As brothers, Gabriel and Lucifer had seen each other in practically every emotional state imaginable. Joy, anger, sadness, even specific feelings like jealousy or fear had been expressed when they were in shared company. Yet if there was one emotion neither had shown the other, it was stress because any time they've experienced it, it happened after the war when they no longer saw one another. But now that their relationship was mended and they were more than happy to be in each other's presence, the archangel was getting to see firsthand what his brother looked like when he was running on fumes.

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuugh, why can't a single day go by where everything's just OKAY?!" The devil groaned as he slammed his head onto his desk.

"I don't mean to kick a dying horse before it's shot, but is it really all that surprising that some of your citizens are potentially trying to usurp you?" Gabriel asked.

"Hey! Don't say that!" He exclaimed yet didn't bother to raise his head, so his voice came out muffled," The Eldritch family is one of our oldest friends. There's no reason for us to start making such bold assumptions without sufficient evidence!" He argued.

"Brother, they somehow learned before anyone else that the Slayer's returned, and they stole him away from your family and friends to have a private discussion undoubtedly about your reform. If that isn't proof that they're doing something that will shake the foundation of order in your circle, I don't know what is," Gabriel told him.

"I have the media on my ass wanting to know more about the Hell Wave. There is a demand for a public address explaining it to reassure the people. I do NOT need the fear that some of my oldest friends have a sniper set up somewhere ready to blow my brains out." He said with a sigh.

"If it were that easy to kill you, I would've won the war," Gabriel responded with a chuckle and smile.

Slowly lifting his head, Lucifer gave his brother the most tired and annoyed, "Not funny." expression he could, which said more than he could ever hope to with words. Thankfully a savior soon appeared at the door, announcing their arrival with a knock and a request.

"Could one of you please open the door? I've got my hands full." The voice of Lilith called from the other side.

"Allow me," Gabriel said to his brother, so he didn't get up.

Walking over and opening the door, both men were greeted by the sight of his beautiful wife, who was carrying an even more beautiful-looking breakfast on two trays.

"Oh...you are an absolute angel!" Lucifer exclaimed with widened eyes which made her smile.

"Figured it was the least I could do after both of you stayed up all night working on this." She replied while coming into the room, Gabriel closing the door behind her once she was inside, "Plus, you know, I feel bad for having done what I did to you yesterday. I let my emotions get the better of me." She confessed.

"You did something to me?" Lucifer questioned with a raised brow.

Stopping dead in her tracks, for she wasn't expecting that, apparently either the pain was so great or she just hit him that hard Lucifer didn't remember she stabbed him in the abdomen with her elbow. As for how he managed to get back home while in such a state, Gabriel found him on the hotel's lobby floor and brought him here before he woke up.

"Um...yes...I...was rather cold and distant when we were talking with the others because of the incident and everything." She lied, hoping he'd believe that.

"Oh really? I didn't even notice. If anything, I should be the one to apologize." He replied. "No, that's fine. Let's just put it behind us, okay?" She asked with a nervous smile.

"If you say so." He answered with a smile of his own just as his stomach growled, "Oof, I'm hungrier than I thought. Give me a moment to clear the desk so you can set those down." He told her.

"I thought the devil was the one to speak with a forked tongue," Gabriel whispered to her with a smirk as Lucifer got up from his seat and started moving things around or off of his desk.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." She replied in the same volume.

"Mhm, sure." He said.

After a few seconds, enough space was made for the meals, allowing Lilith to finally set them down so her husband could satiate his hunger.

"Oooooooh, it smells so good!" Lucifer practically moaned out of anticipation, quickly sitting back down to pick up his silverware.

"Did you think him so hungry that he'd eat two meals?" Gabriel asked while looking at Lilith. "The second one's for you." She answered, surprised he didn't realize that on his own.

"But I no longer have a body." He mentioned.

"So that means you don't enjoy a personally prepared meal?" She questioned with an amused smile.

"Gabriel, if you don't sit down and claim that meal in the next five seconds, then it's forfeit," Lucifer warned, though a bit muffled as his mouth was full.

Though still amazed she'd do something like that for him, Gabriel, not wanting to be rude, sat down and grabbed his utensils.

"Thank you for the hospitality, Lilith. It's greatly appreciated." He told her, which made her happy.

"You're welcome. After all, you are part of the family." She said before turning her attention to her husband, "So, have the two of you figured out what we're going to do? Or have you spent all this time doing your usual game of sibling tug of war?" She asked.

"Actually, we have, much to our amazement." He answered as he picked up his beverage to take a sip, "Since Gabriel's not needed for anything specific in Urdak, we decided that he could help us with the ever-growing mountain of headaches that is happening here." He informed.

"But what about your position in Heaven? Aren't you needed there now that you've returned?" She inquired, going back to the archangel.

"I would, but apparently Michael has been covering my duties in my tragic absence, so as long as he still thinks I'm not back, he can continue to do so for the time being," Gabriel explained.

"Wait, you mean you haven't told the rest of your family there that you're back?" She questioned.

Hearing that question brought both brothers to a stop, with Lucifer specifically having been in mid- bite when he did.

"...Pravuil knows, that's good enough," Lucifer said after a few seconds before sticking the food in his mouth.

"Yes, he is the scribe for all creation, so long as he knows I've returned, it's perfectly alright." Gabriel agreed.

"This is the same Pravuil who never leaves his sanctum, right? The one who is constantly watching every single person in creation and writing down the story of their life?" She asked.

"...I think you're giving this too much-thought, dear," Lucifer answered while chewing.

"And you wonder why your siblings here in Hell refuse to speak to any of us." She told him as she crossed her arms, an unamused expression present on her features.

"In Lucifer's defense, Michael could use the extra work. He was appointed the head general of Heaven's forces which became entirely pointless after the war ended and the Maykrs were created to monitor Doom. He's spent nearly every day just lounging about or walking around Heaven talking to everyone." Gabriel shared.

"Still, it seems a bit cruel to keep them in the dark about your return. No doubt they've been just as concerned as the rest of us." She said.

"When this is all over, we promise we'll throw a big party where all of our family is invited. We'll even have games to lighten what will easily be the single most terrifyingly intense moment of our entire lives." Lucifer suggested, "Speaking of which, how is the planning for Will's celebration going?" He asked, having been informed about it during the night before his wife went to bed.

"Because of the unpleasantness yesterday, we had to stop just as we were getting started. We all agreed to meet at the hotel around lunch so we can continue." She answered.

"That's perfect! While all of you are doing that, Gabriel can go speak with Helsa while I get in contact with dad so he can finally help paint the picture of what the fuck is going on exactly." He said.

"So Gabriel's going to talk to her?" She questioned as she looked at him, "But you've never met the Eldritches, let alone Helsa. What're you going to say?" She asked.

"Nothing too revealing of what is going on with the rest of creation. I will tell her that the Slayer is still needed for tasks that cannot be named at this time. So if she could be so kind as to exclude him from her affairs, that would be appreciated." He answered.

"And if she refuses? Which she most certainly will?" She asked.

"It won't come to that. I can be very persuasive in matters such as this." He assured. "He is quite compelling." Lucifer complimented.

"If that were true, you two wouldn't have caused a war which has led to where we are now." She told them.

Oof, that one cut deep, but they knew she was right on the money hence why neither of them responded.

"Well, guess I'll leave you two to eat." She said with a smirk as she knew she got one over on them, "I'm going to go take a shower and get ready to leave for the hotel. Good luck convincing one of the single most ego-driven Nobles in all of the circle to listen to you." She told them before leaving the room.

Elsewhere...

Horrified was the only word that either Angel Dust or Katie Killjoy could think to describe their current state, as both sat quietly in his office trying to get their brains working again. At first, they thought they might've just gotten the wrong room, but that was impossible since they knew where the others' spaces were, and they all had their names on them, including Cherri Bomb's. So with that possibility quickly proven untrue, they were left with the mystery of why the fuck she'd be in the same room as Will, buck naked underneath an extra-large t-shirt, at six in the morning.

However, they'd made absolutely no progress; for the past hour and a half, they just sat there in silence, shell shocked by what this could potentially be.

"...Okay, I'm just gonna say it." Katie finally spoke as she looked at the spider demon, "Is it possible, like ACTUALLY possible, she managed to have sex with him?" She asked.

"No way, like full transparency here when we first met him, we did want to try and have a threesome, but that was then, and this is now, and everything's different, so she'd have no reason to try and get in his pants!" He answered, "Plus think about it, I know neither of us has seen him naked or even just like gotten a good peak or feel of it, but do you honestly believe if they screwed, she wouldn't have woken up the whole fucking neighborhood?" He asked.

"That's true." She answered while crossing her arms, "But if they didn't have sex, then why was she naked in his room? Why was she there at all?!" She questioned.

Then, almost like she had heard them talking about her, the door to Angel Dust's office opened, and Cherri Bomb walked in.

"Morning hoes..." She greeted with a yawn before walking over to what had become her couch and plopping down onto it, "Did either of you sleep as good as I did last night, or were you busy fingering yourselves thinking about a certain someone?" She asked with a toothy grin and a laugh.

Unlike before, she looked like herself, hair was done up in a ponytail, and her everyday punk rock outfit adorned her body. Now, this wasn't a strange thing for her to do. In actuality, the three of them were usually the first ones up to check their emails, chat between themselves, and help get Angel Dust's room ready for breakfast. But seeing as how, even with them having just proved she couldn't have had sex with the Slayer, that they still had that concern eating away at the back of their minds, neither Katie nor Angel were feeling all too chatty this morning.

"Yo, something up?" She inquired, propping herself up on her elbows so she could look at them,

"Usually one of you'd say something, did you frig yourselves too hard?" She asked.

"...WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU DOING IN WILL'S ROOM?!" Angel Dust suddenly shouted, rocketing out of his chair and pointing an accusatory finger at her.

"Whelp, so much for subtly..." Katie said with a sigh as she pinched the space between her eyes. "Dude, what the fuck are you talking about?" Cherri asked with a confused expression.

"Oooooooooh no, don't you fucking DARE try to act all innocent and shit, we SAW you come out of HIS room this morning wearing nothing but a fucking t-shirt!" He exclaimed.

"...OH, so you guys DID try to sneak into his room, I knew it." She replied with another grin though this time it was smug, "Did you bump into each other?" She asked.

"Don't change the subject, Cherri!" He scolded before walking out from behind his desk and going over to her, "What were you doing in there? Were you sleeping with him? Did you strip for him? DID YOU SUCK HIS DICK?!" He interrogated.

"Down, boy," Katie said as she got up from her seat to put a hand on his shoulder.

"Guys, do you seriously think that I'd have sex with Will? Or rather that he'd even have random sex period?" She questioned.

"Well, what the fuck are we supposed to think?! You said you were going to make sure he settled in okay, then the next time we see you, you're coming out of his room!" He exclaimed.

"...Eh, good point." She resigned with a shrug of her shoulders, "But still I didn't have sex with him, did I sleep in his room? Yes. Did I sleep in his bed? Yes. But I promise you that I did not sleep with him or did anything sexual or girly to him either." She swore.

"Then what did happen?" Katie asked, honestly more curious than upset at this point.

"When we went down to the seventh floor, we ran into the others; they were still celebrating top hat's return and were getting him settled in with Vox and Velvet. When they saw Will, they were glad he was back, Millie and Velvet hugged him, and I explained that he would be staying with us from now on. So then everyone pitched in to help get him set up in his new room, and in a moment of brilliance, at least that's how he'd describe it, Vox decided to give Will the current build of the game he's making, so he could play it himself and offer some feedback and stuff. But when it got a little later, and everyone was calling it a night, he asked if I'd like to stay and take turns playing, to which I said yes. So for most of the night, we were up playing the game, making some notes for tube head, and eventually, we fell asleep." She recounted.

Huh, that was...surprisingly normal, and it made complete sense; this was not what either Katie or Angel Dust expected to hear. However, there were still a few details that didn't add up, which both were going to mention, so there was nothing left to the imagination.

"Okay, that was remarkably mundane." Katie admitted with a look of confusion, "But why were you naked and wearing one of the t-shirts Blitzo and the others made?" She asked.

"I get naked to get comfortable." Cherri answered with a shrug while pointing to Angel with her thumb, "He knows that." She added.

"And Will didn't have any issues with that at all?" Katie inquired.

"He's the one who gave me the shirt." She revealed, "After ya know, Millie and Moxxie had shown him some of the merch they already made." She informed.

"So he was just perfectly fine with you being around him wearing nothing but a shirt?" Angel Dust questioned.

"Yeah, dude's surprisingly laid back about that kind of thing, which makes sense honestly when you consider the fact he's pulled entire intestinal tracts out of demons." She replied.

"I could've been walking around nearly stark naked to try and seduce him this whole time, and it would've been fine?!" He asked, his focus gradually getting farther away from the topic at hand.

"Angel, you can worry about your lack of rubbing yourself against him later," Katie told him, trying to keep him on track, "There's still something that doesn't add up. Why were you sleeping in his bed alone? Where was he?" She asked.

Cherri's entire mood shifted after that; she sat upright on the couch and looked down at the floor with a concerned expression, which caught them off guard.

"Look, guys, if I answer that, you gotta promise me you won't tell Will, okay?" She requested worriedly, which wasn't like her at all.

"Did something happen?" Angel Dust asked as he sat down beside her, only ever seeing his best gal pal act like this a few times before.

"Yeah, but don't get the wrong idea. He didn't hurt me or do something insane like that." She answered.

"And yet you're worried, so whatever did happen last night is enough to upset you." Katie pointed out.

Fidgeting a little because she wasn't sure if she should say anything, unfortunately, she already opened this can of worms, and it'd be stupid to keep quiet now.

"When it started getting late...ya know, since we were playing the game and just talking to each other...I figured it was about time we turned in for the night...I offered to take the couch so he could sleep in a bed again...but he insisted on the opposite..." She began, "I tried to ask him about it cause it was weird...but it was obvious he wasn't going to budge, so I just went into the bedroom and passed out...but then later, I think around two or three...I woke up because I heard...him scream..." She revealed.

A moment of silence then took place, so Angel and Katie could process it.

"Now, at first, I thought maybe it came from the game, ya know? Because I mean, come on, why would Will, the DOOM SLAYER, ever scream right?" She said to continue, "But then I got up, walked over to the bedroom door, and when I pushed it open just a little to see what was going on...I saw him...sitting there on the couch with his head in his hands..." She paused for a moment, unintentionally gripping her clothes tightly as what came next was hard for her to say, "I guess at some point, maybe when he screamed, he took his helmet off...and while that by itself was weird...it was what he was doing that really freaked me out...he was muttering to himself, and he was doing it so quietly I could barely hear...whether or not it was to keep from waking me up I don't know...I tried to listen to what he was saying, I couldn't get much...but what I did...I don't know what to make of it..." She admitted.

"What was it?" Angel Dust asked.

"It wasn't real. They're okay." She answered.

Hearing that put a pit in Angel and Katie's stomachs because even though they didn't know what it meant exactly, one thing was abundantly clear. Will, who was the single most badass hardened person any of them had ever known, had a nightmare in his sleep. And whatever it was, managed to scare him.