and lightly shredding the fabric. Oh well.

“I hope so.”

Adam took to the sky carrying both ladies, first landing on the building where he had left Lucifer and Lute. His bitch looked to still be awake, her head turning from side to side, and unlike the blue eye still glowing on Amp’s helmet, hers was still a solid gold. When she heard Adam’s wings, her head perked and turned in his direction.

“Sir…?”

“Right here.” Adam moved over to her, crouching down and laying Amp out. He glanced at Lucifer. “…I’m guessing this is what happened to you?” He held Emily up, and the look on Lucifer’s face told him all he needed to know.

“You were cast out,” he offered gently, and Emily shook against Adam. “I’m so sorry to see that happen to another angel. Sera had no right-”

At that name, Emily’s eyes began to well up with tears, and she buried her face against Adam again, letting out a soft cry. Adam frowned, grinding his teeth a little. Sera had gone too far this time, casting Emily out… He shook his head before moving to scoop Lute up, holding her just as protectively to his chest. Lucifer lifted Amp and they both took off in the direction of the Carmine factory.

Charlie had brought the other five exorcists that had arrived with Lute before. The two that Lucifer had mentioned didn’t make it were respectfully covered while the other three were laid out on tables that they had shoved into Carmilla’s spacious office. One of them had the overlord bent over already, working carefully at the wires holding her helmet to her face.

When their small group arrived, Charlie let out a horrified gasp and immediately went running to Adam, her eyes wide.

“Emily?!” Adam was fine with the princess pulling the seraphim out of his grasp so he could bring Lute over to one of the empty tables. He didn’t want to prioritize one girl over the other, but…

“Hey, cunt. I need you to work on my bitch.” He fixed his gaze on Carmilla, who furrowed her brows some, but she did turn to her daughters and gesture.

“Clean this one up. Begin running tests on the wires to see what we can learn from the helmet.” As the two of them got to work, Carmilla joined Adam at Lute’s side, putting a hand on her. When Lute jerked and immediately aimed to strike, Adam caught her wrist and pulled it back.

“Easy, danger tits. Believe it or not, that’s a friend,” he urged, and Lute’s mouth twisted into an uncertain frown.

“…if you say so…”

“She is awake? With the helmet still on?” Carmilla’s brow arched and she looked to Adam, who just offered a meekly little shrug.

“Lute’s always been, uh…different than the rest of my girls. She wasn’t made correctly, something messed up in her head, so technically she’s always been malfunctioning. I just…didn’t want her to ever change.” Adam chewed his lip, reaching to take Lute’s real hand. “I fell for this psychotic, broken bitch. Guess I shouldn’t be surprised that whatever Michael tried didn’t work, at least when I pissed her off enough to break through.”

“…I see.” Carmilla studied him for a time before crouching down, bringing over the tools she had used before. “Your other girls, they are…built to whatever code you are speaking to?”

“Yeah. Well, almost…” Adam glanced over at where Charlie was carefully helping a despondent looking Emily, trying to help her recover from whatever had happened in Heaven. “Pretty sure Vaggie’s broken in the same way, too. Well, maybe not the same way, but she was a malfunction.”

“Told you I’d shove my sword down your throat if you said her name again,” Lute mumbled, but she was dutifully holding still while Carmilla worked at the edge of her helmet. She hissed when the blade slipped just beneath, and her metal hand dug deeply into the table beneath her.

“Should I put you under for this-?”

“No,” Lute downright snarled the response, grinding her teeth together. The hand that Adam was holding squeezed his tighter, and he did his best to try and comfort her by stroking the back. “Commander’s orders – if I feel myself slipping, I’m supposed to tell him.”

Carmilla glanced to Adam, who just offered a nod, before refocusing. He still felt awful, listening to Lute’s barely contained sounds of pain that ranged from low hisses to deep, steadying inhales. The entire time, he held her hand and continued to try and comfort her. The metal one ended up being removed from the port it socketed into so that she didn’t do more damage to the operating table she was laying on. But it was her choice…it was all his girls’ choices what they wanted done to them. They didn’t ask to be created, they didn’t ask to be mutilated, and they didn’t ask to be controlled – the least he could do was give them as much free will as possible.

Ironic, given the serpent bastard and his supposed gift.

It took a while, but eventually Carmilla managed to get the helmet fully disconnected from Lute’s head. Adam sucked in a breath and braced himself as the overlord slowly removed it, revealing his poor lieutenant’s face. It had similar marks to what they’d seen on Lyre’s face, with wires still protruding from her skin. Her hair also had some bald patches, but it was her eyes that he was most interested in. She still had her lids, which was a relief, but that quickly diminished when he noticed wires protruding from one. He carefully pushed open the lid and shuddered, having to turn away a moment, when he saw that while she still had her eyelid, the eye resting in the right socket was not the one he was familiar with. It connected to the main section of the helmet much the same as Lyre’s had, just with more intricacy and design – an improvement since Lyre was the first, surely. He carefully opened the other eye, and he let out a breath when he saw the yellow sclera squinting up at him. The very color he fell in love with.

“It looks as if not all of them suffer from the same enucleation as Lyre before,” Carmilla commented, taking Lute’s cheeks in her hand and turning her head from side to side. “Similar to the one I was operating on prior to your arrival, at least one of her eyes appears in tact as well.” She carefully pulled back Lute’s eyelid again and shined a flashlight, causing her to hiss and flinch. “No damage to be seen there, either.”

Adam let out a breath of relief. Lyre had said she was one of the first to be upgraded, or whatever the fuck Michael wanted to call this mutilation, so it was a relief to hear that perhaps no one else had to suffer the same situation as his poor girl. And Lute, other than the damage done to her face, was looking at least a little better.

He leaned down and pulled Lute into a needy, demanding kiss, one that she leaned into just as desperately. He could taste the blood that poured from her open injuries, but he ignored it in favor of claiming as much of her mouth as he could before Carmilla came back over and smacked him upside the head.

“Hey!”

“She needs to recover, not have your tongue shoved down her throat.”

“I can think of something else to shove in there instead.” Adam was pleased to hear the echo of his response, both himself and Lute knowing exactly what to say. He doubled over laughing when he saw Carmilla’s face, and Lute smirked though she did ease a little at the stretch to her injured face.

“…how the two of you can be considered angels is beyond me,” she sighed before forcing Lute back onto the table so she could inspect the rest of the golden metal attached to her body. Adam hovered, but eventually he got shooed away by the overlord. And, after everything so far, he did find that he trusted her and what she was doing with his lieutenant.

With Lute now taken care of, and he was hopeful that she wouldn’t slip – Carmilla promised to act if she did – Adam wandered out of the office and to find where Charlie had taken Emily. He located her and Lucifer just outside of another door, both in deep conversation. That look on their faces made his stomach churn, and all the levity brought from getting his Lute back just melted away.

“How is Emily doing…?” he asked, leaning against the opposite wall.

“Not well.” Charlie bit her lip. “Odette helped us get some clothes for her to change into, at least for the time being, but she’s been really quiet since you brought her here.” She glanced at the door and frowned more. “Dad told me that she…fell. But what happened?”

“Your old man and I were on our way back when the portal opened up in the center of town. Pretty sure she left a large crater that knocked over a few buildings, probably killed some Sinners, too. But I got there in time to see her fighting off one of…my girls. Amp.” Adam frowned, crossing his arms and leaning more heavily against the wall.

“Sera is the only one capable of creating a portal like that,” Lucifer commented softly. “No other seraphim has that power – that is reserved for her and her alone.”

“What, so she’s working with Michael?” Adam…wasn’t fond of hearing that. And he even had a hard time believing that when it came to hurting Emily. She was the favored child, someone that had gotten a lot of attention when she came into being. Sure, she was younger than Adam, but Sera had so much more attention to give to her that he maybe got a little jealous. At least until he met the girl himself and discovered the sweetest little angel he had ever seen. From then on, he understood Sera’s desire to protect and keep her safe – she was almost like a little sister to him.

“No…” The door had cracked open while they were talking, and Emily peeked out at them. Her purple, slit-pupiled eyes would take some getting used to, but she still wore that soft, gentle expression. Sort of like how the damn snake still had his round, squishy cheeks despite being a monster. Only…she definitely wasn’t one, no matter what. “It’s not…she isn’t…”

The way she started breaking down again made Adam tense. It was one thing if Sera betrayed her, but this felt different. He carefully nudged the door open and coaxed her out into the hallway, pulling her into a hug that she desperately leaned into, burying her face and gripping his still ruined shirt. He slowly slid to the ground and wrapped his arms and wings comfortingly around her, being careful of the newly grown horns and the tail that hung limply behind her.

“What do you mean…she isn’t with Michael?” he asked gently, rocking her. The trembling of Emily’s body was almost as strong as when she had first arrived, and he could see even with the change of clothes that she still had little bits of blood leaking from where her body had changed because of the fall.

It took Emily a while to answer – she pressed her face more against Adam’s chest, taking a few deep breaths that always ended in shaky exhales before she finally peeked up at him.

“…A-Adam, I think Sera is…I think she’s g-gone.”

“What?” Those words bit deeper than Adam expected, and he felt a familiar wave of nausea rush through him, similar to when he had thought he lost Lute. “What do you…how would she be…?”

“It’s my fault.” Emily squeezed her eyes shut. “I went to Michael when I found out he s-sent more of his guardians down here. I was tired of being treated like I’m too fragile to make decisions.” She bit her lip before peeking up at him. “I didn’t mean for her to get hurt…”

“It isn’t your fault, kid.” Adam shook his head. “What happened?”

“Michael told me they were all having meetings without me, and Sera showed up right after. Apparently, he was…keeping your whereabouts away from her, and he was using me to make sure she helped him. All this time, I thought…I thought she was complicit, a-and I was hating her for it. But when she turned on Michael and we tried to run…we couldn’t go anywhere.”

“…he has all my girls.” Adam held her closer, his lip curling in a snarl. The bastard…

“We couldn’t make portals, Michael removed that privilege, too. But Sera…”

“Sera is the only one that can open this type of gate to Hell. The one-way portal that banishes a heavenly being,” Lucifer said slowly. “Michael has no control over that.”

“Yes.” Emilly nodded. She dropped her gaze. “She pushed me through before I had a chance to react, and…a-and…” She squeezed her eyes shut and pressed the heels of her palms against the lids. “As I started falling, she was stabbed. She was stabbed and stabbed again, and again, and again…there were so m-many spears sticking out of her, Adam, but she still forced herself to close the gate. And her b-blood, she…all the blood on me…”

Adam felt all the air leave his lungs. He’d seen Lucifer get stabbed, but that had only been one spear in his side. The way Emily was describing this… He held her closer, and when she once more buried her face against him, he dropped his own against her shoulder. He domed his wings around them, casting the golden glow over her new, fallen form.

The last thing he’d said to Sera was cursing her for demoting him. The last thing she’d heard from him was anger, and now there was a very real chance that she could be gone. He shuddered hard and squeezed his eyes shut, trying to stop his brain from replaying that final conversation when he’d learned of his demotion, and of Michael taking over his position as commander. All she’d wanted was for him to relax and enjoy life – it hadn’t even been malicious, and with what Emily had said, not entirely her fault. He had to wonder if anyone else cared, other than them. Would anyone miss Sera if she was truly…?

“…Michael said you killed Lute,” Emily mumbled after a moment. “But that was her, back on the rooftop, right?”

“Yeah.” Adam nodded. “…Lyre is gone, though. So are Cello and Harmony. Amp was the one that attacked you, and we have Viola, Melody, and Tits still alive. We aren’t sure…if we can keep them alive is the thing. We brought Lyre back, but only long enough to get information. I..” He grimaced, still feeling the snap in his palm. “I had to kill her. She was begging me to.”

Emily was quiet against him for a while before nodding slowly, nuzzling against his chest.

“Maybe I can…help. If I still have my magic, now that I’m a…a…”

“You do.” Lucifer had given them space to talk and grieve, but he and Charlie were still there. He moved over to sit next to Adam, holding his palm out and letting the golden magic build up into a nice, gentle flame. “Fallen or not, you still have access to the magic you did in Heaven. You just also have a bit of a…feral side that’s difficult to control, and likely some form of hellish magic that will manifest at some point. I don’t know, you’re the first other true fallen angel to join me.”

“And you have us to support you.” Charlie settled on Adam’s other side, forcing a smile that still didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Don’t worry, Emily – you’re safe with us.”

“Thank you.” Emily smiled, a little more of that pep returning to her. She shifted and finally pulled away from Adam’s hold to really get good look at herself.

Along with the spiraling black horns, purple eyes with slit-shaped pupils, and the black tail, her feet also had shifted into hooves, and her legs were bent similarly to Charlie’s when she got up to stand next to her. There were many attributes similar between her and how Emily had changed, which only indicated that Lucifer had similar. Adam hadn’t really thought about Lucifer’s change much, especially since he didn’t normally look demonic. But Emily didn’t look that much different, other than the darker and more vibrant coloration.

With her seemingly settled, Adam made his way back into the overlord’s office to check in on her progress. When he got inside, he found that almost all of his girls had their helmets removed, and all had the same one-eyed treatment that Lute got, except Melody; she was missing both, the same as Lyre. All but Lute were strapped down, likely to reduce a repeat of what happened to Lyre. He didn’t think he could put any more of his girls down, not by his own hand.

“How are they doing?” he asked Carmilla, walking up behind her as she worked on scanning the mechanisms inlaid within the metal.

“Well enough,” she responded, brows knitting as she worked. “…you mentioned that they are artificial souls, but there is a lot of evidence to suggest that their souls have a degree of authenticity. And are very difficult to entirely rewrite, as much as Michael has tried.” She shook her head. “It seems in his attempts, he more tried to traumatize their souls to force memory loss and compliance. Though…in doing so, one of their souls is incredibly weak. It is unlikely that she will make it.” She pointed towards Tits, and Adam grimaced.

“Is there anything you can do…?”

“We will try, that much I can promise. Though, how many should we expect? I will quickly run out of room if we are anticipating saving all of them.”

“Lucifer mentioned not all could be.” Adam leaned against the wall, folding his arms. “Cello and Harmony wouldn’t go down, so they had no choice since they were threatening Charlie. I…don’t want to think about how many others will be like that, but…”

“I am certain there will be attempts. In the meantime, there is a wing of spare bedrooms that I can provide. They are not plentiful, but they should suffice for now so long as some of you are not opposed to sharing.”

“Nah, I’m sure that’ll be fine.” He looked to his girls again, shifting his weight. “…ugh. For whatever it’s worth, and I won’t repeat this…I’m sorry your daughters were threatened. I’m not sorry about the extermination.”

Carmilla fixated him with an icy stare that made his spine shiver, and he found it reminding him of Sera. There was an uncomfortable churning in his stomach that made him long for that same look from her before he could just fall into her lap and have her hold him and tell him things would be okay.

“I apologize for killing Symphony,” Carmilla finally responded. “But I do not regret the act itself, only what resulted from it. In any case, we now stand on the same side in a war against a new threat. So long as you are willing to set aside grievances until we are out of danger, I think we can harbor a proper truce.”

“…yeah.” Adam offered a small nod. There really was no arguing there. Nothing would bring Symphony back, and Carmilla was actively working to try and save his other girls. It was penance, in a sense, and they were definitely on the same side in this battle against Michael.

Movement from Lute’s table had Adam moving quickly over to her, reaching to grab her real hand. Like Lyre, her body still had metal bits sealed firmly, fully grafted into the skin – they weren’t simply wired in. More of her was left metal than Lyre, though he had a selfish relief finding the more…important parts were still intact. Something he was sure she appreciated, too, though the golden metal bonded with her white flesh was still clearly uncomfortable. Her fake arm was back in its place, connected to a port in the shoulder just below a golden pauldron. All of the metal was potentially permanent fixtures now, at least for the time being until they could find more time for her to recover from an extensive surgery. For now, though, this was the best they had.

“How’re you feeling?” he asked, stroking the back of her hand. Her head rolled a little before she opened her eyes to look up at him. The fake one still seemed to move like her real eye, though he wasn’t fond of the light being the same blue as her helmet…

“Bad?” Lute said, but she offered a small smile. “Still hard to stay awake, but…with the damn helmet off, it’s easier to think.”

“Good. Good, I’m glad. Same orders as before, though – if you feel anything-”

“Tell you immediately. I know, sir.” Lute squeezed his hand. “…I can feel it, like an itch in the back of my head. His commands are still strong, but I know that I can ignore them.” She sat up slowly, swaying a little and causing him to wrap his other arm around her shoulders to steady her.

“That’s because you are the most badass, broken bitch I know,” Adam rumbled, resting his head against hers. “Breaking free just because you wanted to strangle me.”

“Because you dared to say her name,” Lute hissed before she sobered. “…Vaggie is still there. Still standing at Michael’s side. I know I shouldn’t give a damn about it, but I still feel…”

“Bad?”

“…yeah.”

“Trust me, I’m trying to come to terms with that myself.” Adam looked around the room, at the three women working to aid his girls. Heaven had been quick to dismiss them, yet the Carmines had offered to help without hesitation. Even after what they did to Symphony… “I find myself sort of…I don’t know, wanting to help the damn Princess of Hell now.”

“A lot really did happen in a month then,” Lute commented absently. “…I never want to lose myself again.”

“And you won’t.” Adam cradled her against his chest, frowning. “I’ll be there to drag you back each time.”

“I know.” Lute was quiet before she glanced up at him. “…is it blasphemous to say I really want to tear the intestines out of a seraphim and hang him by the neck with them?”

“Probably?” Adam snorted. There was his bloodthirsty bitch. Definitely didn’t fit into Heaven’s ideal image of a warrior of divine justice, but very much Lute. “But I’ll join in on that. Maybe make him choke on his own dick while he’s hanging.”

“We could find some birds to peck out his eyes.”

“Oh! We could see if this place has one of those real old torture devices, like the brazen bull!”

“I bet Hell has books on how to do proper quartering, and the steeds to do so.”

“How either of you remained in Heaven is beyond me,” Carmilla spoke up from where she was bent over Tits. “Though I do appreciate the idea of making Michael suffer for what he’s done to these women, torture seems to be more of a Sinner thing.”

“Well, do you have any better ideas, Ms. Sinner?” Lute leaned back. “Would love to hear them.”

“…for someone like him, you would want it to be slow and painful. The iron maiden is a classic.”

Adam burst out laughing and Lute smirked, and he swore he saw the corner of Carmilla’s mouth twitch up in a smile. Hah, she wasn’t so stiff after all.

The mirth was interrupted when the door to the office flew open. Charlie was breathing hard, looking a little pale. Adam immediately stiffened, pulling Lute against his side on reflex.

“There’s another portal.”

“What?!” Adam stared before he took a step for the door. When Lute, on unstable legs, got up to follow, he reached to scoop her up and carry her while Carmilla and her daughters followed up behind him. Charlie led the way through the facility and out towards the docking warehouse, which had an open door with a great view of the city.

And the giant, holy portal opening above it.

This one looked far more like that one Adam was used to, and within moments of it opening, the familiar golden specks of the exorcists began to pour freely. All of his girls, dozens upon dozens of golden soldiers that flooded the city below. Screams were soon audible not long after the initial appearance of them, and Adam just frowned more.

“…he’s ahead of schedule. We still had half a day.”

“I don’t think he liked that I got away,” Emily mumbled, reaching to cling to Charlie. “This is my fault…”

“Nah, don’t blame yourself. Michael’s a fuckhead with no dignity.” Lute scowled. She was bristling just as much as Adam as they watched their girls, their exorcists, swarming the city. She reached to hold onto his shirt, carefully slipping out of his arms to limp forward. “…I can’t believe I’m fucking saying this, but looks like we need to actually fight for Hell.”

Adam nodded. It wasn’t something he’d ever thought of, either, but…they couldn’t let Michael get away with using what belonged to him. Especially not after bastardizing them to this degree.

As they watched, a few golden shapes were growing larger, beelining for the factory. Carmilla tensed and stepped back, ushering everyone inside.

“Your specialized weapons are in the warehouse just outside of my office,” she told Charlie. “Odette, Clara, continue your work on the exorcists in our care. I will join the fight.”

Adam shifted. He reached a hand out, conjuring his axe and resting it over his shoulders. He glanced down at Lute, who had just enough familiar magic to pull out her golden sword. The very one that had stabbed him, that still leaked his blood, but she shook it off and held it off to the side.

“Ready for the worst fucking fight of our lives, bitch?”

“Yes, sir.”

Chapter Text

Charlie had been preparing for war, but one was never entirely ready to face it head on. Especially not someone who had never been in a battle like this before. Thankfully, the planning and preparation that they had done for Adam’s initial threat bore fruit in the production of specialized weaponry for each of her companions. And the cannibals had angelic weapons over in Cannibal Town across the city, so really the only sections of Hell that were struggling were the city itself. She hadn’t planned for the full invasion as it was happening.

But she couldn’t think about that now.

The angelic blade glanced off of her shield, stopping it mid-swing and giving Angel the opening to fire holy bullets that battered the exorcist – or guardian or whatever they were called – back. With the newer armor, it wasn’t as easy to kill them; no visible skin beyond their lower jaws, no break in the protective angelic metal, they were far more a threat like this. And they still wanted to at least try and save what they could, but it was difficult when they were being swarmed.

Charlie brought her shield up again to block the next attempt at an attack, grinding her teeth together. Behind the attacker, she could see the shadows rising from the earth, attempting to snatch the angels from the sky as they attacked though they were swift in avoiding the tendrils. The way their bodies moved was even more disconcerting than the ones her group had fought before – they were faster, stronger, defter, almost as if they were more being yanked around my strings than actually moving of their own accord. Like dolls…

“Adam, how are we going to subdue all of them? Or any of them?!” Charlie shoved the attacker back once again, jumping away a few paces to seek out the golden wings. Being two of the only flight-capable defenders their group had, he was in the sky keeping a number of the girls’ attentions. She watched as Adam swung his axe, spiking one of the girls with enough force that it caved in the ground beneath her form. Yet even then, she still got up. Her head hung to the side, but that glowing blue eye burned and fixated on Adam while the body charged back up at him.

“Fuck!” He clenched his teeth, dodging just enough to grab the girl. “I don’t know… Come on, Pitch, you need to stop.” He was caught off guard by an elbow to his gut, causing him to lose his grip. He had to flap away to avoid the swing of the halberd his direction.

A little further back, Lute had two of the girls attempting to bring her down. The remaining metal bits and her fake arm were proving useful compared to what the rest of them had; she used her metal hand to grab hold of one of the weapons, ripping it from the exorcist’s hands and striking her hard with the haft. The other girl’s axe was caught by Lute’s blade and she shoved her back.

They were at least keeping them busy, but there were more on the ground. Angel and Husk were working together in an effort to subdue one of them that was covered in dented metal and had a number of steel-edged cards digging into small seams in her body. But she was still just…moving. And the ones Alastor managed to hold down did not remain down for long, the weapons slicing through shadows to cut free. Pentious was attempting to use holy netting to drag them from the sky, and Cherri was helping where she could given they weren’t attempting to kill them. And Lucifer had his hands tied much the same way, doing everything in his power to not kill the threat now that he had the ability to participate more directly, though he seemed to struggle with the injury to his side.

An exorcist body hit the ground next to her and didn’t move, causing Charlie to jump back in surprise. Moments later, Carmilla landed on top of it, the pointed tips of her ballet shoes dripping gold.

“You are going to have to make a choice, First Man,” she called up at him, catching his attention. Charlie couldn’t tear her gaze away from the bloody parts of the fallen exorcist’s body, unmoving with the blue eye flickering out. “We cannot save them all, and they are not hesitating in harming us in turn.”

“I fucking know that!” Adam snapped. He was still trying to reach the one he was fighting, and Charlie’s chest ached when she saw those flashes of desperation in an effort to pull something, anything, of familiarity from the girl. “Dammit…dammit, Lute!?”

“All of us serve you willingly,” Lute responded, her voice haggard from the fighting. She was still recovering, too, yet she really didn’t show it outside of the golden blood dripping from open wounds on her face. “We live by your word. Even if we are compromised, that is how we were programmed. How we were made.”

“Don’t fucking put it like that, you make it sound like it’s not a big fucking deal!”

“It isn’t. For us, our service is our life.” Lute seemed to hesitate before her blade flashed. In the blink of an eye, one of the exorcists she was fighting no longer had a head. It fell to the ground, the blue eye of the helmet fizzling before going out, soon covered by the previously attached body. “…if I have to choose between keeping you safe and trying to help my sisters who may be too far gone, I will choose you every time, sir.”

Adam stared at the body for a while before full on shouting out a stream of curses. Charlie had never heard someone sound so angry and so distraught, and there was a crushing wave of pity that washed over her as she watched him turn. His axe was larger than almost all of them, so the wide arced swing very easily cleaved through the armor of the angel he had been trying to reach, sending the two parts of her body crashing to the ground.

“Princess, tell your band of freaks that if they can’t knock them out, they have to take them out.” His voice was heavy with rage, and his axe was shaking in his grasp.

“Are you sure-?”

“Yes.” He met her gaze, frown deepening.

“But Vaggie!”

“Low odds of her still being around, bitch.” His expression softened as frigid terror washed through her. “…fuck, but we can still at least try. She was a deviant, so maybe she’s easier to reach.”

Charlie swallowed but nodded. The idea of cutting the girls down, especially after seeing Lyre, was physically painful. Never before had she considered the exorcists as anything other than murderous monsters that enjoyed the act of slaughtering human souls. And sure, there was still some truth to that, but Lyre looked so much like Vaggie – she sounded so scared, and the manic pleading for death rang in Charlie’s ears until she tried to force it out by squeezing her eyes shut and willing her mind to refocus.

But…they weren’t giving them a lot of choices.

When Charlie opened her eyes again, the attackers were on the back end. There were still attempts to render them unconscious, but most of them were dropping now. She had to bring up her shield to block another strike from one that dove from above, and Carmilla swung her pointed shoes in a pirouette that caught the barely visible neck.

By the time there were no exorcists left moving, only two were still alive. They had seemingly hesitated enough to be more properly subdued, with Adam dragging them to the ground and Lute confiscating their weapons. But almost a dozen other bodies littered the ground outside of the Carmine factory, saturating the earth with angelic blood. It was a grizzly sight, and the image was only worsened by the distant screams coming from the city proper. It would be easy to just…stay at the factory, hunker down and let it happen like she had year after year…

“Lute and I are headed for the city.” Adam’s voice pulled her out of her thoughts, and she quickly shook her head before peeking up at him.

“I’m going, too. If Vaggie’s down here…”

“Figured.” He frowned a little before dropping the head of his axe on the ground, leaning forward on it. He looked so different from the first time Charlie had met him – without his mask, he looked exhausted, and the death of more of his girls was visibly weighing him down. But he did his best to hide it by averting his gaze to look over at Lute. “How should we approach this, lieutenant?”

“Given…how many of them are there, we aren’t going to have the room to be selective.” Lute frowned, turning to survey the battlefield of golden bodies. “…we’re going to have to hit hard and fast.”

“We’ll give them one chance. If they don’t have any moment of hesitation or…glitching, or whatever I saw in you, then we really don’t have a choice.”

“Unless it’s Vaggie. Please?” Charlie frowned. She gripped her shield closer, dropping her gaze to the golden blood that had splashed on it at some point during the fight there. “I know it’s a lot to ask, but…please?”

“Already told you, we’re going to try and get her.” Adam’s hand settled on her head, tousling her hair. It was almost friendly and warm, and she offered him the smallest hint of a smile before straightening up and taking a deep breath.

“Let me see who we still have.”

Adam nodded and scooped up the two girls they’d managed to save, following after Charlie into the factory.

The fight had obviously gone in their favor once they accepted that they couldn’t save them all. Surveying the damage showed that, for the most part, everyone seemed fairly uninjured. It looked like a few had been caught by a weapon or two, with Angel favoring one of his arms and Cherri carefully addressing an injury along Pentious’ coils. They looked alright otherwise, so just shallow injuries from whatever got them and a small shimmering of blue that looked similar to what Lucifer still had in his side from Lyre’s attack before. Everyone else was a little banged up but otherwise not too bad off.

“Adam, Lute, and I are going to the city,” Charlie announced, looking over everyone. “I want to help…as many Sinners as I can, and I still need to find Vaggie.”

“I think it best I make my way out to Cannibal Town.” Alastor looked like he had yet to be touched by any weapon. “I do want to ensure that they are effectively using the weapons given to them.” And, if Charlie didn’t know better, he was worried about Rosie. If Alastor could actually be worried about anyone or anything other than himself.

“Be careful. We’ll try and make our way there after we check downtown.” She looked to the rest. “Angel, Pentious, you two should stay here. And Husk and Cherri, maybe you two should stay with Ms. Carmine and keep this place safe?”

“More will come this way now that we’ve taken them down.” Lute nodded. Her brows furrowed, looking over the small handful of her sisters that they had managed to save. Her own leg buckled a little, but she brushed Adam off when he went to steady her.

“Maybe you should-”

“Don’t bother.” Lute took a deep breath. “I’m alright. Michael might have given them some different kind of training, but only one person has beat me during our sparring matches – I don’t intend to lose.”

“Can I at least help?” Emily shifted. Of all of them, she looked the most afraid and worried. But she had managed to pull herself together a bit more after her fall, even if it hadn’t been too long since then. Her newly grown tail still wrapped around her leg, and her wings were folded around her body to hug herself, but otherwise her head was high and her shoulders strong. She walked over to Lute and offered a hand, one that she hesitantly took.

The glow started in Emily’s palms – a nice, warm silver similar to the magic that Lucifer was able to use. It swirled up Lute’s arm and, although the exorcist flinched a little and seemed to tense as if expecting something else, her body slowly began to relax. Her eyes fell shut, and the horrible marring of her face began to clear a little. The wires that still protruded from her flesh simply flashed out of existence by the magic, and her labored breathing began to ease. It did nothing for the metal parts still fused to her body, nor the fake eye she had to deal with, but it was a start.

When she was done, Emily swayed a little and Charlie moved forward to help keep her standing. The winded seraphim offered her a small smile before peeking back at Lute.

“I…hope that helps?” she offered softly.

Lute was quiet before she opened her eyes, blinking a few times. She brought both hands up, flexing her palms curiously before looking at Emily with a surprised look very open on her face.

“I feel good. Better than good, that…voice is quieter.” Lute turned to fully face her, bringing a hand to touch at her head. “It’s harder to hear.”

“What?” Adam blinked, taking a step forward. “Seriously?”

“I haven’t felt this good since you woke me up.” The relief on Lute’s face was the most emotion Charlie had ever seen on her, and that only made her think of all the girls they had to slaughter. At least they could help a few…

“Oh, I’m so glad.” Emily squeezed Charlie’s hand, and her smile was nearly as bright as when Charlie had first met her. “I wasn’t sure what I could do...against whatever he’s done.”

“You’re a seraphim, too, Emily.” A hand settled on Emily’s shoulder. Charlie glanced back to find Lucifer offering her a smile of his own. “And you’re a strong, young woman. I think some of us old farts forget that even for as young as some of you can be, you still have similar magic.”

Emily stared, her smile faltering a little before she threw her arms around him, hugging him tightly. Lucifer’s arms came up to wrap around her in turn, and he gently rocked her. It was a nice sight, mirrored by the way Adam had pulled Lute against him, arms and wings wrapped around her. After everything that happened, all the horrors since the court case a month ago, Charlie felt warmth bloom in her chest. She still didn’t know where Vaggie was, or…if she could get her back. But there was still hope. There was still…a chance that this would end well for them.

They didn’t have time to think about it longer, however. Lute and Adam moved to the front door of the factory, and Charlie followed. Lucifer was the only other person to join, especially when they noticed golden specks growing larger in the distance. Charlie tensed a little and turned to call for Carmilla, who waved them off.

“We will handle them. Do not let them catch you on the way, and call me if anything happens,” she told them. Charlie didn’t like leaving them alone, but the screams still coming from the city pulled her focus in that direction. They needed to help, and she needed to find Vaggie.

“Yes, ma’am.” Charlie reached for Lucifer’s hand while the other two angels opened their wings. All four took off, slipping around the backside of the factory and managing to keep behind storage containers to avoid being seen by the encroaching forces. The sound of clashing steel and gunfire had Charlie glancing back, and from where they were she could see another dozen exorcists descending upon the factory. She frowned deeply, but Lucifer’s hand squeezing hers brought her focus back up to him. They had to trust that they would be okay, and they had Carmilla there. They would be fine.

The four of them were in more danger.

When they arrived in the downtown of Pentagram City, there were already a lot of bodies filling the streets. Charlie was used to the exterminations, and really this wasn’t any bloodier than many in the past. Her brows furrowed as she slipped out of Lucifer’s hold, walking forward. The screams were all around her, but she found herself walking to the nearest body and crouching beside it. There was still a shallow rise and fall to the Sinner’s chest. It made no sense, exorcists never left anyone alive. They were diligent in their slaughter. Her hand shifted down, finding another injury glowing with the blue magic that these angels had been wielding against them.

And this wasn’t the only body, either; they had the opportunity to investigate a majority of the fallen Sinners on the road that they had arrived at. Despite how bloody and gruesome the scene was, the number of actual kills seemed surprisingly low. It made no sense, unless the guardians as they were now did not fully kill like the exorcists had before.

“Lute?” she asked softly, seeking out the angel. She found her currently crouched over one of the bodies, pulling out a still glowing, blue spear. “Why are they alive?”

“I don’t know.” Lute stood to face her, holding the weapon out with a furrowed brow. “I trained all of our girls. We don’t fail our kills, and we don’t leave Sinners alive. This is just…sloppy.” She squeezed, and the spear simply shattered in her hold before she shook out her hand.

“Do you remember anything from before? Maybe…some orders?” Charlie pressed gently. Lute half turned, putting a hand to her head and closing her eyes.

“It’s…difficult to think that far back. I feel like I’ve just been sleeping for a long time, and when I try to, it’s just…one big, jumbled mess. Discerning anything feels like trying to untangle a knot with no ends.”

Charlie frowned but nodded. She looked back to the bodies around them, taking note that they all had similar blue injuries in their bodies. She glanced over at her dad, who still put his hand against his injured side every now and then. Even after all this time, it hadn’t healed much.

She didn’t get the chance to think more on it, however – the sound of wings soon filled the air, and the clanking of metal landing on asphalt began to surround them. Despite being so heavily armored, the guardians had managed to move quietly into surrounding them. Half a dozen…a dozen…two dozen… Charlie reached, pulling out the shield that she wore on her back. Behind her, she heard the sound of an axe and blade being drawn, and Lucifer flared out his wings behind him.

All four of them were forced back-to-back, the golden mob slowly surrounding them on all sides. Various weapons were being leveled at them, pointing in their direction, accompanied by various conjured weapons of that blue magic, or readied gauntlets to fire off that same energy like the guardians that had followed Lute to battle.

Of their small group, Charlie was inexperienced. One of Lucifer’s wings pushed her back into the center of the three of them, just in time for the first guardians charging at them. She let out a cry and ducked behind her shield, hearing metal clash on metal as the first halberd was caught by the curve of Adam’s axe, right before it had a chance to reach Charlie’s shield. She peeked up in time to watch Lute charge forward, her blade finding the tiniest break in the attacker’s armor, cleaving the attacking arm that looked to still be flesh from her body. When the guardian recoiled, Adam’s axe sung through the air, ending the tune with a heavy thud as the guardian’s head hit the ground. The metal helmet rolled to a stop, blue eye staring up at Charlie before fizzling out.

Fighting erupted all around them moments later, with the two soldiers charging forth against the offending guardians head on. They didn’t seem to be trying to reach out to the guardians, at least not the ones immediately threatening them; both of them were making quick work where they could. Side by side, they were a force to reckon with – Adam didn’t even need to give commands for Lute to be covering his openings. When he swung, she was behind him parrying an attack that would have caught him off guard. And when she charged forward, bringing a number of the guardians to the ground, he was crouching over her body, gripping his axe in both hands and catching a number of weapons as they aimed to swing down at her. Every weakness was covered, every attack had a follow up. Lute would use him as high ground, and Adam would use her as a thrown weapon, tossing her into piles of guardians.

Charlie could only duck beneath her shield as another weapon clashed against it, and she pushed the guardian back with a shout, right into range of Lucifer’s own magic. His wings carried him easily ahead of them, though he seemed to struggle with shifting shapes, which caused him to take a few hits. Each time he tried to change, the blue glow in his side grew brighter. Despite that, however, he was able to bring a number down.

All three of them were capable of fighting, and then there was Charlie. The best she could do was defend herself and send little bursts of musical fire or popping fireworks to push the guardians away, but otherwise she couldn’t kill them. Even if she had the power to, she still didn’t want to. Not after Lyre, not after Lute, and thinking about Vaggie. She clenched her teeth and tried aiming her magic more directly, firing an explosion of lights and glitter at the guardian bearing down on her, pushing her back to where Lucifer was able to blast her back. She couldn’t help kill, but she could at least try and keep them distracted with her so she could keep the other three safe.

Of course, even if they were good, there were far too many guardians. It wasn’t long before Adam took a slice across his chest, and when Lute turned to help, she was struck hard with a blue spear that tore through her side, sending her crashing into a building with a shout.

“Lute!” Adam growled, putting a hand over his injury and turning to swing his axe, knocking away a group of them. He went rushing to her side, but he was held off by a number of other guardians, causing him to stop to defend himself. “Dammit, out of the way!”

The panic in his voice had Charlie frowning and looking around. Lute was picking herself up, but there were a number of guardians surrounding her. Before Charlie could even think, she was up and running over. She could feel her hair come undone, and while she gripped her shield with one arm to stop a lance jab, the prongs of her materialized trident caught the swing of a halberd, stopping both weapons from striking Lute. There was strength behind them, and Charlie’s arms shook as she tried to hold them. It gave Lucifer enough time to throw a wide arc of magic, blasting the guardians back and giving Charlie a moment to breathe, her knees hitting the ground. She felt her tail lashing a little behind her.

“…not bad, for a princess.” Lute’s voice had Charlie glancing back, finding the angel wearing a surprised expression that had her normally slit-shaped pupil a little wider. When she caught her eye, however, Lute shook her head and grabbed her sword. “I’ll be fine from here.”

“I can still help.” Charlie pushed herself to her feet using the haft of her trident, gripping it and her shield firmly.

“Just don’t get in the way and don’t make yourself a liability.” That was…probably the closest thing to ‘nice’ that Lute was able to give, but Charlie still appreciated it all the same.

Charlie’s aid had Lute leaping back into the fray, freeing Adam from the group of guardians surrounding him. Helping felt nice, and it gave Charlie more assurance that she wasn’t just there to be in the way. The glow of her eyes reflected off of the metal of the next guardian to charge her, and though she still couldn’t find it in her to land a blow – not to mention she wasn’t used to using this trident still – she was able to deflect the attempted strike with her shield.

Charlie found herself falling into a rhythm, so she was caught off guard when a spear head hooked between two of her trident’s prongs, ripping it from her hand and throwing it aside. There was a glow of blue shining from an open gauntlet, and she barely had time to bring her shield up to block the blast of energy. It pushed her back, and she stumbled to keep her balance once she came to a stop. Breathing hard, she lifted her gaze to face the offending guardian.

And froze.

The guardian gripped her spear, smoke still curling from the gauntlet that had fired the blast of blue magic at Charlie. Her limbs twitched, and her head tilted to the side, that blue eye locked on Charlie’s face. But it was the mechanical wings, the only guardian she had seen so far with them, that really caught her attention. And even with the helmet, she recognized the dark grey skin and…lips that she had spent three years appreciating.

“Vaggie,” Charlie breathed, her voice trembling. Seeing Vaggie like this brought back the last month of pain. The court case, their fight, and Vaggie disappearing…all of it sent a horrific shock to Charlie’s heart that had it seizing in her chest. She pushed her away, she sent her out without letting her explain her side of the story, of her story, and now there she was. Exactly like the rest of the guardians, clad in gold. She didn’t even have her bow anymore…

Vaggie’s hand gripped her spear tighter before she charged at Charlie, causing her to bring up her shield to deflect the attack. Sparks flew as the metals clashed, but Charlie didn’t get a chance to react before she found herself scrambling out of the way of a blast of blue magic.

“V-Vaggie, stop! Please! It’s me, it’s…it’s Charlie!” she pressed. There was a moment where Vaggie paused, turning her twitching head in her direction, before she was once again lunging. Charlie barely managed to dodge the jab, and she grimaced when she swung her shield into Vaggie’s chest to send her back. It knocked her for a loop, but it didn’t stop her from charging. “Please!”

The others were fighting behind her, and she really didn’t want them getting involved. If they hurt her… Charlie frowned before breaking into a run, finding an opening in guardians that gave her more room. Sure enough, Vaggie was chasing after her. She had to whip around and block another blast of blue with her shield, though the force sent her stumbling backwards. It gave Vaggie an opening to charge her, and they hit the ground, knocking the wind out of her lungs. It was all she could do to stop the spear from being driven into her chest.

“P-please…!” Charlie begged, peeking from around her shield. “I know that…that you’re in there. You aren’t gone, I refuse to believe it.” The pausing was giving her some hope. “Vaggie, I am so, so sorry about before. What happened after the courtroom…I shouldn’t have pushed you away. I n-never should have doubted you!”

Vaggie’s body seemingly locked up, the blue eye glitching a little as it stared down at Charlie. A frown grew beneath the golden visor, and Vaggie eased back, still gripping her spear firmly. It gave Charlie the chance to get to her feet, though she kept her shield up, watching Vaggie. She wasn’t sure how this worked, how Adam got Lute back. But…this was the most she’d seen any of the guardians hesitate, so maybe…just maybe, she was reaching her? Maybe Vaggie wasn’t gone!

“Come home with me,” Charlie offered softly. She reached with her free hand, pulling out the shrunken head and presenting it to Vaggie. “I…got you a souvenir. Heh, from Cannibal Town? I’ve been holding onto this since then…”

The frown on Vaggie’s face shifted into a grimace, her lower lip quivering a little. The grip on her spear loosened, and one of her hands fell away from the shaft. The glitching blue eye focused on the shrunken head that Charlie held.

Yes…yes! It looked like it was working! Charlie felt her heart swell, and she lowered her shield, holding the shrunken head closer.

“I know you’re still there, Vaggie,” Charlie stressed, and the eye nearly fizzled out of existence, though it didn’t disappear entirely. “Come home to me. W-we can…get this stuff off of you, and we can brush out your beautiful hair. I can get you a new bow.” She took a step forward.

“…Ch…Charlie?” Vaggie’s voice was so strained, and it shook a little. But there was the proof Charlie needed. Vaggie was still there! Vaggie was still alive, she hadn’t been erased! She took another step closer.

“I’m right here, Vaggie. I’m right-”

Pain bloomed across Charlie’s chest, and her breathing hitched. Both eyes widened before dropping, staring at the blue spear sticking through her body. They shifted along the glowing shaft to where Vaggie’s hand gripped it before lifting up to the metal helmet. The blue eye was locked on her, burning brightly and no longer flickering. Just below where the helmet was attached to her head, however, Charlie could just make out tears rolling down Vaggie’s cheek. The grip she had on the magical weapon went slack. It had been the only thing keeping Charlie standing; as soon as it was released, Charlie’s knees crumbled to the ground.

She didn’t get much of a chance to think, but as her vision swam, she found herself staring up as she felt translucent drops of liquid fall onto her face. Vaggie…the blue eye was completely gone, and though the blank helmet was looking down at her, there was no confusion. Vaggie’s mouth opened, an anguished cry escaping her, but it was muffled. Charlie could barely hear it. She could barely hear anything, other than her name being wailed by a voice she had longed for.

“CHARLIE!”

Chapter Text

“CHARLIE!”

That was Vaggie’s voice. Adam stiffened and whipped around, gaze seeking out the source. Sure enough, he could see from his angle the guardian with metal wings, crouching and holding… His eyes widened.

Charlie was slumped in Vaggie’s hold, black blood pouring from a hole in her chest, and the demonic appearance that had slowly come out during the battle was beginning to recede. He couldn’t tell if she was breathing or if the movement of her body was the trembling coming from the woman holding her, who seemingly no longer had the glowing, blue eye that marked their state of control.

Adam wasn’t the only one to notice, either – the sound of his daughter’s name had Lucifer charging forward. He grabbed Vaggie by the back of the head and ripped her away, slamming her into the nearest building with enough force to cause it to shudder and begin to crumble. He didn’t know…

“Lieutenant!” Adam shouted, but Lute was already moving. She was little more than a black and gold rocket that easily swerved and dipped beneath falling debris, though Adam lost sight of her when the building fully fell around her and Vaggie. He cursed and rushed to Charlie’s side, where Lucifer was carefully propping her up, to wheel around and brandish his axe at the remaining guardians.

Only…they were no longer moving. All of those blue eyes were locked on him, yet they remained still. His brows furrowed in confusion, and the grip on his axe tightened. What were they doing? They had been relentless before, and the gash across his chest throbbed as a reminder of that. But now they simply hung in the air, other than the twitching of their limbs.

Behind him, he heard rubble shift and crash against the ground, and he chanced a glance back towards the building. Lute had managed to pull herself free, her real arm clutching Vaggie against her side while her metal arm tore through stone. There were blue sparks dancing along the length of it, and it looked as if wires and other parts were definitely broken. She barely made it out of the ruined building before it went slack, and she grimaced.

Not good. They were in a really bad spot right now, with two nearly out of commission fighters. But when Adam looked back up, the guardians were all pulling away and turning to move towards the still open portal hanging above the city. They didn’t seem to go through, rather stopping around it, congregating into one location and simply remaining still as small pricks of gold and black against the scarlet, Hellish sky.

“…we need to go,” Adam grunted, lowering his axe before moving over to crouch next to Lucifer. From this angle, he could tell that Charlie was still breathing, but it was labored. Good… “Lucifer?”

“R-right.” Lucifer clenched his jaw but brought a hand up, throwing open a portal for them to step through. He held Charlie closer, careful of her injury, and Adam made sure he and the girls stepped through first. He paused to look back at the rest of his girls, still trying to see if he could figure out what had caused them to pull back, before following.

When they arrived back at the factory, they found it littered with more guardian bodies. It hurt to see so many, but they really didn’t have a choice right now – they had to keep each other safe, and if that meant that his girls needed to be stopped… Adam squeezed his eyes shut but took a breath and led the way inside. He had to bring his axe up to block a few cards that came whizzing down from the rafters above.

“Hey! Fuck off, it’s just us!”

“Should say something before just walking inside.” Husk hopped down, scowling as he looked them over. When his eyes settled on Charlie, however, he stiffened and his ears pinned back. “What happened?”

“…she was hurt,” Adam grunted before turning his head to look at the guardian Lute was still supporting. It seemed like Vaggie was unconscious at least. Lucifer noticed his look and his eyes widened when he caught up to who the one that attacked Charlie was.

“That’s…?”

“Yeah.” Adam moved and scooped Vaggie up into his arms, turning to carry her towards Carmilla’s office. “We got more room, right?”

“A few left. Got a couple that attacked the factory, too, but we’re having a hard time not just killing them.” Husk joined their little group as they rushed through the factory.

Adam shoved the door open, startling the occupants within. As Husk had said, there were a few more guardians laid out on the prepared tables that they had in the office, but not many. Of course, there were a lot more bodies still outside… But it was something. Carmilla and her daughters were hovering over some of them, various parts of the golden armor cut from the bodies, and more helmets had been thrown into the bin. So much damage to all of them… At least Emily was there trying to help.

Speaking of, her eyes widened in horror when she saw the black blood staining Charlie chest.

“What happened?!”

“She got hurt.” Lucifer frowned before bringing her to a table. Emily joined him, and the two seraphim stood around, getting to work with their collective magic.

It was Charlie’s best chance of surviving, though Adam found his brows furrowing in thought as he brought Vaggie over to a table further away. He was…happy that Charlie was still alive, but at the same time it didn’t seem like that should be the case. His girls were killers, even Vaggie, and their weapons were designed to be fatal to Sinners and even demonkind. This new magic, this…blue energy, didn’t seem to have the same power behind it. At least, it didn’t seem capable of landing a killing blow.

He carefully laid the unconscious woman out on the table and turned to seek out Carmilla, waving her over. The rest of his girls were still struggling, but if Vaggie was like Lute…

“We got Vaggie,” he explained when she joined him, and she nodded. “…she’s the one that stabbed Charlie.”

“Ah.” Carmilla’s brows furrowed. “Do you believe that she is still there? We have not had much luck even with those we have freed from Michael’s influence, despite Emily’s aid.”

Adam glanced over his shoulder, watching the two seraphim that were hunched over where Charlie was laying. He…honestly had to hope that was the case, because he wasn’t sure how Charlie would feel if she survived and her girlfriend… He shook his head and shifted his gaze back.

“Vaggie defected, something my girls should not be able to do,” he grunted, reaching to touch at the dried tears along Vaggie’s cheeks.

“She’s the only other one that was like me,” Lute spoke up, and Adam glanced over at her. He knew that Lute hated Vaggie -- abhorred her, really. But in this moment, she looked troubled as she stared down at Vaggie’s helmeted face. “…we were defects, both of us. The only defective exorcists to ever be made. And she’s a stubborn cunt; if I was able to claw my way back, she can.” She brought her hand over to grip the motionless metal arm.

“Then let us remove this troublesome helmet.” Carmilla nodded and got to work.

There wasn’t much that Adam and Lute could do, so he took her by the shoulder and led her to the far side of the room, sitting down with her and reaching to lift the fake arm. She grimaced a little, gritting her teeth before she leaned forward to rest against his chest.

“…we’ll need to reinforce this thing,” he commented against the side of her head, and she folded her wings around his belly. “Can’t have you breaking down mid combat.”

“I didn’t expect to rush into a falling building to save that bitch,” Lute grunted, but her voice lacked the usual bite when she was talking about Vaggie. She shifted her gaze back over to the table where Vaggie was, her jaw working.

“…easier to hate them when it’s us aiming to kill them, huh?” Adam questioned lightly, reaching to stroke her back. It felt like so long ago that they were just watching some stupid Heaven show, with Lute laying on top of him and his hand gently stroking the length of her spine between her wings. A lifetime ago…one he wished he could go back to. But that was all gone now.

“I shouldn’t even care about her. I cut out her damn eye,” Lute growled. Her hand curled into a fist before she brought it up to the part of her face where her own fake eye now lingered. “…being stuck like that, though – I wouldn’t wish that on anyone. No one deserves to be in that darkness…”

“Lyre told me a little bit about that.” Adam’s wings domed around them, ensuring it was just the two of them. “That…she was still somewhat aware, but unable to do anything?”

Lute grimaced, and Adam braced himself before pulling her closer to do what he could to ease the tension that began to grow in her body. He knew her tells; the way her breathing grew a little ragged, the tension in her jaw as she forced her emotions back into control, and the tremor that ran down the length of her spine and shook out the feathers of her wings. She was good at hiding things from everyone else, but he could read her like the most beautifully, finely written book ever printed.

“It’s like…” She took a moment to collect her thoughts before casting her gaze around the office space. “You’re aware that you’re moving, you’re aware of voices around you, but you can’t see anything. You don’t have control, you’re just stuck in an endless void being controlled by someone else, like some… puppet. You can feel your limbs move, hear your voice speak, but you can’t stop it. Often times, it’s almost like you’re sleeping but not dreaming.”

“That’s horrible.” Adam frowned, tightening his hold on her further. Even Lute was disturbed by this rather than angry, so he could only imagine… “Was it like that even before the stupid helmets?”

“Yeah. My eyes were open but I couldn’t do anything. I couldn’t…” Lute closed her eyes before turning to rest more against him, digging her hand into the front of his torn shirt. It jostled the injury he had across his chest as well as the still healing wounds she had given to him during their fight, but he just grunted a little and she eased the grip. “I’m sorry about what I did to you, sir.”

“That wasn’t you,” Adam told her firmly. “It wasn’t you because you didn’t kick my ass as hard as usual.” When she peeked up at him, he flashed the most charming grin he could. “Come on, bitch, you’re way stronger than any seraphim’s influence. You would’ve actually dislocated my arm, and then held me down to pop it back in place.”

Lute blinked a few times before rolling her eyes. He knew she didn’t believe him, but she did roll into her back and offer him a tired smile. The pressure of everything that had happened so far was heavy in her expression, and he was sure she saw much the same in his gaze. It had only been a month since this all started, but so much had happened. He’d gotten practically no sleep, and he was sure she was in much the same situation. His finger gently brushed aside some of her hair, pausing briefly at one of the barely visible marks that had torn out chunks of it.

“…when this is over, do you think you could finally take a vacation?”

“Hm.” Lute’s face shifted into a thoughtful expression, and she tilted her head to the side. “Maybe…for a week.”

“Come on, after all this? A month, minimum.”

“A week and a half.”

“Three.”

“Two.”

Adam snorted before leaning his head down, kissing her deeply. She was more than eager to lean into it, her hand shifting to cup his cheek. The hand that he’d had in her hair shifted down to cover hers, one of his fingers stroking the back of it. When they broke apart, their foreheads remained pressed against one another.

Their brief respite was interrupted with the sound of a groan and metal shifting on top of a metal table. Adam brought his gaze over to where Carmilla was carefully helping Vaggie sit up, pulling the helmet from her head. Much like Lute and the other girls, there was substantial damage to her face, though it was more readily hidden behind her ridiculously long hair when Carmilla gently brushed it over her ears. Since Vaggie had already been missing an eye, she had similar wiring from her empty socket that Lyre had had before that Carmilla carefully cut free. Her other eye, however, opened to a squint against the light of the office. Still normal, like Lute’s.

“Take it slow,” Carmilla told her. Given how intimidating she had been, her voice now was soft. She’d used it for more of his girls, the ones that she’d helped free, and Adam had to at least respect that coming from the cunt who killed Symphony.

“Where…?” Vaggie’s voice cracked a little, and she wet her dry lips. Slowly, she brought her eye up to scan the room, her brows furrowing.

“You are safe.” Carmilla purposefully moved between her gaze and where Charlie was still being worked on, and Adam moved to do much the same. Vaggie needed the chance to wake up – she didn’t need to see the state of her girlfriend, at least not right now…

“I know I’m the last person you’ll want to see, but…welcome back, Vags.” He knew she would recoil from him, but her full attention was now on him rather than elsewhere.

“You…!” Vaggie reached, likely for her spear, but her body froze when she saw the golden armor covering her arm. Slowly, she brought one hand and then the other up to her face so she could see them both. “What is this?”

“A wardrobe change, curtesy of Michael.” Lute’s voice had Vaggie tensing up as well, but her eye widened when the two locked gazes. Vaggie’s eye shifted over the remaining damage that Emily hadn’t been able to heal on Lute’s body before lingering on the metal eye.

“What happened to us…?”

“I’m not actually sure how he got you,” Lute offered. She reached to hold her motionless arm. “You were already there when I was taken back. To the facility.”

Vaggie’s entire body shuddered, and her fingers clenched into fists. The horror on her face was uncomfortable, and Adam could feel his chest tighten a little. Vaggie was his wayward little exorcist, and much like her girlfriend he had every intention of killing at the start of this. But…none of his girls reacted well to the idea of having gone back there, and that alone had his heart aching for her.

“Take it easy, bitch,” he offered. “We’ll get as much of that shit off of you as possible, and Emily’ll be able to fix up your head to help ease whatever’s left of Michael.”

“Michael really did this?” Vaggie furrowed her brows. She closed her eye and took a deep breath before looking around the room, really taking in everything. Her expression was schooled, yet it was also so much more open than Adam was used to from her. Vaggie had always been more similar to Lute, right down to the way she kept her expressions in check. The princess had maybe been…good for her, or something. It wasn’t like he cared…

While Vaggie was looking around, Adam felt Carmilla’s elbow in his side. He glanced over at her just as Vaggie looked the opposite direction, and her silvery gaze flicked briefly over their shoulders. Oh… He fluffed up his golden wings, completely blocking the part of the office where Charlie was. Take it slow… Vaggie was free now, but there was no full way of knowing that Michael’s influence wouldn’t just come back like it had with Lyre. She was in a fragile state in that moment, and seeing Charlie would probably do much the same to her as seeing Lute had done to Adam himself when he first walked into that damn office.

“We’re in Hell?” Vaggie finally asked when she looked up at the two of them. She still looked wary – good. Her instincts were strong. “And…you’re working with Carmillla Carmine?”

“Been about a month since that court case, yeah.” Adam folded his arms, doing his best to remain casual where he stood. That seemed to distress her, and he cleared his throat to try and placate the horror welling up in her expression. “Deep breaths, bitch. Don’t freak out or nothing-”

“Where’s Charlie?” Vaggie tried to stand up, but she immediately fell back down, her hand pressing to her head. She shook it a little and just frowned. “Where is she, Adam?”

Adam grimaced. He could feel Carmilla’s scorching gaze on him, and he scratched his cheek as he looked off to the side. How the fuck did he even approach something like this…? He looked helplessly to Lute, who just had a deadpanned expression on her own face, before he let out a groan.

“She knows where you are,” he offered finally. “Nothing happened to her, she’s completely fine.”

“Where is she?” Vaggie repeated, and Lute pressed the palm of her only hand to her forehead, shaking it a little. Adam huffed a little at that reaction, but his expression softened when he looked back down at Vaggie.

“Look…she’s fine, she’s being looked after right now,” he offered, trying to keep his voice gentle. “She just needs some time.”

Vaggie frowned at his words. He sincerely hoped that she had believed him, but it didn’t seem to assuage any of her concerns. On the contrary, her brows knitted lower on her face when she shifted her gaze to her hands again, opening and closing them. The metal digits flexed with her inspection, and the metal of her wings creaked as they shifted against her back. It took Adam far too long to realize that she had that look on her face that said she was trying to think, and by the time he did, it was too late.

Her one eye widened, and the horror written in her expression told Adam all he needed to know.

“It wasn’t you,” he pressed, even as she pushed herself to her unsteady feet. She almost fell to her knees when she got off the table, and she swiped at Adam when he tried to offer a hand. “Hey! You need to calm down, this ain’t going to help anyone – not you or her.”

“I need to see her.” Vaggie’s voice was heavy with emotion, and it bit into Adam that much worse. Damn he was becoming quite the bleeding heart for these cunts, and there was no real reason other than sympathy. He once again tried to help her up, but he was met with small, golden gashes across his palm.

“Bitch, you need to relax! You’re going to stress yourself out, and you might stress her, too. She’s being taken care of by Emily.” Adam finally just grabbed her, hauling her up by the forearm even as she let out a terrified growl at him.

“Adam! Put me down!”

“Deep fucking breaths and I’ll take you over to her. If you promise to not freak out, alright?” Adam held her firmly. She wanted to argue, but there was that panic on her face again. The way she was shaking in his hold told him that she knew, or at least had some inkling… “And keep in mind, it wasn’t you.”

Vaggie bit her lip to stop her response, and her breath trembled when she exhaled. Once Adam was sure that she had steadied herself, he turned and carefully walked her over to where Emily and Lucifer were working.

Charlie was still breathing, though her inhales were shallow. They had removed her battle garb, leaving her only in her bra. But it left nothing to the imagination; the hole in her chest was still glowing blue with the magic of the spear Vaggie had used, and the black blood had practically dyed her porcelain white skin ebony. Her body was otherwise slumped, boneless, motionless, simply struggling to breathe around the damage done.

When they approached, Emily first looked up at Adam before shifting her gaze to Vaggie. Her own face softened considerably and she pulled away to walk over to the girl that looked to be trying to avoid a total breakdown.

“Vaggie…! I’m so happy to see…well, you.” She stopped short, following Vaggie’s gaze. “She’s going to be okay – I promise. But let me look at you really quick, too.”

“I’m fine,” Vaggie whispered, her voice weak. Her eye remained on the wound in Charlie’s chest, and tears were gathering in the corner.

“Let her look at you.” Lute had followed behind them. She walked around to the other side, fixing Vaggie with that look she gave when she was barking orders at other exorcists. “Trust me, it makes it a lot easier to think when you’re not fighting to stay awake.”

Vaggie grimaced and ducked her head, but she wordlessly nodded at Emily and allowed the small seraphim to guide her to a chair. Not once did she move her gaze away from Charlie’s prone form.

Adam frowned to himself. He reached over and lightly pulled Lute to his side, who melted into his touch, and moved to settle by Charlie and Lucifer. There was no damn reason to be so worried, yet he couldn’t take his gaze from her face. She was already white, but there was somehow a paler complexion to her. For someone so vibrant and hopeful, so full of energy and life and joy, he was having a hard time relating the two as the same person. Much as he’d wanted to kill her before, right now he was silently praying to whatever would listen that she would pull through.

His gaze shifted to Lucifer, who wore a similar pale expression. A man Adam had hated for millennia yet now the agonized horror still etched on his face had Adam’s stomach churning and twisting itself into knots. He hesitated before reaching over, placing a hand on Lucifer’s shoulder and startling the Devil to look up.

“…she’ll pull through. Your daughter is a stubborn bitch of a girl,” he grunted absently, shifting his gaze back to Charlie’s face.

“I…” Lucifer’s voice caught in his throat. Adam had only ever heard him that distraught once before – during his fall. “I know she will.” They were keeping their voices low so that Vaggie couldn’t overhear. The girl was already feeling bad enough…

“We got a good chunk of them,” Adam offered. He turned his gaze to the rest of the room, taking note of the few of his girls they had managed to reclaim. “There are still a lot more, but…it’s a start.”

“Do you know why they stopped?” Lucifer asked, glancing up at him. The question had Adam’s brows furrowing in thought, and he slowly shook his head.

“It almost looked like someone hit pause on a remote or something?” he said before glancing at Lute. “Any insight?”

“No. It isn’t an exorcist thing, to fully stop like that. That was Michael.” Lute reached to rub at her motionless arm – more of a habit than anything she could actually feel. “I just don’t know why.”

“Whatever it is, I don’t like it. I really, really don’t like it.” Lucifer brought his hand down to press at his side where he’d been stabbed before. Even through his coat, there was the same blue glow that still lingered in Charlie’s chest.

Silence soon filled the room, broken momentarily by Carmilla when she offered to look at Lute’s arm. Something Lute eagerly jumped up to do. Had to always be ready, and Adam knew that a useless arm would just piss her off more anyway. It just left him with Lucifer and the unconscious Charlie.

Behind him, he heard a soft sound and he glanced over his shoulder at Vaggie, who was leaning into Emily’s gentle hold while the seraphim worked. It looked like they were finishing up because she turned and thanked Emily before walking back over to the table. Though she looked fine now, Adam saw Lucifer tense automatically when Vaggie put her metal clad hands on the table with Charlie. It only made Vaggie flinch.

“I’m…sorry, sir,” she offered weakly. Her hands curled into fists as she dropped her gaze to Charlie. “And I’m so…so sorry, Charlie.”

“Still wasn’t you.” Adam nudged her to sit down where Lute had been. “This is Michael’s fault. Focus on that.”

“I still just…wanted to say it.” Vaggie peeked at Lucifer before reaching to take one of Charlie’s limp hands. This time, he didn’t move. “If I had just…just told her about me, then none of this would have happened.”

“…I doubt that,” Lucifer commented softly. His gaze remained on Charlie’s face, but his frown had grown. “Michael has always been…upset that he wasn’t favored. He acted out a lot, always trying to get attention on himself. He likes to be in the spotlight, to play the hero. Something like this…this wasn’t a spur of the moment. He was waiting for the opportunity to do this.”

Adam frowned at that. Lucifer…had a good point. For how quickly Michael had been able to change his girls into golden soldiers, he had to have been planning this for quite some time. It was going too far for just a power grab in Heaven, and Adam didn’t like the way it left a hollow pit of cold in his chest.

“The question is – why?” he spoke aloud. He once more looked at all of his girls. “All of this pain and suffering, hurting my girls, and for what? He gets to call the shots in Heaven?”

“He wants to purge Hell from existence,” Emily offered softly. She’d settled down on Adam’s other side, reaching to take one of his hands. He squeezed it gently and coaxed her on. “That’s all he was talking about with…with Sera…” She bit her lip to stop the wobble that started.

“It still seems cruel, even for that goal.” Lucifer closed his eyes before leaning back. “Either way, I’m not going to let that happen. These…these are all my people, Charlie’s people. I refuse to let him get away with that.”

It was a nice sentiment, but it lacked a lot of teeth right now given the situation they were all in. For the time being, they more or less lapsed into silence, the only sounds in the room being the clink of metal as the Carmine family worked on the girls they had managed to save, with Carmilla carefully fixing the wiring in Lute’s motionless arm.

A silence that was broken when Vaggie let out a shout and brought both of her hands up. Lute did much the same with her one arm, and the exorcists that were awake or at least conscious echoed the sound. But it wasn’t only them – Lucifer’s eyes widened and he jerked to his feet, bringing a hand down to press over the injury that was now glowing an even brighter blue. His fangs were clenched and he dug his claws into his flesh, almost like he was trying to rip the injury out of his own body.

Adam jumped up and caught Vaggie just as she was falling from the chair she had been seated in. His gaze snapped around from each person.

“What the fuck is happening??”

“It burns,” Lucifer managed to hiss out between his teeth. His demonic attributes were starting to rip free from his body; his horns burst from his skull, and his fangs grew longer and sharper. It was all stemming from the side he had been injured on.

And it wasn’t only him.

Charlie’s eyes snapped wide open, and her howls of pain filled the office. Unlike Lucifer, her body underwent a rapid change – she grew larger, bulkier, her horns came through with a few extras, adding an almost crown-like appearance to her skull. Her hands grew out larger claws, and her fangs burst from her lip. The blue glow in her chest seemed to run through the entirety of her body, the veins just beneath the surface becoming visible with the same color. It bled into her eyes, the red shifting to a purple color before settling on that same blue. Her screams turned into low snarls, and Adam barely managed to pull Vaggie and Emily away just as one of her large hands slammed down on the table she had been on.

The roaring was echoed behind him, and Adam whipped around in time to watch both Angel and Pentious twisting in much the same way, the blue flowing through their veins and coloring their many eyes. Their bodies grew, the large serpent’s coils nearly curling around the entirety of the office. And Angel’s hidden limbs came out, turning into sharper claws at the ends of all eight of his limbs, his mandibles clicking as it garbled out the continued scream.

All the while, his girls were almost in a trance. Lute and Vaggie were fighting it off, still holding their heads, but the rest of them all seemed to be out of it, glowing with magic. The same could be said for the container full of discarded helmets, with heat visibly radiating out of it.

“Everyone, out!” Carmilla was the first to snap back to herself. She got her daughters out almost immediately along with Lute, and Adam hauled a wide-eyed and horrified Emily up with the trembling Vaggie and charged out of the room. The remaining Sinners that hadn’t been afflicted were quick to rush out with them, though not before Husk nearly had a wing shredded off by Angel.

The office doors did little to hold back the demons, but it did give the small group time to duck into a nearby room so that when the trio broke free, they didn’t immediately find them. The ceiling of the factory trembled above them, and bits of debris began to fall around them with each movement of the beasts, far larger than the forms they had before. By the time the thunderous footsteps disappeared, most of the factory had come down on their heads.

Adam’s gaze immediate sought out Lute, and he quickly scooped her up.

“Talk to me, lieutenant,” he demanded. She was still curled up, holding her head and grinding her teeth together. “Lute!”

“…still here,” she managed to bite out, cracking an eye open. “I’m still here, sir.”

Adam felt himself relax a little. Her and Vaggie, they hadn’t had the chance to get the other exorcists out of the office in the mad rush away from the three demons. If they had survived at all… He shook his head and squeezed Lute closer to his chest, brows furrowing a little.

“What happened?”

“I don’t…” Lute frowned, squeezing her eye shut again. “Everything just felt…hot all of a sudden. Like my brain was on fire.”

“It was his magic.” Adam tensed and whipped around, eyes landing on Lucifer. He was partially changed still, breathing hard with the half of his body that was blue holding more of the demonic appearance. Very similar to what Charlie had become, though it looked like he’d managed to stop it from spreading. He swayed a little before falling to his knees, his arms trembling as they tried to hold him up. Tears ran down his face.

“…there were more in the city,” Lute said slowly, brows furrowing. She turned her gaze towards the distance buildings.

As if to confirm suspicions, there was a serious of loud, feral sounds rising above the city. Just from where they were, Adam could see large, winged creatures flying around buildings that trembled and crumbled. In the distance, the large portal to Heaven was still open, and he could just barely make out the small shapes of his girls hanging there, unmoving.

“Fuck,” he cursed softly, holding Lute closer.

Chapter Text

Things had been bad enough with just Michael’s creation of his guardians, but she could have never expected something like this. Emily felt numb, sitting off to the side with her tail wrapped around her legs, her wings curled around her as a form of comfort while everyone else was trying to come to terms with what they had just seen. All around her, the factory they had been hiding in had come down around them, and sure enough a number of the exorcists they had freed had been caught by the building collapsing. A few were still alive, but less than they’d had before. After all of that work, all of the effort, and it was simply buried.

Worse yet, Charlie… Emily had been horrified when Charlie was brought back bloodied and unconscious. She had a vested interest in helping her hellish friend after their day spent in Heaven, and seeing her in such a state had been absolutely horrible. The violent screams and pained sobs still rang through Emily’s brain.

But whatever Emily herself was going through, it was nothing compared to Vaggie and Lucifer. The former exorcist was sitting with her head in her hands, the metal of her wings clinking against one another as she trembled. And the Devil… It sounded like he was really struggling with whatever the magic had done to his body. For the moment, Carmilla and Adam were over by him, trying to help. The remaining Sinners had tried to approach Vaggie, but she hadn’t responded to any of them. And all Emily had done so far was sit there.

She took a deep breath before pushing herself to her feet, walking over to where Vaggie was seated and settling down beside her.

“…I don’t want to talk to anyone,” came the immediate response, but Emily didn’t move from her spot. Instead, she hesitantly reached to put her hand on Vaggie’s arm, still covered in gold as they’d had little time to get the armor off of her outside of the helmet. But even that touch had Vaggie’s body stiffening, the trembling that much worse.

“I know you don’t,” Emily offered gently. Her voice seemed to semi-soothe the exorcist, and her eye peeked up from her hand. It was red-rimmed, and tears had stained her cheek. The look of utter horror and guilt was near palpable to Emily, and she felt tears gather in the corner of her own eyes. Without another word, she moved closer and pulled Vaggie into an embrace. It was something the other woman wasn’t expecting, but she soon allowed her body to slump against her, both of those armored arms wrapping around Emily to hold her.

Emily chose not to say anything for a while, instead allowing Vaggie to bury her face against her neck and seek out comfort from her. Vaggie had…well, she assumed friends down in Hell, but she hadn’t been willing to let any of the Sinners close. It was a relief that Emily could provide something that the other woman was missing, that she needed to be able to pull away from her own self-induced spiral.

“We’ll save her,” Emily offered gently once Vaggie’s trembling had subsided. The poor thing… “I’ll do whatever I can to help.”

“…thank you.” Vaggie pulled away finally and sat back. She took a deep breath and reached to brush her hair over her empty eye socket. “I will do anything to bring her back, and…and to make up for what I’ve done.”

“It wasn’t you,” Emily stressed gently. When Vaggie tried to argue, she shook her head. “It wasn’t you. You would never do that to Charlie. Michael…” She stopped herself before frowning, her tail twitching a little behind her. “He’s the one that’s hurting everyone. You, Charlie, the other exorcists…Sera.” She hugged herself and shuddered hard, her fangs digging into her lip. “It’s his fault, not yours. He deserves the anger.”

Vaggie looked at her in surprise before her expression softened. She leaned back and ran both hands through her hair, exhaling a long gust of breath. One of her hands paused to press against her forehead, and her brows knitted low.

“Does it still hurt?” Emily asked, reaching to put her hand on Vaggie’s arm.

“A little? I feel like my head’s still on fire.” Vaggie frowned. “Like my brain is being cooked and we only barely put out the flames. I still don’t know what this is...”

“Lucifer said it burned, too. When his wound glowed.” Emily fidgeted a little, frown growing.

She thought back to what Michael had said, about exposing the wickedness of the realm. Her tail twitched in agitation, and she reached around to grab it, studying the prong at the tip. Like Lucifer, she wasn’t necessarily an angel anymore – at least, not entirely so. She was Fallen. In doing so, part of her had lost its angelic nature. Her brows furrowed thoughtfully before she looked back up at Vaggie.

“Can you still…use magic?” she asked. “That blue magic?”

Vaggie stiffened, and a look of concern and disdain crossed her face.

“Yes…?”

“Can you control it enough to cut me only a little? Right here?”

“What?!” Vaggie jerked away, the metal of her wings clinking together in her attempt to put distance between them. “What the Hell, Emily?!”

“It’s okay!” Emily pressed. Well, she wasn’t sure that it was, but… “It’s that magic that started glowing when Charlie changed, and that’s hurting Lucifer now, right?”

Vaggie grimaced, openly guilty and ducking her head as result.

“But it only seems to be affecting demons. Adam and Lute are fine, and they both got hurt by the same magic.” Emily held her hand up, frowning a little. “…I’m not only an angel anymore, Vaggie. If I can…experience it, maybe I can understand how to help them. To help Charlie.” She flexed her fingers before looking back up at the concerned woman. “Please? I feel so useless here… I’m not a fighter, but I want to do more than just heal surface level injuries.”

“Emily…” Vaggie slowly settled back down, her brows furrowing in concern. That concern, that expression on her face, was more than enough to prove just how wrong Michael was about the exorcists. They were their own people, with their own minds and their own thoughts and their own feelings. Vaggie looked so broken and upset about everything that happened, yet she was still worried about Emily getting hurt. It was touching.

She offered Vaggie a soft smile and held out her arm, rolling up the sleeve of her dress. When Vaggie glanced up at her again and met her gaze, she just nodded.

A small, bright blue dagger was manifested in Vaggie’s outstretched hand. She adjusted her hold on it hesitantly, once again glancing at Emily. The hesitation was appreciated, but the longer she stalled…

The first bite into the skin hurt. She had never been hurt before; Heaven was a place without danger, without weapons. Well, without weapons on the street, anyway. Vaggie only cut a thin line from her inner elbow to halfway down her forearm before pulling back, immediately looking concerned. Like Lucifer, Emily still bled gold, but the lingering blue of the magic used to hurt her started glowing. The pain of the cut was a lot for someone not used to it, and the heat began to build almost immediately.

“Ah…” Emily bit her lip, closing one of her eyes and doing her best to steady her breathing. Even the smallest of cuts was difficult to handle, and she could see the blue just below her dark gray skin, filling her veins up from the spot.

What she didn’t expect was the panic. It was a momentary flash in Emily’s mind before coming back in full force. Her heart began to hammer against her ribcage, her breathing sped up to accompany it, and she had to squeeze her eyes shut against the rising need to get away. From who, or what, she didn’t actually know; she just needed to go. The pain of the cut had traveled up to her shoulder, and with that and the panic, her arm began to change as well. Her perfectly manicured nails lengthened into sharp claws, and there was feather growth along her shoulder. That side of her mouth had her fangs sharping and growing in her mouth that she almost cut her lip on from biting down.

It was so much worse than what she expected. She had to run, she had to get out, she had to go. She was in danger, it was danger, it hurt, it hurt, it burned. Burned and burning, pain, agony, fear, had to run, had to go.

She had to escape! Her heart was beating faster, and her chest clenched. Every part of her body was buzzing to get up, to protect herself, to lash out at the enemies around her. Fear, everyone was danger, this was danger. She had to run…

Run.

RUN.

But running was all she had been doing since this started.

Emily clenched her teeth and forced her breathing to slow. With her eyes still closed, she focused on the pain radiating through now half of her body, calling forth the full strength of her magic – her powers, as a seraphim. She had been able to counter Michael’s magic within the exorcists that she’d saved, and that was exactly what this magic felt like as well. It wasn’t Vaggie’s magic at all. That made it a lot easier to push back against it, to fill her body with her own, silvery radiance. Her cool, gentle magic stopped the burning pain from spreading further through her body – as Lucifer had done, she assumed. But she needed to go further.

She brought her other hand up to press over the glowing mark, using it as a grounding point to pour her magic into from the other direction, effectively surrounding the blue flames with a frigid swirl of her own energy. Though it was slow, the pain began to ebb, and she was able to push back the changes her body had underwent until all that was left of the experiment was a thin line. Heh, a scar.

Her breath came out shaky, and when she opened her eyes again, she had to blink away tears. But the panicked sensations were gone, and she could think much more clearly again.

“Emily?” She brought her gaze up to meet Vaggie’s deeply concerned one before casting it around to take in the audience she had gathered. Adam was looking just as worried, and even Lute wore an expression that was softer than her usual scowl.

“…I’m guessing I wasn’t as quiet as I hoped,” Emily offered meekly, rubbing the back of her head. She tasted iron and, sure enough, her lip had been split likely by the fang growth.

“Well, you weren’t screaming.” Adam’s brows furrowed. “But you were whimpering. Fuck, you sounded like a kicked puppy, Em.”

“It was more than I was expecting.” Emily dropped her gaze to stroke the scar left. Even though Vaggie hadn’t cut deep, it yet remained there. She ran her thumb along it a few times. “A lot more.”

“What did it feel like?” With her settled again, the rest all seemed to relax around her. She glanced over at Vaggie and reached to gently rub her shoulder before looking back to Adam.

“It felt like…” Emily struggled for words, having no prior experience to pain. “I guess the closest I can describe is when you’re standing in front of a hot, open oven. It started here and spread from there.” She rubbed at her new scar again. “But that wasn’t even the worst of it – it was the panic. There was something in my head that felt like it needed to escape. I almost couldn’t stop myself from moving, it was that strong.”

“Weird.” Adam folded his arms across his chest, tilting his head to the side. “But it’s gone now?”

“I was able to push it back.” Emily glanced over at Vaggie. “It’s Michael’s magic. You and the other exorcists are somehow using his magic, not your own.”

Vaggie looked surprised. She dropped her gaze to her armored hands before looking at Lute, who was doing the same with her still operational one. Neither looked pleased to hear that.

“The bastard still has some sway somewhere, then.” Lute clenched her hand into a fist before shaking her head. “I swear, I will kill him.”

“Easy, danger tits.” Adam pulled her against his side and looked back to Emily. “So, can you help the others?”

“I…think so,” Emily said slowly before stopping herself. She closed her eyes and shook her head before meeting Adam’s gaze again. “I know I can.”

“May as well start with Lucifer then. See if you can’t fix his half demonic ass.”

Vaggie got to her feet and offered Emily her hand. She still looked guilty and upset about the whole thing, probably more than just what she did to Emily, but Emily did her best to settle her concerns by taking her hand and using it to pull herself up. There was a moment where the ruined building around them swayed, and she had to put a hand to her head to steady herself. The exorcist beside her brought her other hand up to her arm to help.

“Take me to him.”

Carmilla glanced up when they arrived in the new location they’d had to set up for Lucifer. He and the handful of remaining exorcists were laid out on whatever soft surfaces they could find, and at this stage they only really had emergency kits for stemming bleeding or setting broken limbs. Not much could be done for the King of Hell, who was doing everything he could to continue breathing normally. The demonic shift had started to crawl more over his body, and the panic on his face looked familiar now that Emily understood what he was feeling.

She took a deep breath and walked over, kneeling down on Lucifer’s still mostly normal side to take his hand. He jerked, and that look in his eyes – the fear, the anxiety, the panic – made her chest ache. But she held it between both of hers and closed her eyes, pulling at the full force of her magic.

It was different working on someone else – Lucifer’s own magic was a maelstrom of confusion, already consumed by the mania caused by the magic injected into his body. Emily had to focus even harder than when she had helped Lute, Vaggie, and the rest of the girls that still had some of Michael’s presence in their mind. She was fighting on two fronts; the horrible heat of the blue magic clashing with the desperate gold that recoiled from her wispy silver. Three kinds of magic, three powerful seraphim, all turning Lucifer’s body into a battlefield.

But Emily was determined.

She couldn’t help Sera. She couldn’t stop Michael. She couldn’t fight. She couldn’t do a lot of things, but this…this she could do.

Emily let out a determined shout and Lucifer’s body was soon flooded with her magic. She pushed it to every corner, every seam, every little part of him that cooled the rampaging flames with her gentle yet powerful flood of silver. It calmed Lucifer’s own, giving him more of his focus back. The gold of his mingled with hers, and with both now working in tandem, the rest of the burning was quelled.

She fell back when it was over, like a rubber band snapping into place. Vaggie was there to catch her, the metal wings instinctively folding over her despite the fact they lacked the comforting, soft feathers of real ones. Still, she appreciated it, and she used the exorcist to prop herself up and turn her gaze back to Lucifer.

The demonic parts of his body were finally starting to recede. He jerked upright, eyes wide and panicked as he looked around, before he slowly let out a breath.

“Fuck,” he cursed softly, putting a hand to his head. “That was…”

“Awful?” Emily offered him a smile, settling on her knees by his side again. He met her gaze and…it was so strange to see the face she had associated with causing all of this looking so soft and gentle. Lucifer was, in every way, a spitting image of his brother. But while Michael’s stare was cold and his image sharp, Lucifer’s scarlet eyes were soft, and even his cheeks had more of a rounded shape to them. She’d been a little offput by Lucifer since her arrival, but after everything, she no longer correlated the two brothers.

“You did good,” he offered gently. It was praise, like what Sera used to give her. Her eyes welled a little and she leaned over to wrap her arms around him. He hugged her in return before glancing around at their little audience. “We need to go get everyone back. Before they get themselves hurt. Or worse.”

“Killed.” Adam voiced what Lucifer didn’t want to, and the Devil shot him a look. “What? That’s a genuine concern, ain’t it?”

“You didn’t have to voice it,” Vaggie grumbled.

“But he is right. So far, it seems like the guardians still haven’t moved from the portal, but who knows how long that’ll last?” Lucifer shifted before getting to his feet. He glanced down at Emily and gestured. “Do you think you have enough energy to help bring them back? To bring…Charlie back?”

“Yeah.” Emily was still a little unsteady, especially after how much effort she’d had to put into Lucifer, but she couldn’t afford to back down now. Not when her friend was in danger.

“Lute, stay here,” Adam grunted. When she immediately went to argue, he held a hand up. “Get that damn arm put back together and then catch up. I don’t need you fighting at a handicap.”

“…tch.” She scowled and looked off to the side, but she didn’t argue.

“I’ll go with Emmy, Lucifer, and Vags to try and get the princess back.” Adam turned to look over the group, and his face shifted a little. “…should be interesting.”

“Just don’t hurt her,” Vaggie warned him, but Adam just brushed her off.

“The others, too. Angel and Pentious.” Husk was sitting up in the distance watching them. One of his wings was almost entirely bandaged, given the swipe he’d taken when the three initially escaped.

“We’ll get them all back.” Vaggie reached, her spear settling in her hand. The look on her face was of confidence and determination, and Emily felt a lot better seeing her like that. It was similar to when she’d first met her up in Heaven, that determined expression next to Charlie’s much happier one. She offered Vaggie a smile before nodding.

The small group all took off from the ruined factory, headed for a city in even more turmoil than before. They could see and hear so many different varieties of monstrous forms tearing through the place, and screams of those unafflicted by Michael’s magic. A number of buildings had been lit aflame, and more were shuddering from fights going on either at the base or within the structures themselves. And the range of monsters was terrifying, clashing against one another in the streets, in the air, climbing up the sides of buildings or otherwise driving each other into the ground. So many Sinners glowing with that same, blue magic that had torn through both Emily and Lucifer’s bodies. All of the pain they were suffering was near palpable for Emily, who had to shut her eyes away.

They were almost swatted out of the air by a particularly large beast, and they were forced to veer off and get above the rooftops to try and avoid being caught off guard again.

“This is awful,” Emily whispered, a shiver running down her spine. So many, and while they were Sinners and maybe not actually good souls in any way, no one deserved this. Not after feeling the pain for herself, and seeing that even on twisted faces, there was still that look of panic and fear that Lucifer had worn had her heart aching. Had this been Michael’s plan all along? It wasn’t enough to kill Sinners, he wanted them to suffer? How anyone could be that cruel and still call themselves an angel was beyond her.

“Same deal as the girls, we might not be able to save all of them.” Lucifer frowned as he cast his gaze around. Emily could see civilians running into buildings that were not safe against the rising frenzy. “Dammit…”

“We should focus on finding Charlie.” Vaggie was at the head of their little formation. Her spear was gripped firmly in hand.

“Everyone needs help…”

“Unfortunately, Emily, this is Hell – not everyone can get help. And there are too many souls for just our group.” Vaggie glanced back and met her gaze. She was right, of course, but it didn’t help Emily feel any better passing overhead while the screams and wails of Sinners rose above the city.

It was a while of looking before a building crashing nearby had the four of them scattering to avoid falling debris. Bursting through it, however, was…well…

She was still recognizable thanks to the red circles on her cheeks, like her father, but her body had grown immensely. The crown of horns was that much sharper and more dangerous looking, and her fangs had grown so large that they jutted out from her mouth. Her body was furrier, her hair still long but also running down her back down to her tail, transitioning from blond to black. From her torso down and from her wrists to her elbows, spikes of black and red fur jutted out, and her eyes still burned that same blue as when she first changed. At the moment, she didn’t seem to be going after anyone else – she slammed against the building on the other side of the street, uttering out horrific sounds that were ended in drawn out whines.

“Oh, Charlie…” Vaggie gasped, her hands covering her mouth. The four could really only watch as she stumbled through the streets, large claws leaving deep grooves in the already ruined asphalt.

“Even as a giant, rampaging monster, she’s actively avoiding people,” Adam commented absently. He summoned his axe and braced it across his shoulder. “Do you need her still?”

“I…” Emily bit her lip. “I think so. I really need to be able to focus, and I can’t if she’s running around crashing into buildings.”

“So, we have to subdue her.”

“Adam!” Vaggie wheeled around, glaring daggers at him.

“What? You want to go down there and ask her kindly to stop running around when she already nearly crushed us?” Adam lifted a brow. “I’m not going to hurt her; I’m just going to ask her to slow down. With my axe against the side of her head.”

“Adam!”

Vaggie glowered at him before turning and being the first to dive down in the direction Charlie was running in, Lucifer following close behind her. Emily glanced at Adam, who just offered a light shrug, before following after the two. No way of knowing just how much awareness Charlie had if the panic that Emily had experienced before was similar. Unlike Lucifer and herself, Charlie was fully demonic. Or, at least any angelic part of her was very minor as she was born in Hell. How that might affect her…

The fleeing demon crashed through another wall, and Vaggie took the opportunity to whip around to the other side and head her off as she was bursting through.

“Charlie!” Her voice did at least cause the demon to stop. Blue eyes snapped towards her, and a low growl escaped from that fanged mouth. “Charlie, take it easy-!”

Vaggie didn’t get a chance to continue as a large claw swiped at her, forcing her to leap back. Charlie charged after her, once more letting out a strange combination of fury and fear in her snarls. The other two charged in to try and help, but Emily just stayed above. She couldn’t fight, she just…had to get ready for when they managed to subdue her.

It gave her a great angle to watch as Vaggie ducked under another swipe of Charlie’s claws, Lucifer following up with his golden magic to pull Charlie’s claws down and hold them to the street. It worked for a bit, but her thrashing grew stronger, and she ended up tossing him aside as a result. He and Vaggie were trying not to hurt her, but it wasn’t helping.

What did help was when there was a flash of gold, and Charlie went flying into a building, crashing through and ending up prone. Adam gripped his axe, the broadside right where Charlie’s head had been.

“What are you doing?!” Lucifer snarled.

“What I have to, idiot.” Adam scowled. “I had to hurt her to break your contract, so I’m going to hurt her so she slows the fuck down.” Before either of the other two could react, Adam was charging once again. Just as Charlie managed to get up, he was upon her. The strength he boasted was something Emily hadn’t actually seen in practice before – and he sent the large demon over his head and pile-drove her into the street.

Rather than a furious roar, there was a soft whimper instead. Adam had her pinned down, his axe driven into the ground around one of her wrists. But it gave Vaggie the chance to fly down to where Charlie’s head was, Lucifer landing behind her. Emily carefully descended to join them.

“Charlie…” Vaggie reached a hand out, cupping her cheeks and stroking them. Charlie’s jaws snapped a little but her blue eyes focused on the angel in front of her. “I’m right here, babe. I’m right here. And I’m so, so sorry for hurting you.”

Charlie blinked a few times before trying to struggle again. Lucifer stepped around Vaggie and worked golden ropes over her body, doing his best to tie them down so she couldn’t go anywhere. It left Vaggie to pull Charlie’s face forward so she could press her forehead to her black nose.

“I heard you when you saved me. Let me help take this pain away.” She gently pressed her lips against her, and Charlie’s growling turned into soft, terrified whines. Tears were brimming and beginning to fall down her cheeks.

“Think you’re up, Em.” Adam leaned on his axe, glancing over at Emily. She tore her gaze away from the two women and blinked at him.

“R-right!” She hurried to Charlie’s side, reaching to take one of her clawed fingers in her hands. It had Charlie stiffening, but Vaggie firmly forced her face back to her, cooing at her and whispering sweet, gentle promises that had Charlie slowly calming down.

Emily closed her eyes and once more reached out with her magic. Unlike herself and Lucifer, Charlie didn’t have angelic magic; Michael’s fire was clashing with her own, overpowering it in a way that nearly consumed her entire being. Her very soul, her essence itself, was being torn apart, and the pain had Emily whimpering – as if she could feel it in her own body. She had to pull away for a moment, her eyes snapping open.

“What’s wrong?” Adam was next to her, and he crouched down to put a hand on her shoulder.

“I-it’s just…a lot,” Emily said, her breath coming out with a tremble. She bit her lip before reaching again. A lot was an understatement – even the brief break didn’t help when she faced the inferno again. She clenched her jaw and pushed forward, no matter how much it felt like she was burning up on the inside as well.

Stopping the flames seemed, at least at the moment, impossible. But slowly, Emily was able to push her magic like a wave of calming water to lessen the burning sensation. She worked on steadying her breathing, and soon felt Charlie mirroring it. In and out, in and out, a deep inhale and a deep exhale. Emily could feel the heat leaving her, though a discomfort yet lingered that kept the larger demon shifting. Her body still seemed to be running on panic mode, but when Emily opened her eyes, she saw the blue fading from beneath her skin, bleeding out of her eyes and leaving only the glowing red that…well, would normally make Emily nervous, but they were recognizably Charlie.

Emily pulled back and landed hard on her backside, finding herself extremely winded. But she was able to watch the way Charlie pressed more into Vaggie’s hands, her tail beginning to thump on the ground.

“Let her go,” Vaggie told Lucifer, who dispelled the magic he’d been using only for Charlie to practically leap on top of her girlfriend. There was perhaps a brief moment where Emily’s heart stopped, and she expected to see golden blood splashing the ground. Instead, Charlie had wrapped her arms around Vaggie, holding her close to her chest which at least was no longer bleeding. The change had seemed to close up that injury, leaving only a very prominent scar. Lucifer walked back around and ended up getting dragged into the hug, too.

“Good job, Em.” Adam patted her on the shoulder, and she gave him an exhausted smile in return. She was just…glad she could do something to help out.

Their victory was short lived, however; just as Charlie was finally starting to calm down from her love-assault on Vaggie, the sound of wings soon filled the sky. Adam tensed and brandished his axe, just in time to block a blast of blue that came shooting out from a ruined building nearby. The guardians…they were back and moving around again, and there were still so many. Adam cursed low, pulling Emily close to his side and holding his axe in his one hand while Lucifer and Vaggie got ready, the latter of which pulled out her spear and held it firmly in her grasp.

But it was Charlie that responded first.

Emily had only seen the timid yet strong princess who didn’t want to hurt anyone fight at the factory before, hiding behind her shield to distract the attackers but never really hurting them. In this moment, however, Charlie used her upper strength to swing herself up using a run-down light pole. The guardian having wings did not save her when Charlie slammed her into the side of the building, dragging her down to the ground and pinning her beneath a heavy claw. Her red eyes were burning, and her tail lashed furiously behind her. But even in this state, she didn’t deliver the final blow.

“Woah,” Vaggie breathed. When Emily peeked at her, there was a golden coloration to her cheeks, but she quickly shook her head to dispel the distraction as more wingbeats carried in their direction.

“Emmy, stay back,” Adam stressed, frowning. “Lucifer, can you send her back?”

“W-wait! What about the other Sinners?” Emily tensed when she felt Lucifer pull her closer.

“They’ll have to wait – we’ve got a bigger problem now.” Adam swung his axe, sending out a blast of golden energy up at the next girl to show up between the rubble. “Go!”

Emily swallowed, but she didn’t fight Lucifer when he opened a portal and gently nudged her through. Adam was right, of course – she was already exhausted from helping three people today, her magic supply dwindling low. But that didn’t stop her from feeling useless when all she could do was watch the group she had gone with clash against the rush of guardians.

The overwhelming power nearly blasted her, and her eyes widened when she recognized the pressure. It hadn’t been long since she’d experienced it herself, the level of magic that had threatened her in Heaven. The magic that could only come from a being of immense power, like herself and Lucifer – a seraphim.

Her warning shout was swallowed by the closing portal.

Chapter Text

The pain had been some of the worst she’d ever felt in her entire life. It was a burning sensation that sent scorching agony through every fiber of her being, pumped through the veins of her body with the rapid increase of her beating heart. She had been so sure that she was going to die in that moment.

Coming around to Vaggie’s face taking up her vision had been a nice surprise. Even if the pain in her chest, a wound long closed yet lingering in its presence, reminded her of what had happened to lead to her change, having Vaggie back was the only thing that mattered. And she showed that by shoving her face into the hands holding her cheeks. Every emotion welled up inside of her in ways that made her feel deliriously dizzy, but also extremely happy.

That happiness did not last.

Charlie had never fought like this before, but her body seemed to know what to do. On instinct, she was charging up at the first guardian that got close enough, dragging her to the ground. She was still trying to avoid killing them, fighting every instinct to not sink her fangs into the barely exposed neck, but she wasn’t stopping the others. Adam had made the decision with Lute, and it wasn’t like they had a lot of choices when the remaining golden army was soon surrounding them on all sides. They were resilient against being knocked out, which meant all the small group of Pentagram City’s defenders could do was try once or fully take them out. The ones Charlie brought down were simply left for someone else, namely Vaggie who had refused to leave Charlie’s side even as the battle grew more heated.

Behind her, Adam was calling each out by name. The fact he could recognize them even like this gave Charlie a new wave of appreciation for her former archenemy; the depth of his care for the exorcists was something she hadn’t expected to see in a man so openly willing to insult women and talk about being some sex master. The reach of his anguish each time a girl had to be cut down, yet the willingness to do so was admirable.

He was the first one to get struck by a strong blast of blue, unable to deflect it with his axe. It sent him into the asphalt, leaving a crater in the already ruined street. The city was virtually unrecognizable as it was… Charlie stiffened and whipped around to find the source of such powerful magic.

And her blood ran cold when she saw her father’s face only equipped with the coldest eyes she’d ever seen.

Michael was there, in person. His six wings held him aloft just above the nearby ruined building. Much like the rest of his girls, he was encased in golden armor that complimented the sword in his right hand, the blade engulfed in writhing blue flames. Unlike the exorcists, however, a cape billowed out behind his flapping wings, giving him quite the regal appearance. Almost as if he’d walked out of a fantasy book after being heralded as a hero.

It made Charlie’s blood boil, and some of that original fury raced through her again. She felt that fire, but it wasn’t the pain or panic that had come from the stab to her chest – it was pure rage. A rage that had her charging forward and towards Michael, one that had her strong back legs pushing her into the air to try and take a swipe at him, to rip that smug expression off of his face and get him back for all the pain he had caused.

The sword slashed across her chest and sent her right back down. That familiar pain began to sear across her body yet again, though it met with something cool still within her to stop it from spreading as much as it had before. All she had to deal with was the surface level pain of being cut, not the burning affliction that spread. Vaggie came rushing to her side almost immediately, brandishing her spear in Michael’s direction.

“Down, beast.” Michael even sounded like Lucifer, but it lacked all the warmth her father’s voice held.

“Michael!” Adam picked himself up from the crater, clutching his own wound from Michael’s attack. “You bastard, I’m going to punch that fucking smirk off your face!”

“Language, Adam. I see Sera didn’t teach you any manners.” At her name, Adam only bristled more, but he was forced to deal with two guardians charging him at once. Though they’d managed to take a number of them down, there were still more. Adam had led an army, after all. “Why don’t you let your girls take care of you?”

“Fucker-! Get off of me, Treble! Stanza, come on!”

“They aren’t very good, you know. Your girls.” Michael’s feet settled on the ruined streets of the city, a number of his guardians flanking him. “I mean, you’ve taken down so many and all they’ve managed to do was turn your princess into a feral monster. These were Heaven’s soldiers? No wonder Sera was always so paranoid about Hell’s uprising.”

Charlie clenched her fangs and pushed herself up, turning towards Michael. The bastard was completely ignoring her, as if she didn’t matter. It only fueled her rage. Vaggie’s voice was audible, her hand on Charlie’s arm, but Charlie was already charging at the bastard responsible for all of this. The amount of bloodlust scared a part of her mind that wasn’t fully in control, yet the image of ripping out his throat was alluring. But once again, she didn’t make it as a large, golden shield caught her charge, causing her to stumble back. One of the guardians, only it seemed like her entire body had been changed to suit her only purpose now – to be a shield for Michael.

“Charlie!” She heard Vaggie’s voice a little more clearly now, her girlfriend running to her side and pointing her spear at the offending guardian. It was her that seemed to finally catch Michael’s attention, and he fully turned to appraise her.

“You aren’t in your full uniform, soldier,” he said, and Vaggie stiffened. “Tools do not get the freedom that real souls get.” Both his sword and eyes glowed a brighter blue, and her spear fell to the ground, followed by her knees. Both hands came up to grip at her hair and an agonized scream was ripped from her throat, her one remaining eye glowing with Michael’s coloration.

Charlie panicked. She tried to move in between them, her eyes snapping to Vaggie’s face. She could read the pain in her expression, but overpowering even that was panic. She reached a hand out to try and pull her girlfriend’s attention back to her, her own heart racing. She’d just gotten Vaggie back, she couldn’t lose her again! The only way she’d managed to reach her was with her voice, and Michael had stolen that from her, too!

Vaggie’s scream was cut short, her face falling back into the neutral expression she had been wearing before. Charlie’s heart ached as she pulled away from her to grab her spear, once more leveling it in Charlie’s direction as well. Everything that happened since the court case, from the realization that Vaggie had been taken to being stabbed by her girlfriend’s own spear, could not compare to the excruciating agony that came from seeing her taken away yet again. She barely even noticed the angelic spearhead embed itself in her shoulder as she was shoved to the ground, pinned beneath Vaggie’s emotionless face. She squeezed her eyes closed against the reality.

“You’ve gone way too far this time, brother.” Lucifer’s voice had Charlie cracking an eye open. He was standing across from Michael, his own wings out. Though he lacked the gilded armor, he wore the same expression that Michael had on. Glowing red met blue, and Lucifer’s lips curled back to bear his fangs. “You’ve come to my town, made a mess of it, and hurt my daughter in the process. I’m going to kill you for this.”

“Oh, brother.” Michael shook his head. “It truly does pain me to see how far you’ve fallen. Advocating for souls that are one step away from becoming the very beasts that they were when they were alive, that brought them down here to begin with. And that’s not to even mention the monstrosities born from your fallen grace. Your final creation and it’s a world that shouldn’t exist. Souls that don’t belong in Heaven should be returned to the cycle, not given a realm in which to call home.”

“Please, you’re just jealous that I got a throne and you’re still playing fiddle to the other seraphim.” Lucifer sneered, an expression that Charlie had never seen on her father’s face. “Oh, wait, you had to steal the crown just to stand toe to toe with me. Some things never change, do they, Mikey?”

Michael bristled, his face twisting into a scowl that mirrored Lucifer’s, only with a downturned frown while Lucifer just maintained his smirk. The grip on his flaming sword tightened, and then the two brothers were clashing.

Despite being identical twins, their fighting styles were vastly different; Michael relied on his sword and was constantly on the offensive, Lucifer preferred dipping and dodging, only using his magic to ward off attacks he couldn’t avoid. He would disappear in a puff of red smoke and appear behind Michael, leaning forward to whisper something. Charlie was too far away to hear what was said, but it resulted in Michael trying to whip around and slice at him, only for the flaming blade to pass through another puff of smoke.

Charlie’s gaze dropped back to the emotionless face staring down at her, and she felt her eyes start to well up with tears again. She couldn’t reach out to her like this. She opened her mouth to try and speak, but all that came out were the sounds of a wounded animal. The spearhead lodged in her shoulder was a distant ache compared to how hard her heart clenched in her chest. She could still hear the other guardians, Adam now forced to face them alone while Lucifer fought Michael and Vaggie held her down. They were outnumbered, outmatched, and outplayed in nearly every way. When Vaggie pulled her spear out of her shoulder, she grimaced and tried to push herself up, gaze shifting to the raised weapon.

Before she could strike, however, Vaggie’s head snapped up and she quickly leapt backwards, flaring out her metal wings. Her eye was no longer on Charlie; instead, it was focused above her, and it was then that Charlie heard wingbeats. And then a war cry.

Black feathers filled her vision as another angel arrived, only this one she recognized thanks to the golden blade that clashed against Vaggie’s spear. Charlie stiffened and pushed herself, trying to warn her about Michael. If he could turn Vaggie back to his side, then-!

“Get the fuck out of here!” Adam’s voice joined them, and soon he was stumbling back with two of the guardians’ weapons parried off of his axe. “That is an order, lieutenant!” He sounded and looked as panicked as Charlie felt, but he couldn’t get away from the swarm of guardians. Charlie’s gaze snapped back over to Lute’s back as she shoved Vaggie away.

“With all due respect, sir – no.” Lute glanced over her shoulder at Charlie. “Get your ass up and do what I assume you do best – pin your girlfriend down.”

Charlie stared. They were in the middle of what felt like a losing battle, yet Lute’s remaining eye was bright, the gold practically shining. And the fake eye no longer had the blue coloration to it – instead, there was a deep, saturated magenta color that was mirrored through the other glowing parts of the metal still affixed to her body. The biggest difference, however, was the helmet. It bore a similarity to the horns she used to have on her exorcist mask, only with the gold of her armor. And her metal arm was functioning again, proven by how she turned and caught Vaggie’s spearhead when she tried to thrust it at her.

“Sometime today, princess!” Lute snapped, and she ripped Vaggie’s spear out of her hand. The mechanical wings opened, and Vaggie took to the sky while Lute chased after her. That finally shook Charlie out of her stupor, and she struggled to chase after the two angels as they clashed.

Just like watching Lute before, she was merciless. But Vaggie seemed capable of going toe to toe with her – each time Lute’s metal claws missed, Vaggie took the opening to land a strike that had Lute stumbling back. But she would then follow it up with an elbow into Vaggie’s face, knocking her focus loose. She didn’t hesitate to slam Vaggie into the side of a building, either, but Vaggie also didn’t hold back when she grabbed Lute by a wing and flung her towards the ground. She grabbed a shard of glass and tried to drive it into Lute’s black feathers, only for the golden blade to slice across her torso. For a moment, Charlie was terrified that Lute was going for the kill, but there was only a shallow slice of gold across Vaggie’s abdomen when she pulled her hand back, just visible beneath the golden metal Vaggie still had affixed to her.

Vaggie’s head twitched to the side, her eye burning that much brighter, but just as she began to dive down at Lute, the lieutenant was quick to dodge to the side and grab her by a fistful of hair, flinging her against another building. Her movements were starting to slow, growing sluggish, while Lute only seemed to be speeding up. There was a trail of magenta coloration every time she moved, shining from her fake eye. A large chunk of debris was thrown at her from where Vaggie had been shoved through the wall, but it only caused her a moment’s hesitation before she was pile driving Vaggie through multiple floors of the building, ending up on the ground level and out of Charlie’s sight.

The rest of the fighting behind her no longer mattered – Charlie went running forward, her larger body struggling to get through the pile of rubble and debris that had been caused by the two viciously fighting angels. But she managed to shove through to find Lute struggling to keep Vaggie from fighting her off, mechanical wings thrashing against the floor while Lute’s own were flapping behind her.

“Get your fucking ass in here before I stab your bitch!” Lute snarled over at her, and Charlie was quick to rush over. Her size made it rather easy to pin Vaggie down, giving Lute the opportunity to pull out a helmet similar to hears and shoving it onto Vaggie’s head.

Vaggie stiffened at once, her eye widening before all the fight left her. There was more of that magenta coloration between the parts of the curled back horns, and a few tendrils of it leaked out of it. The blue of Vaggie’s eye began to bleed out before it was closed. Her breathing was ragged.

A few moments passed with Charlie staring down at her girlfriend, and Lute holding the helmet to her head. But when Vaggie’s eye opened again, it was once again the beautiful pink sclera and yellow iris that Charlie loved so much.

“What…?” Her eye rose to Lute above her and she immediately stiffened up, trying to scramble away. But Charlie’s large claws holding her down made that impossible.

“Good, that worked.” Lute picked herself up, reaching to wipe away some of the golden blood leaking out of injuries caused by her scuffle with Vaggie. “Make sure that’s firmly on that thick head of yours.”

“I don’t…?” Vaggie frowned more. She looked confused, her gaze shifting up until she was staring into Charlie’s eyes. Her eye widened when she recognized the state Charlie was in and she quickly reached her hands up for her. “Charlie!”

Just hearing her name on Vaggie’s tongue had more tears spilling from Charlie’s eyes. She leaned down and nuzzled her snout against Vaggie’s face, pressing near desperately into her hands. Her tail was kicking up dust and small chunks of rubble behind her, but she hardly cared. She’d been so afraid of losing her, so sure that she’d been taken from her again with Michael fully taking control of this fight, that the relief was enough to make whining dip into sobs.

The butt of Vaggie’s spear slammed forcefully into the ground next to them, and both girls jerked up.

“You can have your disgusting reunion later,” Lute told them both firmly. “This fight isn’t over.”

Vaggie narrowed her eye at her, but once Charlie pulled her hands back, she reached to grab the spear shaft. Lute pulled her to her feet using it and left it in her hands.

“What happened…?”

“Ms. Carmine’s been trying to crack the code on how these things work.” Lute tapped her helmet. “I’d recommend keeping that on to keep Michael out.”

Vaggie blinked. A lot of tension drained out of her while she stared at Lute, and there was an expression on her face that Charlie didn’t recognize. It was mirrored on Lute’s, and she couldn’t deny a deep seeded curiosity on whatever had silently been passed between them.

A string of expletives outside shook them from whatever momentary trance they’d been in, and Lute whipped around.

“Either join the fight or stay out of the way,” she told them, already shoving her way through the debris.

Charlie watched her go before looking down at Vaggie, who was still watching her even when she got out of her line of sight. Definitely something there… She shook her head and brought it down to Vaggie’s level, pressing her face against her.

“Are you still good to fight, babe?” Vaggie reached a hand up, her finger touching at the injury to Charlie’s shoulder. She frowned softly in recognition. “I’m sorry-”

Before she could continue, Charlie just pulled her into a hug that practically shoved Vaggie’s face against the fur on her chest. The angel let out a startled yelp, her mechanical wings flapping a little behind her. There was no apologizing, not right now – they had far more to do. And that was the only way she could think to shut her up. When she was sure Vaggie was done trying to apologize, she nudged her back and once more leaned down to press her snout against Vaggie’s nose.

“Let’s go kick some ass.” Vaggie’s hand cupped Charlie’s jaw, and Charlie nodded. It was easy to charge through the wall now that she wasn’t worried about the building collapsing, the horns on the crown of her head breaking through the stone and concrete in their way.

For as hopeless as their situation had been, a lot had changed in the few moments away from the battlefield. Lute joined Adam’s side, fighting back the guardians that had been swarming him. It made that fight a lot more of an even one. Meanwhile, there were more people arriving – the rest of those from the Carmine factory, even the Carmine siblings. The number on their side was still low, but there was more hope than there had been before. Charlie was happy to charge into the fight to join them, and she heard the mechanical wings flapping above her as Vaggie did as well.

Odette had brought along what looked to be a turret that fired out holy bullets that ripped through a number of guardians while Clara charged in with an enormous, angelic club that she used to spike anyone into the ground that got too close to her or her sister. Husk favored one of his wings, but his playing cards were flashing across the battlefield, and Cherri’s bombs were there by the puffs of colorful smoke from her bombs. When Charlie noticed a guardian attempting to run at the cyclops from behind, she charged forward and jumped on top of the angel, crushing her beneath her in the street.

With the newcomers there, the battle was beginning to turn in their favor at long last. There was a degree of hope that began to bloom in Charlie, only to be dashed when a streak of gold slammed into the ground nearby. She recognized the white and red feathers that drifted alongside the fallen form and immediately went running forward, only to be stopped with a wave of blue magic that bit into the ground in front of her, causing her to scramble to a stop and look up.

Michael… He looked livid, the glow of his eyes and sword that much more pronounced. Golden blood leaked from marks on his face where she assumed her father had landed a few good hits, but that hadn’t slowed him down. With a wave of his hand, he recalled the guardians that hadn’t yet been brought down to his side.

“You…all of you don’t deserve the oxygen you breathe,” he hissed. There was so much vitriol in his voice, dripping from his tongue like venom. When Odette attempted to aim the turret in his direction, he flung another cutting wave from his blade at her. Clara barely had time to pull her out of the way. “Enough of this. I’m going to cleanse your kingdom to its very foundations, Lucifer! Heaven will see Sinners for what they truly are – wild, uncontrollable beasts that need to be slaughtered. Guardians!”

Charlie braced, and she could hear everyone getting ready for the next wave of attacks. But…it never came. Michael hovered there, his brows furrowing as he cast his gaze to the golden army around him. They were hanging there, motionless; even the unnatural twitching had stopped. As if they were frozen in time.

It started at the edge of the flock – a line of magenta that spread from guardian to guardian, connected soon by a webbing of it. Where the blue glows had been before were now that same color. Their bodies began to drop, only their wings preventing them all from slamming into the ground. Michael’s once seemingly numbered army fell all around him, until it was only him hovering in the air.

“What?!”

“You have always been many things, Michael. But you were never an inventor. You simply stole from others who were far more capable.” The voice came from behind all of them.

Carmilla Carmine, standing on a rooftop opposite Michael. Her hair was free from the horn shape they had been in, flowing around her and almost crowning her head. In one of her large hands was a small device, her thumb pushing down one of the buttons. That silvery gaze was sharper than Charlie had ever seen, rimmed in that same magenta color that currently glowed from not only Vaggie and Lute’s armor, but now all of the guardians.

When Charlie looked back to Michael, his rage had subsided and a new, almost nervous expression was on his face.

“Carmilla…I thought you died a long time ago.”

“Not for lack of you trying, Michael.” Carmilla lowered her hand, folding it with her other one behind her back. “You thought this realm would consume me. You miscalculated.”

Michael clenched his teeth. All of a sudden, it was just him surrounded by all of them. All of the posturing and confidence had seemingly poured out of him, but he was doing his best to maintain his superior sneer as he looked at each of them.

“This proves nothing except Hell is more dangerous than Heaven could ever have expected! Sera should have acted far sooner.” He gripped his blade. “Army or not, none of you are a threat to a seraphim.”

Michael wasn’t interested in fleeing. He angled his body to dive towards their little group of angels, Sinners, and demons, his blade leaving a trail of flames in the air behind him. The first swing of it knocked Odette backwards into Clara, though Carmilla landed to block the next one with the backs of her arms, letting out a low hiss at the pain. The next strike was aimed at Adam and Lute, too fast to dodge so Adam used his wings to cover Lute’s body, shouting out as feathers were burned from them. And the next was aimed at Vaggie…

Charlie’s heart hammered in her chest and she was moving before she could stop herself. The size of her body easily shielded her smaller girlfriend, but it also meant she took a brunt of that burning fire, which lit parts of her fur aflame and cut deep into her body.

She was vaguely aware of Vaggie’s voice calling out her name as once again the pain began to race through her. Before her vision went out, she saw spindly bits of metal fly off of Vaggie’s body as she tried to stop whatever follow up Michael had. Familiar burning, just like when Vaggie had stabbed her with the same magic before. Only…yet again, there was a cooling sensation that clashed against the fiery magic aiming to burn the very blood in her veins. It felt calming and it eased her own magic as it writhed against the threatening flames, stamping them out. Like before, all she had to deal with was the surface injury that poured her black blood freely into the ground beneath her, but the magic or whatever Michael was attempting to do did not have any effect on her.

“Charlie!” Vaggie’s voice finally managed to shake her free from the brief moment of losing herself, and she blinked into the worried eye of her girlfriend. Blood leaked over her empty socket, and there were no visible metal wings behind her anymore. Charlie could still hear Michael’s fiery blade slashing through the air as he aimed to attack those standing against him still, she heard another one of Adam’s furiously pained, expletive-ladened insults that was echoed by Lute, and the shouts of Husk to get everyone there away from the seraphim. If his blade cut her Hell-bound friends, or if he killed her newly obtained Heavenly companions…

Before she realized it, her body was up and moving. The pain from being slashed twice during this battle was a distant feeling, somewhere deep in the back of her head. Her gaze was entirely focused on Michael who, in all of his hubris, was now on the ground. Now level with her. This was the man that kidnapped her girlfriend, who took Vaggie from her not once but twice. The man who hurt her friends, twisted herself and her people into monsters. The man who caused Emily to fall, who killed Sera, who hurt her father.

Michael didn’t have time to lift his blade before Charlie was upon him. Her fangs, which she had refused to use on anyone else, dug deeply into his shoulder. There was what almost felt like a barrier, as if there had been something there to protect him beyond the gilded armor that he wore, but her fangs tore neatly through it and stray bits of barely visible magic shattered around his body. Warm, coppery blood spilled into her mouth and she wanted to recoil, but she instead she locked her jaws on him, her claws coming down to rake across his face.

The sound that escaped him was more than pain – it was startled panic. All six of his wings flapped hard behind him as they tried to lift him into the air, causing her to hang off of him and rip more of his flesh thanks to her fangs. She scrabbled for purchase as she felt the ground pull away from beneath her, tearing more of his body even through his armor. The fear of falling was the only reason that Charlie eased up, letting go and landing on her backside. A chunk of Michael’s flesh had come with, and she quickly spit it out along with as much of the golden blood as she could.

“You…!” Michael’s voice still sounded equal parts livid…and afraid. “You bit me!” He put a hand over the bite mark, pulling it back to stare at the golden blood. He sneered down at her. “You really are a damned monster.”

Charlie pulled back her lips to snarl, adjusting herself and aiming to try and leap at him again. But that seemed to be enough to finally push him back, his wings carrying him up above them. It was his one advantage – Vaggie’s mechanical wings were in pieces from where Michael had struck her back; Adam’s wings were horribly mangled and burned; Husk was still favoring one of his; Lucifer was still coming around after being flung into the ground hard enough to leave a deep pit. All of them, except…

“Lute-!”

Charlie’s gaze snapped to the black and gold rocket that charged up after Michael’s retreating form. The only one of them that could still fly. He’d almost made it to the portal when a golden blade flashed and he let out a furiously pained scream. One of his white and blue wings fell from where Lute had cleaved it off. She went for another, but he wheeled around grabbed her by the throat, causing her to thrash and lash out. Charlie’s heart hammered in her chest as she watched, and Vaggie took a few steps forward next to her, her eye also on where Michael was holding Lute.

Lute was struggling and flailing. When one of her wings aimed to buffet him, his flaming blade cleaved it off just as she had done to him. Her scream was hoarse from where he grasped her. Adam’s horrified shout and desperate attempts to flap his own wings up to get to her were horrible to watch. There was nothing…

A single shot rang out and Charlie sought out the shooter, seeing silvery smoke curling up from the muzzle of a rifle in Odette’s hands, steadied with her mother and sister’s aid. Michael had half of a second to turn his head to the side. At least, he had expected it was his head that was being shot at. Golden blood erupted from his shoulder, the very one Charlie had managed to tear into, and his grip on Lute’s throat loosened. He reached a hand up to grab the spot and turned, his remaining five wings lifting him up towards the portal in the sky.

With only one wing, Lute frantically tried to ease her descent. The ground was so far below her, and she was already bleeding profusely from where her wings had been cleaved off.

“LUTE!!” Adam screamed. He continued to flap his own wings, but the burned feathers had no strength to actively pick him up off the ground.

A rush of wind ruffled Charlie’s fur and she blinked. It took a moment to realize that Vaggie was no longer at her side. The remainder of the metal on her back did little to impede the eruption of grey feathered wings flapping furiously behind her, moving nearly as quickly as Lute had in her initial charge up at Michael’s retreating figure.

Lute’s descent was stopped by the shorter angel, her newly grown wings easing the two to the ground where Charlie and Adam both rushed over. Adam was quick to scoop Lute into his arms, burying his face against her. He’d almost lost her again, too; just like Charlie had almost lost Vaggie…

Speaking of, she reached and pulled her girlfriend against her, letting out a soft whine. She carefully nuzzled at the newly grown wings, something Vaggie shivered at. The shock of her actually growing wings was something else entirely, but at this point Charlie was too tired to fixate on them.

With the gate above closing, realization finally settled around their little group. It was over. They had won. Rather than any kind of cheering, however, there was simply a forlorn sense of relief. Nearly all of them were injured in some way, some worse than others, and there were still the other issues that had arisen – the city was still crawling with feral Sinners, some of their friends among them, and Charlie herself seemed stuck. The return of the guardians had kept them at bay, but movement indicated that more were lurking nearby, growing ever closer. Lucifer was able to open a weak portal long enough to get everyone back to the Carmine facility before he collapsed, his magic dwindling. Charlie ended up lifting him onto her back as she followed close behind Vaggie. Carmilla and her daughters were able to pull through the collapsed guardians before the portal closed, which left them with a lot of bodies and virtually no space.

Emily let out a sound and was quick to rush over, being directed at Lute first as the remaining stump of her missing wing was leaving a trail of golden blood behind her. She was laid out on her stomach for Emily to crouch over, her hands carefully working what little magic she had left to at least ease the bleeding.

Vaggie had attempted to step away, but her ankle was grabbed by one of Lute’s hands, and Charlie stopped when she realized her girlfriend did.

Lute opened and closed her mouth a few times, her brows furrowing a little as she tried to put her thoughts into words. The longer it took, the more Vaggie seemed to get annoyed. But before she could retort, Lute finally managed to find something, dropping her gaze.

“…thanks. For the save, I mean…”

All of the irritation drained out of Vaggie’s face. She hesitated before crouching down to more of Lute’s level, using the horns on her helmet to bring her gaze back up. There was that look again that Charlie could see on Lute’s face, and she imagined on Vaggie’s.

“Thank you for bringing me back. Twice.” Vaggie tilted her head to the side before letting out a light breath. “…can we call this even? You cut me down once, saved me twice, and now I saved you. We’re back at neutral standing.”

“Heh.” Lute lifted a brow before nodding absently. “An eye for an eye. Looks like we’re squared up in more ways than just that.”

“…I guess we are.” Vaggie’s expression had softened a little when she turned back to Charlie. “Get some rest. We’ve got a lot to talk about.”

“Yeah.” It was dismissive, but Charlie had learned that was what Lute was just like. Vaggie walked away and Charlie was quick to follow after her.

They traveled in silence for a little while, until they arrived at the beach. Well, what the Pride Ring could consider as one, and it was just past the port of the Carmine factory. Vaggie sat down heavily in the sand, and Charlie curled around her. Being stuck like this was the worst…

“I’m sorry again,” came her girlfriend’s soft voice, and Charlie peeked at her. “I should have told you. If I had, maybe…none of this would have happened. And now with you stuck like this…”

Charlie lifted her head and grew worried. Would she break up with her?! She was an angel, sure, but after everything she didn’t want to ruin her relationship-!

Her panic must have been showing because Vaggie caught her snout and pulled it down to her level again.

“And even if you are, I will love every part of you,” she told her firmly, holding her gaze. “You saved me, even after I hurt you. Twice. There has to be a way to bring you back to normal, but even if there isn’t, I love you, Charlie. I love you so, so much.”

At that, Charlie’s eyes watered a little more. She quickly leaned in again and nuzzled her, damn near desperately, and accidentally pushed her over. It only pushed a little laugh out of Vaggie, but she wrapped her arms around Charlie’s neck all the same and kissed her on the nose.

Their victory was bitter sweet, but at least they had each other now. And they had a way to counter Michael’s magic. He had no army, a missing wing, and a Hell that he’d incited into a proper threat to Heaven. Charlie wrapped her arms around Vaggie’s body and held her close, resting her head beside her girlfriend while staring up at the heavenly realm above. Her eyes narrowed a little.

If Michael ever came back, he wouldn’t be going home again.