Chapter Text
Angel woke up alone, in pain, in his room at the Hotel. It was such a familiar feeling he almost started crying in relief. He might have let out a few tears, actually.
His everything hurt. While he was pretty sure his bones had already healed (how long had he been passed out?), he still ached something fierce. His wings felt the worst, though. It almost felt like they were still on fire, but when he touched them, all he could feel was soft feathers.
It took a while to gather enough energy to sit up. When he did, the world tilted, and he had to hastily grab on to his bedpost to avoid falling back.
“Shit” He cursed softly.
He stood up on unsteady feet, revealing the fact that he was still wearing the clothes he Fell with. He took off his boots (he was not falling down the stairs because he was too stubborn to switch to flats) and took a deep breath. Show time.
He took advantage of the wall, leaning against it heavily while he stumbled down into the foyer, sitting at the bar with a hiss.
“Hey, what can I- Angel?!” Husk dropped the glass he’d been cleaning “You’re awake!”
“Barely. Gimme something nice, would ya?”
Husk hurriedly prepared what Angel recognized as a Harder Daddy without taking his eyes off him. Without another word, he slid it across the bar.
Angel stared at the pink drink, something weird curling in his stomach. He could practically see Molly’s disappointed face staring down at him.
“Fucking shit, gimme somethin non alcoholic, I guess.” He let his head rest on the bar.
“Really?”
“Yeah, I figure I might as well try to stay sober for a little longer.” He knew he was going to fail, but it wouldn’t hurt to give his liver a break.
“Damn, Heaven changed you”
“How dare you?” Angel laughed, on the verge of tears. He had missed Husk so much. If the teary laugh was any indication, Husk had missed him too.
“What happened?” The bartender asked once their laughter died down. “We gathered that there was some kind of plan, but we have no idea what you possibly meant to accomplish."
“We should probably wait for the rest. It’s not a short story”
“Angel! Oh my God, you’re awake!”
Angel’s vision was suddenly blocked by Charlie’s hair. She was stronger than she looked, and was holding on to him very tightly, as if she was afraid he would disappear. To be fair, it wasn't out of the realm of possibilities, considering he's left twice in the past few weeks. It was nice to be held like this, but a problem soon made itself known.
“Charlie, I’m very sore, please let go of me”
He was let go instantly “I’m so sorry!”
“Don’t worry ‘bout it. Get me the others, will ya? We have a lot of shit to talk about”
Angel sank into the couch with a hiss, leaning into Cherri’s side, grateful for the support. He definitely wasn’t up to being upright for extended periods of time, but this was important. They deserved to know.
“You gotta understand” He said once everyone was seated. Fuck, even Lucifer was there, staring at him with unnerving intensity. Must be something about him Falling. “I have been planning this for decades. Way before the Hotel a thing. The specifics changed with time, but the main idea has been the same. It’s not your fault.”
“Okay” Charlie nodded “I get it”
“I killed the Vees.”
“WHAT?!” The only one who didn’t look surprised was Lucifer, but that might have been because he had no idea who the Vees were. Even Alastor looked shocked, kind of.
“But I thought an angel did it?” Cherri asked
“It’s not that hard to get angel blood or Angelic Steel.”
“But why would you do it?” Charlie looked distraught until Angel shot her a look “Oh, right. They sucked.”
“Also, I’d love to avoid going to war. I’m not getting killed over Vox’s half-baked world domination plan slash fetish.”
“Makes sense” Vaggie nodded “Now keep talking”
“Okay, okay. I knew that the Vees had a three way agreement that if any of them died, the others would get their shit. Souls, powers, everything. And I was married to Val, which meant…”
“If Valentino was the last one to die, you’d get everything”
“Exactly! So, I ambushed them, killed them, stole the empire I helped build and called off the war”
“Right, that part I get” Charlie said “But why would you do everything else?”
“Are you kidding me?” Angel was incredulous at her naivety. “You can’t honestly tell me no one in Heaven would try to get the exterminations to start up again with the excuse of us rising up”
“He’s right” Vaggie was grim “A lot of angels would take advantage of a declaration of war”
“So you just went up there to tell them not to worry?”
“Fuck no! I went up there to find an angel to frame for the Vees death. I mean, putting the blame on Heaven as a whole just means sinners are more heated to attack. I had to find one of those assholes who wanted to exterminate us, and pin it on them. It wasn’t that hard to do, the chick practically framed herself.”
“So… sorry, there’s no good way to ask this. How did you get redeemed? Going up to Heaven to kill someone innocent is not exactly… pious” Charlie grimaced, but Angel just laughed
“Of course not! But my great big sin that condemned me to Hell was starting a gang war by killing someone else, a suicide to stop one seemed ironic enough that it would do the trick”
“So you didn’t know” Husk looked angry.
“I did not”
“You killed yourself over a hunch?”
“It worked, didn’t it?”
Husk stomped over to where Angel was. He couldn’t hold back his flinch when the cat grabbed his shoulders.
“What the fuck, legs?”
“What?” He didn’t know why the other was acting this way. Didn’t he understand he had a plan?
“Never mind” Instead of going back to his seat, Husk sat down next to Angel. “Keep going”
“O…kay. When I got there, I was received by this… huge bird angel”
“The Speaker” Lucifer spoke for the first time “How did you trick her? Not even I can lie to her”
“I technically didn’t lie. I… stepped around the truth. They filled in the blanks by themselves, people hear what they wanna hear. When I asked if they knew anyone who’d want to attack us, well, they didn’t say anything, but I could tell they had someone in mind. I had to find this person, convince everyone they did it even though if they thought about it for longer than a second they would totally figure out it was me, kill the scapegoat before they could disprove me, and find a way to Fall.” All things considered, not his most convoluted plan. That title still went to the Milkshake Assassination/Movie Premiere, back before he met Val.
“Wait!” Lucifer stood up, faltering under the attention “You- you Fell on purpose?”
“Obviously. Heaven sucks.”
“B-but Falling’s… Falling” He said as if it explained everything. Angel supposed it did. He wasn't sure he would have Fallen if he knew what it was like. Even after a lifetime of pain, it had been one of the worst things he'd ever felt.
His wings still burned. He wasn't sure they'd ever stop.
“Yeah.” He swallowed “But this is my home.”
“Let’s get back on track!” Vaggie seemed to notice that Lucifer and Angel were on the verge of a Falling-induced breakdown. “You were trying to find Lute?”
“Yeah. I stayed with Emily while I was up there. She was really nice. Very similar to you, Charlie. All friendly and shit.”
“She’s the best”
“Yeah. She really helped me with everything. We, uh, we met up with Sir Pentious, he really misses you guys by the way, and my sister”
“You have a sister?”
“Molly. She was younger than me.” Angel hated himself for abandoning her again, but hopefully she understood. Hopefully she wasn't too mad and actually read his letter. She always liked to set things on fire when she was angry. “I got Sera to introduce me to Abel. Told her I didn’t feel safe not knowing who was keeping Lute in check. All things considered, it wasn’t that far from the truth”
“Wait, when did you talk to Sera?”
Angel shrugged “We’re… I wouldn’t say friends, but we kinda understand each other. Now stop interrupting or I’ll never finish.
I might have flirted with Abel so he would let me train with the exorcists. They don’t really have anything to do now so it wasn’t that big a deal. While I was there, I learnt all their tricks and figured out Lute was planning on killing you two” He gestured to Vaggie and Charlie “There's no way she’d win a straight up fight, but I needed someone to frame and I was not taking any chances. I baited her into attacking me and shot her in the fucking head. I guess it was similar enough to my original sin to make me Fall. That’s... it, really.”
“You mean to tell me you beat Adam’s second in command in combat?” Vaggie looked like she didn’t believe him
Angel shrugged “I knew what her go-to moves were.”
“And” Alastor’s voice crackled through the air, making everyone jump. They’d forgotten he was there “You are the strongest demon in all of Hell. I assume your power followed you up there” His smile sent shivers through Angel’s spine. He looked hungry. Their deal was still active, he still owed the demon a favor in return for freeing Husk's soul. There was nothing Angel wanted less than to owe a favor to Alastor of all people, but the demon had insisted he'd accept nothing else. Were it for anyone else, Angel would have told him were to shove it, but it was for Husk. Husk was always worth it.
“Yeah. I had the Vees’ powers and some hidden weapons. It wasn’t really a fair fight.” He said when the silence stretched too much.
“What now?” Charlie’s eyes were wide. “Why did you bring her corpse here?”
“The people of Hell wanted revenge. I’m giving them a target.”
“What about the Hotel? Are you staying here?”
Angel hadn’t really thought about it “I.. guess not? I mean, people come here to get redeemed, and we’ve established I’d literally rather set myself on fire than do that, so… I’m not a guest anymore” He tried not to get too choked up “Besides, I have the studio and-
“Angel, do you want to stay here?” Charlie grabbed one of his hands.
He just nodded, not trusting himself to speak.
“Then you’re still a guest.”
That night, Angel couldn’t sleep. For once, he felt safe enough in his bed, his specifically chosen pile of blankets being just heavy enough to comfort him but not make him feel trapped, and Fat Nuggets at long last sleeping in his arms. No, what was fucking up his sleep schedule were his wings.
Not only was it really hard to find a position where he wasn’t squishing them, they still ached like a motherfucker.
Sighing, he pushed himself out of bed. No use laying there suffering. Maybe a walk around the Hotel would distract him from the pain. As he went down the stairs, he saw the lights still on at the bar.
“Hey” He said, startling Husk, who was wiping a (very clean) glass
“Hey yourself. Couldn’t sleep?” He passed Angel a bottle of juice. He grimaced, but opened it and drank. It did wonders on his aching throat.
“Not really. Apparently Falling hurts, who would have guessed?” He laid his head on the cool glass of the bar “I miss drugs.”
“Don’t take this as me encouraging you, okay?” Angel nodded and Husk kept talking, “Why did you quit?”
“I dunno. There weren’t any drugs in Heaven, but I also couldn’t get withdrawal symptoms. If I start taking shit again and I later decide to quit, it’ll be hard as shit.”
“What makes you think you’ll want to quit later?”
“I… things are so muted when you’re high. And, like, I needed that sometimes, but I wanna enjoy the fruits of my labor at least a little bit before I go back to being a fuck up”
“You were never a fuck up. You were just trying to survive”
“I could have killed them earlier. Before they became threats. Before Val ruined me”
“Valentino didn’t ruin you!”
“I feel ruined. I couldn’t flirt with a guy without freaking out, even if I knew it was fake. I can’t sleep in strange beds. I can’t stand being unarmed, no matter where I am. Is that not being ruined?”
Husk sighed and put down the glass “Look, legs, you had a tough life, and an even tougher afterlife. You should’ve gotten saved decades ago, but you ended up having to save yourself. You were inhumanly strong for too many years, it’s fine if you freak out a little now that you’re safe.”
Angel felt his eyes burn with tears “I don’t want to freak out. I want to be okay. I want to be able to sleep, I want to be able to flirt, I want to kiss you”
Silence. After a few seconds, Angel realized what he had said “Husk, I’m so sorry if that made you uncomfortable, I’m-
“You want to kiss me?”
“Y-yeah. Didn’t you know?”
“No” He looked confused “When I kissed you back at the studio you freaked out”
“Well, yeah. That doesn’t mean I didn’t want you to do it.”
“But-
“Husk, that’s the issue. I like you. I would love to have a relationship with you. But every time I think about it, I… I get scared. It’s not your fault, but it happens”
“I would like to kiss you too.” Husk looked sweet. Here, in the dim light of the bar, with the soft jazz Alastor insisted on playing through communal spaces no matter the time, with the aches on his wings reminding him of what he’d done, he had a thought.
“Close your eyes.” He muttered. As soon as Husk did it, Angel climbed on the bar, kneeling to reach his face “Give me your hands.”
He gripped his wrists tightly, and feeling no resistance, Angel leaned down. Slowly, slower than he’d done anything in his life, he brushed their lips together. Husk barely reacted, but he could tell he was holding himself back. Just as slowly, Angel stepped away.
“You can open your eyes”
“Did it work?” He asked, yellow eyes staring at Angel in a way that, in any other person, would have unsettled him. As it were, it made him happy Husk wanted him so much and yet didn’t ask for more.
“Yeah. Are you okay with just this for now?”
“Of course.”
“Thank you” Husk was too good for Angel. He deserved someone who could give him what he needed, who could stand a normal makeout session. Angel liked sex, loved it even, but couldn’t stand it.
“I love you” He said “Are you sure you want to do this? I’m staking my claim on the Vees’ empire based on the fact that I was married to Val, so we can’t really… go out in public for at least a little while”
Husk looked at him as if he were the most precious thing, and Angel wanted to cry “I’m willing to wait.”
SIX MONTHS LATER
Husk smiled as Angel fluttered around him, filled with nervous energy. It was the first time the two of them were going out in public as a couple, and it just so happened to coincide with the launch of the rebranding of what used to be the Vees’ media conglomerate. Angel had said it was the perfect moment, that the people of Hell were finally ready to let go of the Vees as a symbol, and would be receptive to Angel not as an heir but as a replacement. Husk had no idea what that meant, but his boyfriend had seemed confident when he said it, so he was confident it would work.
He just had to stand next to Angel and look properly besotted, not a hard thing to do when the man had decided to wear a glittery white and gold short dress, with flowing sleeves and an open back to really show off his wings. It was imagery reminiscent of Heaven, something Angel had been leaning on since he dropped the ‘Dust’ from his name after quitting (most) drugs.
The people loved the gimmick and not only because the unique (in Hell) aesthetic made Angel stand out. Husk felt like there was something deeper there. The idea that someone so powerful had earned his spot in Heaven but decided to come back down to share a little of his paradise with everyone else was… nice. He knew it made more than one sinner warm and fuzzy inside. He knew it because he felt that way himself.
“Is my hair nice?” Angel asked “How’s my makeup? It’s supposed to be in the middle of ‘politician’ and ‘pornstar’ but I’m not sure it comes off like that.”
“You look perfect, as always” He grabbed Angel’s hand and tugged him down into his lap. It had taken so long to get to this point, to casual touches and not having to get ready for a few minutes for a kiss. “You’ll be fine. Everyone loves you, no one wants to challenge you, and if someone does, I’ll kick their ass. And if I can’t, you will kick their ass. And if you can’t, Vaggie will kick their ass”
Angel giggled “I guess. I just want this to be perfect”
“It will be. When has a plan of yours ever gone wrong?”
“The Milkshake Assassination almost did”
“But it didn’t. You killed that milkshake, baby. And you’ll kill it today, metaphorically.” He brushed his paw over a spot where Angel’s feathers were ruffled. Really, his wings were even more of a pain to keep tidy than Husks, but god they were gorgeous. The white was so pure it almost hurt to look at, as if they were glowing. After the Fall, they had looked grey and dull, but with time, they went back to their original color.
“Right. It’ll be fine.” He looked at the clock hanging on the Hotel foyer “Fuck, we needta get going”
He stood aside as Angel opened the doors, stepping to a podium surrounded by paparazzi and regular sinners alike.
“People of Hell!” Husk loved seeing Angel give speeches. It was kind of like watching him act, only he didn’t have to watch a million takes “Today marks the first day of a new era. An era of peace and prosperity for Hell, where we will work together with the Hazbin Hotel and the Morningstars to make our home the place we want it, we deserve it, to be. A good place, where people can afford to be good in turn.
And, to mark the occasion, I am glad to announce the rebranding of our media conglomerate and the opening of the brand-new Heaven Studios!”
There was thunderous applause, but Husk only had eyes for Angel, who sent him a smile before answering the journalist’s question.
Yeah, Angel could really take care of himself.