Chapter Text
Vaggie watched Adam and Lute leave, wide-eyed, as a cold ball of dread dropped into her stomach.
“Fuck.” She whispered, her chest constricting as a cold sweat beaded along her brow.
She gasped for air as she felt a burning pain spark along her back, centered on the scars from where Lute had ripped her wings from her body. She shut her eye tight against the phantom sting of Lute slicing into her face, exacting a cold retribution for Vaggie’s sin of compassion.
In the dark of her mind a flashing reel of every dark, painful moment of Adam’s past coercion over her long years as an Exorcist played out to the soundtrack of his laughter. Vaggie couldn’t help the shudder of disgust at the memory of his fingers ghosting along her skin.
Her eye flew open and she lunged for the door, wrenching it open and throwing herself into the hall, rushing away from the suddenly too small room. Blindly she made her way through Heaven paying no mind to the angels she bumped in her frantic sprint away from the past.
Her legs finally brought her to the quiet park where she had spent many of her infrequent off days when she was an Exorcist. Taking in the familiar surroundings she slowed her pace, finding some semblance of peace in the sight of the sparkling stream trickling its way peacefully under the crystalline bridge, as it had always done. This secluded space had been a calming escape; few angels seemed to prefer this smaller park, choosing instead to frequent the bustling inner metropolis of the holy plane.
Vaggie hugged her arms around herself tightly as she stepped gently onto the bridge resting her elbows along the railing and casting a forlorn look into the water below.
She sighed as her turbulent thoughts ran through the burden she faced. I knew coming here was a bad idea. I can’t believe I thought I could just waltz into heaven without my past catching up to me.
She scowled at her reflection. It’s not fair! After everything they put me through–everything I lost–now they have to try and take the one thing that I was able to find in this fucked up excuse of an eternity I’m stuck with. Why can’t they just leave me alone? Why aren’t I allowed to be happy? I just want to love her. Why is that so much to ask? Charlie doesn’t deserve the heartbreak those fuckers are threatening to bring upon her. She’s so unequivocally good—so much better than they could ever hope to be—and they’re just willing to destroy her for their bullshit power play.
She paused, taking in a shaky breath as her resolve hardened. I’m not going to be a fucking pawn for them to use against her; I won’t do it. I don’t care what it costs me; I won’t hurt Charlie just to protect myself.
Her anger ebbed back into despair and she felt tears well in her eye. I’m going to lose her. This is going to break her heart and I have no one to blame but myself. It was always going to end like this, I never should have lied to her.
Vaggie’s thoughts were interrupted by the feeling of a body slamming into her from behind as soft arms wrapped around her shoulders.
“Oh my God! Vaggie is that you?!” A familiar voice cried. “We all thought you were lost in that extermination a few years ago, where have you been?”
Vaggie turned around as the grip on her shoulders loosened and her captor stepped back.
“Hey Jinx.” Vaggie greeted awkwardly, glad to see one of her only friends from her Exorcist days but still wary of having to explain where she’d been. “I’ve uh—I’ve actually been in Hell the last few years.”
Vaggie braced herself for Jinx’s derision.
“Oh, what are you doing down there?” The Exorcist asked, voice conveying only genuine curiosity.
“Well, you see, I got exiled for disobeying orders.” Vaggie said, paraphrasing the actual events of her fall.
Jinx snorted. “I’m not surprised you always did have a habit of talking back to Lute. Guess it finally caught up with you, huh?”
Vaggie relaxed slightly; she’d always found Jinx to be a non-judgmental and friendly soul. More than once she had questioned how someone so easy-going wound up assigned to a murder brigade.
“So, what have you been getting up to down in the brimstone depths?” Jinx asked, stepping forward to stand next to Vaggie, leaning over the railing to look down at the stream as Vaggie had been doing before.
“Mostly I just help my girlfriend with running her hotel. That’s actually why I’m here, she has a meeting with the Seraphim court and I’m moral support.” Vaggie explained, turning to take up a similar pose on the railing.
“That’s sweet of you. I’m glad to hear you’re doing okay and that you found someone you care for. That’s gotta be pretty rare in Hell.” Jinx said, smiling genuinely at the thought of her friend's happiness.
“You know actually you’d be surprised.” Vaggie said with a small smile of her own as she remembered the recent, frequent open shows of affection and appreciation between Angel Dust and Husk.
“Well, tell me about the lucky girl…person…demon?” Jinx stumbled, trying to find the right terminology to describe Vaggie’s mystery partner.
“She’s a hellborn demon,” Vaggie said through a laugh. “She’s actually Charlie Morningstar, Lucifer’s daughter and Princess of Hell.”
Jinx whistled at the title. “Damn, you sure know how to pick ‘em.”
“I know right? But, like, she’s so not what you’d think. She’s so endlessly kind, generous and optimistic. You’d never believe she was hellborn much less the fucking Princess of Hell given her personality.” Vaggie said with a lovesick grin as she thought about the blonde who had so effortlessly nursed her back to health, stealing her heart in the process.
“Damn, you got it bad, girl.” Jinx said, bumping their shoulders together. “The way you describe her she sounds less like the Princess of Hell and more like a friggin Disney Princess.”
Vaggie nodded her head, laughing. “Yeah, she kind of does, doesn’t she? It’s a shame she’s never seen those movies. I think she would really love them.”
“You should show them to her sometime." Jinx suggested.
“Yeah.” Vaggie agreed, sighing at the reality that, even if she could get copies of the movies in Hell, soon Charlie would want nothing to do with her.
“What’s wrong?” Jinx asked, noting the change in Vaggie’s demeanor.
“I fucked up, bad, Jinx. I didn’t tell Charlie I was a fallen angel and I have a choice between destroying her dreams to stop her from finding out or letting the truth come to light. I can’t—I won’t— hurt her just to protect myself. She’s going to hate me.” Vaggie explained, hanging her head under the weight of the impending collapse of her relationship.
“I mean, it sounds like you two love each other quite a bit. Maybe you should trust in that, trust in her, and things will play out better than you expect.”
Vaggie shrugged. “Yeah, I guess.” She said, unconvinced.
“If she’s as much of a Disney Princess as you make her out to be, she’ll probably understand.” Jinx said, placing her hand on Vaggie’s shoulder and offering a comforting squeeze.
“Hopefully. Not like I can change anything now anyways.” Vaggie said, a small smile playing at her lips as she imagined Charlie dressed in one of the colorful medieval gowns of those animated films. “She really is straight out of one of those movies. I wish there was a way I could show them to her.”
Jinx nodded in agreement absently, taking her hand back and turning back to stare down into the stream, as a comfortable silence fell over them.
Vaggie perked up as a thought occurred to her.
“Hey, Jinx?” She said, sitting up straighter and looking at her friend.
“Yeah, what’s up?” Jinx said, raising an eyebrow at the suddenly eager look on Vaggie’s face.
“Remember that favor you owe me?” Vaggie said.
“Yeah?” Jinx replied, not comprehending where Vaggie was going with her line of questioning.
“Do you think you could get me a hard drive, with all the Disney movies on it, in the next 15 minutes?” Vaggie asked.
“Pfft, yeah, easy, come with me.” Jinx said confidently as she beckoned Vaggie to follow her out of the park.
Later that afternoon Vaggie stood outside the massive gleaming doors of the Seraphim court. Taking a breath she ran a shaky finger along the drive hidden in her pocket, hoping she’d have the chance to give it to Charlie.
“Hey, Vaggie!” Charlie greeted as she walked up, placing a kiss on Vaggie’s cheek and taking her hand. “You ready to do this?”
“Ready as I’ll ever be.” Vaggie replied, doing her best to hide the anxious dread she felt as she allowed Charlie to lead her inside.