Chapter Text
“Angel! Angel!”
Angel looked up from losing his fifth round of poker straight to Husk. “Yeah, Cha-Cha?”
“Oh, Angel, I have wonderful news!”
Angel felt a grin stretching across his face unbidden as he turned to look at the princess of hell. She had her hands clasped under her chin and was bouncing about in sheer joy, her face split by her beaming grin. She looked like Niffty had that one time he’d made the horrible, horrible mistake of letting her have a caffeinated drink.
It had only been a Dr. Pepper. He’d been sure it would be okay.
“What is it, doll?”
“Emily thinks you’ve made it!”
Angel stared at her for a moment. Then he blinked. Then it caught up to him. “Wait, really? I get to – to-”
To go to heaven.
“Yes!” Charlie squealed.
Angel grabbed at the back of his chair. He needed something to hold onto. “When?”
Veggie coughed into her fist and stepped forward. She had that look on her face – that one that said “You’re gonna hate the next thing I say.”
But she didn’t say anything. She just pulled out a gleaming longsword, its blade tinged with white.
Angelic.
Angel’s face fell. Charlie’s froze. Somewhere behind him, Husk growled.
“Ye-ah, Veggie said, stepping closer and handing the longsword to Angel, who took it with what he hoped looked like reasonable swordsmanlike skill. He had no clue what he was doing. “I’m sorry, Angel, but as far as anyone can tell, there’s no non-lethal way to do this.”
Angel swallowed and sat back, staring down at the sword he now had laid out across his lap. Husk came up behind him to put a hand on his shoulder and wrap a wing around his back.
“And you can’t do it yourself,” Veggie continued. “In case suicide’s a disqualifying factor. So pick which one of us you want to do it, I guess.”
“Or back out,” Charlie said. “You totally don’t have to do this. No one’s going to make you.” Her voice was high and frantic, like she needed him to know that.
“And we don’t know if you’ll make it,” Veggie added. “You might just die.”
Angel took a deep breath, then gripped the hilt of the sword. This was it. This was everything he and Charlie and Veggie and Husk had been working toward since the first day the Hazbin Hotel had opened, almost a year ago now. This was what he’d been drawing closer to with every little sacrifice he made, every time he didn’t indulge his basest desires, every brutal day weathered without the help of his drugs.
He couldn’t give up now. He couldn’t do that to himself. He couldn’t do that to Charlie. And Husk… Husk had been putting everything he could into making sure this day happened, ever since Emily had told them redemption would probably break Angel’s contract.
Angel couldn’t cast that all aside.
His grip on the sword tightened, and he schooled his features into something hardened and resolute. “Husk?”
Husk’s wing squeezed Angel’s shoulders. “No, kid. I can’t do that.”
“It’d be for a good cause,” Angel argued weakly. He knew exactly what Husk was going to say next.
“I’m never going to harm ya and say it’s for your own good, kid. Not knowing who I’d sound like. I’d never feel quite right again.” He gave Angel’s shoulders another gentle squeeze. “Besides. I meant what I said. I can’t do it. If you gave me that sword, I don’t think I could make myself swing it at you.
“I’ll stand right by your side until the end. Hold your hand, talk you through it, cover your eyes, whatever you need me to do. But I can’t be the one who hurts you.”
#
Angel nodded glumly and turned to look at the rest of the hotel residents. Which of them did he trust most?
“You don’t have to choose right now!” Again with the strange desperation, like Charlie absolutely needed to get the words out. “You can take a few days to talk to everyone, say your goodbyes, whatever you need to! This happens at your pace, remember!”
Angel nodded again, slowly this time. “Then I want to finish my game first. This is a lot to take in.”
Charlie nodded frantically and bolted. Veggie watched her go, leaning on her spear, her white feathers rustling uncomfortably.
“You knew,” Husk accused her.
Veggie’s wings wrapped around her own shoulders, like she was pulling a blanket around herself. “Yeah. Emily told me a few weeks ago. She wanted me to break it to everyone gently. We knew Angel was close and, well, I don’t think she knew how to tell Charlie either.” She spread her wings and flapped them a couple times, then folded them flat behind herself like a butterfly, then wrapped them around her shoulders again. “I couldn’t figure it out.”
“Her?” Angel asked. “What about me? I’m the one who’s gonna get stabbed!”
Husk’s wing squeezed his shoulders again. “Calm down, Legs. That doesn’t have to happen anytime soon.” He hesitated. “Or at all.”
Angel tried to turn to face him. Husk’s wings made that difficult. “Oh, it’s gotta happen. I’ve worked too hard to fall flat on my face now.”
He felt more than saw Husk’s nod, then the claws that ghosted through the fur on his cheek. Veggie turned and left, all but hiding behind her own wings. Angel had never before known there were so many ways one person could use a pair of wings to express discomfort, and had he not been distracted by the feeling that someone had just tied his intestines in knots, he probably would’ve laughed.
Husk sighed, then dragged Angel and his chair closer, wrapping the spider more thoroughly in his own wings. “That girl. Come on, let’s finish our game.”
But he didn’t let go of Angel, and Angel didn’t want him to.
“I just want ta say… thank you. All of you.” Angel looked up, his eyes welling with tears as he grinned lopsidedly around at all the hotel residents who sat nearby him. Everyone he knew and loved in hell was there, even Fat Nuggets, who sat in his lap and beneath three of his hands. Nugs wouldn’t share his fate, fortunately – apparently Charlie could take the pig to heaven directly.
Husk. Cherri. Nugs. Charlie. Even Veggie. His first family who were not his family.
His grin wasn’t any kind of fake or an act or carrying the slightest sexual connotation. It was crooked and sincere and almost painfully vulnerable. He was kinda scared to show it, but he knew none of the people around him would ever kick him while he was down.
“I love ya all,” he continued. His voice cracked and trembled, and he could have hidden it, but he didn’t answer. “I’ll never forget ya. Ya people were the first ones ‘xcept Molly who ever really cared about me.” He focused on Cherri in particular as he said it – she’d been the first there, after all – but he meant it for all of them. “I’ll say hi to Pentious for ya, Cherri.”
Cherri smiled, her one eye welling up to match his eight, and suddenly Angel was knocked against the back of his chair as she tackle-hugged him.
He smiled, closed his eyes, and wrapped all six of his arms tight around her. Cherri was crying now. Her tears were dripping onto his shoulder.
Someone tiny tapped on his leg. “Pile?” Niffty’s hopeful little voice asked.
Angel nodded, and immediately, he was smothered in affection from all sides. Cherri was directly in front of him. Charlie and Veggie came at him from the sides. Niffty clung to his leg, since Nuggets was already occupying his lap. The little cyclops was crying too, and – aw, crap. What was she going to do without him? Who was gonna make sure she didn’t fall on her own knife, or steal alcohol from the bar, or…
Trying to distract himself, Angel leaned back, right into the aforementioned cat demon. His head pressed against the fur on Husk’s chest, he closed his eyes, and for a moment, everything was blissful.
But eventually, he had to remember why he was here.
“Good-bye,” he rasped, his voice thick with the tears he still wasn’t shedding. “I… I’ve got to go.”
Charlie and Veggie gave him one final squeeze and withdrew. Niffty, Cherri and Husk all held on a moment longer, their grips tightening in a way that made him wonder if they were about to try and stop him. And he wondered if he’d really want to resist.
And then they let go, and Angel was lifting the sword on the floor beside him and handing Fat Nuggets off to Husk, then holding the blade out to Veggie.
“You want me to do it?” she asked, surprised. Angel nodded, his heart in his throat.
Veggie took the sword and tucked it through the waistband of her skirt. Husk handed off Nuggets to Charlie, and then Angel spaced a little, and then he was out in the hallway, Husk and Veggie each leading him by one of his hands.
His heart raced, and time seemed to run with it. Before he could blink, he was in an unused spare room. Veggie was closing the door while Husk helped him down into a chair.
For a moment, he wished they had led him to his own room instead. He was scared. He wanted its familiar comfort.
And then he realized why they had brought him here instead. His room was his sanctuary, the one place where he was completely certain nothing bad would ever happen to him.
They were right. He didn’t want to die there.
Veggie drew the sword again, flipping it about in her hand as she tried to get a sense for its balance, or so Angel assumed. Maybe she just needed something to do. “Is there any particular way you want me to do this?”
Angel hadn’t really thought about where Veggie was going to put the sword, and he really didn’t want to, either. “No.”
Veggie nodded and set her jaw, and Angel’s pulse skipped a beat. “Wait. Leave my heart alone. That only just got put back together.”
Veggie nodded again, her face grim. Angel swallowed, his mouth dry, and said, “Ya know your bedside manner stinks, right?”
Veggie sighed, which just went to show that Angel was absolutely right. “Face away from me. I’ll stab you when you aren’t expecting it anymore.” Angel turned around, facing Husk instead of Veggie. “Husk, distract him.”
Husk shoved a deck of cards into Angel’s face, which was certainly distracting, but probably not in the way Veggie had meant.
“That’s not funny, Husk.” His voice came out as a high-pitched whine, and he grimaced. Letting his masks down was embarrassing sometimes.
Husk sighed and tucked the cards away, then gently placed his paws on Angel’s shoulders. Angel leaned forward, wanting the security of a hug, wanting Husk to carry through on his promise to cover his eyes.
Husk did both, wrapping him up tight and burying Angel’s face in his shoulder, drowning his fears in the feeling of warm fur and a protective hold, submerging in his senses in the smell of smoke - real smoke, not Val’s sickly sweet stuff – and booze. Angel relaxed, clinging to Husk like he was the edge of a cliff Angel was about to fall off of.
“You follow me,” he managed. “You and Cherri better get redeemed as fast as you can. I don’t wanna lose you.”
Husk patted Angel’s back. That – and the hug – probably wouldn’t cause Veggie any problems, right? She was gonna leave his heart alone. Husk covering it probably wouldn’t get in the way.
“We’ll be right behind you, loser,” Husk said. “But you’ve got to go first. You’ve got the most to escape.” The pats on the back turned into clawed strokes between his shoulder blades, and Angel couldn’t help but shiver. Stars, that felt nice. “Just imagine how nice it’ll be to never have to worry about Val again.”
Angel smiled, then nodded into Husk’s fur. “Yeah…”
“And your sister. You’ll see your sister again.”
His sister. Would she even want to see him again?
“And Emily will look after you,” Husk continued. “You’ll be fine. It won’t be at all like when you first came to hell. And we’ll all be right behind you.”
Angel nodded, then took a deep breath and pushed himself a little closer to Husk. Husk could read him well, and he apparently realized that now it was time to stop talking.
Disassociate. Disappear.
Angel closed out the world around him, focusing on Husk’s fur and scent, drowning out reality by tuning in to the sound of Husk’s heartbeat echoing against his skull. In that moment, at least for Angel, nothing existed save for his best friend’s protective presence. Husk helped him along a little by wrapping his wings around him, leaving his head and neck exposed for Veggie, but still covering him.
Angel snuggled in deep, making little sounds of contentment. Warmth. Bristly fur. Strong arms holding him tight. Wings covering him like a heavy, feathery blanket. Claws gently rubbing the edges of his shoulder blades. That overwhelming sense of care and peace that only Husk had ever really given him.
That was all there was.
Veggie had been wrong. Angel definitely felt the impact when she slammed her sword into the back of his head, but he didn’t have time to process the pain before his world went black.
Angel was alive. He didn’t know why, but that fact filled him with relief and made him feel very happy.
He was lying on his side, his limbs all curled against himself. His head was definitely resting on someone’s lap, and that someone had their fingers threaded through his hair. He would’ve assumed Husk, based on the lack of residual panic, but the fingers were too slender and feminine.
He really should have been concerned right now.
But he wasn’t. Somehow, despite every ounce of logic or instinct he possessed telling him otherwise, he felt safe and calm, like he was waking up in his own bed at the hotel. On a day off.
He was vaguely aware he’d been drooling in his sleep, and he wanted to reach up and wipe it away, but he was way too comfortable. He wasn’t moving.
Someone said something above him. It sounded like a woman, slightly off to his right. Her words didn’t quite register.
Another woman – right above him this time, had to be the one holding him – laughed and replied. Angel was still too muzzy-headed to understand her words, but they still made him crack an eyelid.
He knew that voice.
With great effort, he half-opened his eyes and rolled to look up. He tried to say her name, but his tongue didn’t want to move any more than the rest of him did.
For a moment, he was distracted by a sudden pain in his back. Then he saw her.
“Anthony.”
Molly pulled him into a crushing hug. Once, Angel would have pulled away, thinking he didn’t deserve it. Now… well, he still didn’t deserve his twin, and he never would, but he leaned into her warmth anyway. Punishing himself did no one any good. It had taken forever for Charlie, Husk and Cherri to drill that into his head, but drill it in they had.
“Molly,” he finally managed, returning the hug with every limb he could. He still seemed to have six arms, and…
Another pair of limbs moved, too, and when he fully opened his eyes, he and Molly were both wrapped in white feathers.
He pulled back and looked over his shoulder, and his jaw dropped.
Wings.
He had wings.
They looked a lot like Husk’s. Same basic shape, same level of featheriness. Angel’s looked more delicate, with finer bones and more curved lines, and they were white – pure, gleaming white.
He stepped around in circles, trying to get a good look at them, then turned and faced the two women.
He already knew one of them. Molly looked different now, her hair silver instead of blonde and a pair of bladelike wings placed high on her back, but she was still recognizably herself. He’d never met the other gal, but he’d heard enough about her from Charlie to recognize Emily, too.
They were both smiling at him.
Molly flew at him again, literally, throwing her arms and wings around him. “Anthony… I can’t believe it… I thought I was never gonna see ya again.”
“I can’t believe ya wanted ta see me again,” Angel said happily.
Apparently that was the wrong thing to say, because Molly started crying. Angel was pretty sure he’d now made every single woman he cared about cry in the last twenty-four hours. Cherri, Niffty, Charlie, Veggie, and now Molly – yep, that was all of them.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” he asked. “I’m sorry… I didn’t mean ta upset ya…”
Molly pulled back and muttered something about him being an idiot in Italian, then let him go and grabbed his hand. “Come on. Emily and I’ll show you around.”
Angel grinned and nodded, and Molly turned to lead him away, then paused and looked back, meeting his eyes.
“Anthony,” she said, her voice filled with more fire than Angel had ever heard from her before, “I want you to know that, whatever happened to you in hell, you’re safe here. You can be happy here. And I’ll do whatever I hafta to prove it to ya.”
And now Angel was the one welling up. He gave her a tearful nod. It seemed to be enough, for now. Molly turned and led him into the shining city.
