After she, Alastor, Husk, and Niffty had returned from their shopping trip, Vanessa had found herself without much to do, honestly. She'd kind of just retreated to her and Angel's room, hanging out by herself, though she did find herself occupied in a book that Alastor had purchased for her.

It was a rather thick one, admittedly, but it was one she'd been wanting to read for a while now.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

She'd seen all the movies growing up, and she had begun reading the books a long time ago. She'd finished the Half-Blood Prince, but she'd never been able to get her hands on the final book in the series. At least, not before she was…

Anyway, Vanessa had been completely surprised to come across the book at the Mall. Unfortunately, Valentino didn't really pay his slaves, and she'd had absolutely no money to buy the book with, so her somewhat happy mood had faded rather quickly.

And then Alastor offered to purchase the book for her.

"There's nothing that would please me more than to purchase a good book for a fellow reader!"

That's what he'd said when she'd refused at first, citing that she didn't want to be a burden. So, despite her… admittedly rather weak objections, Alastor had purchased the book for her. The only thing he'd asked in return was that she take care of it.

She'd made it to Chapter 6 before Angel found her in their room and offered to watch a movie with her.

At first, she was determined to read more of the book, but Angel could be persuasive when he wanted to be…

Okay, so he pretty much bugged her until she said yes, but admittedly, she was still appreciative of his pushy nature in the matter anyway. The way he saw it, she couldn't stay cooped up in the bedroom ninety percent of her time, and as excited as she was for the book, it would always be there for her to read.

And he also told her that should she get bored, she could gladly return to their room and stick her nose back in her book.

But, here she was, halfway through The Incredible Hulk, which was something that admittedly surprised her. Don't get her wrong, she enjoyed a good superhero flick as much as the next person, but she had never pegged Angel as someone to get into them.

At the moment, they were currently laughing at the scene on the screen at the moment. It was the taxi scene, where Bruce and Betty were stuck in a cab while their driver turned out to be a complete nutjob behind the wheel.

"And that's why you don't make a move on a bitch who's screaming at ya." Angel remarked with a chuckle as Betty scared the driver off once they were free of the demon taxi.

Vanessa giggled at Angel's remark. Admittedly, she was enjoying herself. Though superheroes weren't exactly her favorite genre, she did have her favorites to watch, and The Incredible Hulk was one that she'd always enjoyed watching with her little brother…

Vanessa mood saddened slightly at the thought of her brother. For a life in Portsmouth Ohio, her family was actually rather stable. She had loving, hardworking parents, and her little brother was in middle school, and he did well, getting mostly A's and B's, with an occasional C, and a rare F from a particularly rude teacher.

But it had all went downhill for her once she'd met him.

Mike Baldwin didn't seem like a bad guy at first, but then he got more pushy, agressive, and posessive, in spite of the fact that she'd said no on multiple occasions to his advances.

She just wasn't interested.

Of course, the word 'No' apparently wasn't in Mike's dictionary, and one day she'd gotten home from school, while her parents had Raymond at the hospital, and she'd found Mike hiding behind her door when she went into her room.

And then she was on the bed, he was on top of her, and he had raped her.

And unlike some people, she didn't have the luck of shutting her brain down.

She remembered every fucking second of it.

Every horrific word, every painfilled thrust, every single-

Vanessa couldn't help the tears in her eyes as she once again recalled the terrible day, the very incident that drove her to suicide mere hours later.

All focus on the movie was gone as she pulled her legs up to her chest, resting her feet on couch as she buried her face into her knees, hugging her legs as close as she could manage in some sort of act of self comfort.

The sound of her shuddering sobs caught Angel's attention, and his gaze was torn away from the film to find Vanessa sobbing next to him into her knees.

"Aw, shit." Angel muttered, concern for Vanessa overriding any sort determination to watch the film he may have had, as he scooted himself closer to her and rested a concerned hand on her back. "What's wrong, Ness?"

"I'm sorry." Vanessa whimpered, pulling her face away from her knees as she tried to wipe her tears. "It's just, I used to watch this with my brother, and that got me thinking about my family, and it some how led back to-!"

"Shh, say no more, kid." Angel said, putting a finger on her lips before she found herself a stuttering mess. He gave a small smile, his gold tooth conflicting with the rest as his multicolored eyes softened. "You know, it's a wonder I can understand ya half the time. You're worse than Charlie when she gets worked up." He remarked, hoping to lighten the mood and take her mind off of her past.

The thing was, it was still fresh in her mind, the incident. It had only been a month since she died, and memories of your living life don't just seem like a dream or anything. One day, your alive, and the next, your dead. And time goes on.

Angel was admittedly wandering if she was trying to process it, or ignore it. Maybe both.

In the two days since leaving Val's studio, there were sides to Vanessa coming out that Angel hadn't ever seen. She was actually pretty talkative, and she seemed like she was a rather curious individual. It also admittedly stunned Angel when Vanessa had called John an ass the day before without any sort of fear. It was the real Vanessa coming out, because she felt she was safe among friends.

John had that affect, admittedly. After all, Angel has only known the giant for a week, and yet, he considered the man one of his closest friends.

Though to be fair, he didn't have many friends until the Hotel in the first place. He had a sort of rivalry with Vaggie, and he met Al, Husk, and Niffty on the same day as John, and he wasn't anywhere near as close to them as he was to John. The only people he really considered his friends were Charlie, Cherri, Vanessa, and John.

In a place like Hell, true, good friends were a rarity few and far between.

Vanessa giggled, hiccuping slightly as she tried to contain the sobs that still wanted to escape as she gave a small smile at the spider-demon. "You're mean." She muttered, before leaning into his chest floof.

Angel let out a laugh. "Mean? Kid, you ain't seen mean." He joked, sitting back against the couch and raising an eyebrow as Vanessa leaned up off him. "You want mean? You should've been here to see what John did to Val when he showed here." He commented.

Vanessa's eyes widened. "Valentino came here?" She asked in surprise, suddenly feeling as if the Hotel wasn't safe anymore.

Angel could practically feel her tense up, and he let out a chuckle. "Calm down, Ness. John took care of Val the day he tore down his studio. Did Vox and Velvet ever show back up at the studio, by the way?"

Vanessa raised her head in thought as she finally dried her tears. "No, I don't think so." She didn't recall seeing either of the three V's after the day they took off towards where Vanessa know assumed was the Hotel. "John was the first notable person we saw in three days, actually."

Angel let out a snort. "Johnny must have scared them good. Velvet tried to put an angel bullet in his skull." She informed the succubus, who widened her eyes in horror.

"What?!" She asked, worry filling her tone. "He didn't get hit, did he?"

"You kidding?" Angel raised an eyebrow. "That bullet flattened itself against his eye, and it only pissed him off." He informed the succubus with a chuckle. "Best fucking thing I saw all day, though a little scary."

"Sounds like it." Vanessa admitted with a nod. Silence followed the two's conversation, and Angel found himself looking at Vanessa in concern.

Neither of them had any attention on the movie, and Angel was almost scared that Vanessa's thoughts were gonna take another dark turn, so he thought of an idea to distract her.

"Tell me about your brother, kid." Angel suddenly spoke, catching Vanessa off-guard as she looked at Angel in surprise.

"W-What?"

"Your brother." Angel repeated, smiling slightly. "You said he used to watch this with ya? Tell me about him." He requested once more, relaxing slightly as his upper set of hands propped themselves behind his head, while his other ones rested on his legs.

Vanessa looked at Angel for a moment, before looking away in thought. "His name is Raymond. My mom named him that after Ray Romano, on 'Everybody Loves Raymond', and he just turned thirteen."

"What's he like?" Angel asked curiously.

"He's a little buttmunch." Vanessa snickered as she recalled her brother's rather jokester personality. "He was always pulling pranks on people. Little things, like a whoopie cushion or a jump scare, but occasionally, he'd get you with one good well thought out prank." She smiled fondly at one particular memory jumping into her mind. "There was this one day, our older cousin Wendell was visiting us, and fucking Ray rigged up one of these massive hand things, like what you'd see in Jackass."

Angel smiled as he guessed where this was going. "Let me guess, little Wenny got the shit smacked out of him, didn't he?"

Vanessa nodded, giggling as she recalled the memory herself. "To make it even better, Ray taped bags of flower to the thing."

Angel busted out laughing at the image that entered his head, of someone getting launched through a doorway covered in flower. "I imagine he wasn't happy?"

"Actually he was proud." Vanessa corrected, smiling fondly at the memory. "He said that it was a good prank, and told Ray to watch his back."

"Did he ever get him back?" Angel couldn't help but ask curiously.

Vanessa shook her head. "Not to my knowledge." She admitted with a sigh.

Whatever conversation that would've taken place was interrupted by the sound of a familiar voice echoing through the recreation room.

"Hey, Angel, Vanessa!"

Both heads turned to look behind the couch, where they spotted John walking into the room, smile on his face.

Angel's eyes widened in surprise though when he spotted who was accompanying him: Verosika Mayday.

"Holy shit." Angel muttered as he stood to his feet and moved around to the back of the couch, approaching the two with a smile. "Verosika Mayday?"

Verosika studied the spider-demon for a moment, eyes narrowing as she tried to process why she recognized him. "I recognize you from somewhere." She remarked, frowning as she couldn't place a name to the face.

Angel smiled. "I'm Angel Dust." He clarified. "Hell's former number one porn star, and Valentino's top worker?" He listed off what used to be his former occupation, before his smile widened. "We also met two years back. You were hanging out with that one guy, an imp… what was his name?"

"Doesn't matter." Verosika shrugged, before smiling as she finally had a name. "Now I remember. Me and you had a few drinks before that sleazeball put you on the stage." She recalled, smiling at the site of him despite having only met him once. "I'm guessing you came here when John leveled the studio?"

"Actually," John spoke up, catching Verosika's attention. "Angel was here before me, Al, or anyone else. He was Charlie and Vaggie's first guest." He revealed to the succubus with a smile.

Angel nodded. "Yeah. Didn't have much faith in the place, can't say that's changed." He admitted. "But hey, I agreed to make some sort of effort, and whether it works or not, Charlie's got a good thing going on here." He spoke his thoughts honest and sincere. Whether he believed in the Hotel or thought it worked didn't matter, the Hotel was a good thing, a bright light in the shit hole that is Hell.

Verosika nodded, before offering her hand. "Well, it's nice to properly meet you." She said as the spider-demon shook her hand. "You can call me Rose."

"Rose, huh?" Angel said with a raised eyebrow. "I don't know, I think Verosika is a pretty badass name."

Verosika shrugged her shoulders, but she smiled nonetheless. "Well, stick with what you want. I'll be here for a while."

"So, how do you two know each other?" Angel asked curiously, looking between the two.

John and Verosika looked at each other, unsure of where to begin, before Verosika spoke.

"Well… John's actually my boyfriend." She revealed, causing Angel's eyes to go wide in disbelief. "I… I fucked up, a long time ago, and ruined it. But I came home today, and I was lucky enough to catch John before she left." She elaborated, smiling up at the behemoth with a love-filled gaze.

John returned said gaze as he wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "Me and Rose had a talk, and, well… let's just say one thing led to another, and now we're back together." He explained to the spider-demon, before his eyes glanced over to find Vanessa walking up, eyeing the fellow succubus curiously.

Verosika's eyes caught sight of Vanessa as well, and she smiled. "I take it you're Vanessa?" She guessed.

Vanessa nodded, albeit a little nervously. Though she'd grown somewhat used to all the people around the Hotel, having been around a majority of them for the better part of the month, Verosika was a completely new and unfamiliar face, and she couldn't help but feel a little timid in the presence of a stranger. "Nice to meet you." She muttered shyly.

Verosika smiled at the girl, and offered her hand. "It's nice to meet you too." She said.

Vanessa eyes the woman's hand for a few moments, before nervously gripping it and shaking it.

Verosika could practically feel the unease in the girl's hand shake alone, and she frowned. "You okay?" She asked when they let go.

Vanessa nodded. "I'm… not so good around strangers." She admitted, playing with her hair out of habit, averting her eyes from the other succubus' gaze. "The last one I met wasn't nice."

Verosika looked at the girl in concern, before she looked up at John, who was giving Vanessa a sympathetic gaze.

"Ness here has only been dead a month." John explained when he saw the questioning look on her face. "And the first person she ever met was Valentino."

Verosika's eyes widened, before she gave the teen a sympathetic gaze of her own. "You poor thing." She said, smiling softly. "Well, you don't have a thing to worry about, I can tell you. The big guy here will keep you safe." She assured, causing Vanessa to look up at her with a smile.

"Thanks." Vanessa said, a sincered tone in her voice as she managed the small smile towards Verosika.

Verosika turned to look at John. "You said that she could probably use some advice from me?"

Both John and Angel's eyes widened, while Vanessa's expression turned to one of confusion. "I could?" Vanessa asked, glancing towards John as well.

John let out a puff of air through his lips as he glanced at Vanessa, before turning to look back towards Verosika. "Vanessa… let's just say she had a bad experience involving sex." He explained, leaving out any major explanations out of both respect for Vanessa's privacy, and her wellbeing. "We got some advice from Charlie the other day, but I figured that who better to get some solid words from than an actual succubus?"

Verosika's brow furrowed in confusion as well, as she glanced at Vanessa as well. Vanessa finally caught on to what John was saying though, and she averted her eyes out of both embarrassment and shame.

"Can I ask what kind of advice your looking for?" Verosika questioned. She need something a little more specific before she could really know how to answer.

Vanessa's gaze stayed towards the floor for a moment, before she finally forced herself to look up at the fellow succubus. "I want to know if there's any other way to sustain myself outside… anything sexual."

Verosika raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Uh, yeah." She said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Eat and drink like anyone else."

Admittedly, Verosika was completely off-guard when Angel, John, and Vanessa all balked at her answer.

"That's it?" John asked in disbelief.

"She doesn't actually have to sustain herself off of cum and other shit?" Angel quesitoned with disbelieving eyes.

"Um… no. Who told you that?"

The three of them looked at each other for a moment, before looking at Verosika.

"Charlie." John answered simply.

Verosika nodded. "That makes sense. To be fair, the Princess is over two hundred years old, and she's probably had sex thousands of times over." She reasoned, looking between the three. "If she goes long enough without sex, Charlie probably will feel weaker, but that's just because she's… I don't want to say addicted to it, but that's probably the best term. Succubi get power from sexual activity. Sustenence is just an added bonus if you've gone long enough without any thing to eat or drink."

"So, I don't even really have to masturbate if I don't want too?" Vanessa couldn't help but to question hopefully.

Verosika shook her head, smiling. "Nope. Just eat and drink like anyone else."

John, meanwhile, was frowning. "I should've taken my time with Val." He muttered with a growl, glancing over at Angel. "How much you wanna bet that piece of shit knew this, and still did what he did?"

Angel's face darkened with a look of pure hatred and disgust, a look not often seen on the former porn star. "Oh, no bet needed. I can almost guarantee it."

Verosika looked between the two in confusion. "Did I miss something here?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

Vanessa averted her gaze as she answered for them. "Valentino didn't give me any food or water when he had me at his studio. Instead, he fed me his… his cum." She managed to tell the fellow succubus, shuddering at the memory.

Verosika's eyes widened in absolute horror at what she was just told, before she turned to John with a look of absolute rightous fury.

"Please tell me you made that son of a bitch suffer!" She requested, looking up at John with a pleading gaze mixed in with her rage.

John nodded. "Val spent time in the pit before I put I'm down. Don't know what he went through, but you and I both know suffered big time."

"Good." Verosika growled, before shaking her head as she looked at Vanessa. "Look, being a succubus doesn't mean you need sex. You have abilities geared towards it, sure, but it's not a requirement. It doesn't matter if it's a sinner or a hellborn, sex is completely a choice alone, and don't let anyone tell you different." She assured the succubus with a small smile, making it completely clear that anything sexual would always be her choice.

Vanessa smiled as she looked at Verosika, and her tail was instictively wagging behind her, a clear sign of her joy. "Thanks, Verosika."

Verosika nodded. "Not a problem." She assured, before glancing at the TV. "So, what are you watching?"

"Oh, Vags got me started in superhero movies, and I asked Nessie if she wanted to watch some with me." Angel explained, smiling as he made his way back towards the couch. "We've watched Iron Man, but now we're watching The Incredible Hulk."

John smiled as he looked at Verosika. "Care if we join em? The Incredible Hulk is my second favorite superhero anyway, and we can meet Vaggie at dinner."

Verosika smiled, more than eager to have some time with her boyfriend, regardless of if they would be alone or not. "Sure!" She nodded as she moved towards the couch along with John.

It wasn't long before they learned that John was a talker when watching movies he loved with people, but it wasn't any spoilers, luckily. Just random facts here and there about the characters and the source material, and admittedly, they all found themselves enjoying his added commentary.


When Charlie reached the office, she could already hear her girlfriend swearing like a madwoman from the other side. Admittedly, she had no idea what she was saying, as she'd never bothered to learn many other languages growing up, or over the years, really, but one thing she knew was that when Vaggie was speaking spanish, her emotions were at a boiling point.

And true to her guess, when Charlie opened the door, Vaggie was on the other side, glaring at the computer screen with contempt, her hands looking ready to reach and rip the monitor in half as her hair seemed to boil like fire, even her bow, and her eye had a very familiar skull sitting in place of the pupil, a sign of her anger.

"Vaggie?" Charlie questioned as she walked over to the other side of the desk, taking a look at the computer screen, trying to see what it was that had Vaggie so angry.

And her eyes widened when she spotted what was on the monitor.

Email from: eldritchteen

Hey, Charlie, saw you on the news, saw your little interview with that lowly sinner, Katie Killjoy.

Are you actually trying to go through with that Hotel idea? How childish can you be? Good? In Hell? Please, the only thing good about the lowly sinners of this pit is the fact that they make good punching bag when us actual citizens are having a bad day. I would've thought you'd have gotten over this childish dream by now and had gone back to your dad, whining and crying about how things didn't go your way.

Another thing, are you actually dating one of those lowlife pieces of filth? Helsa said that you are dating some pathetic moth sinner. What was her name, Vagina or something? Wow. Not only are you fucking a lesser creature, but your a dyke, no less. Damn.

Anyway, wanted to let you know that my old man is inviting your family to a get together among Hell's higher tiers. You know, Seven Deadly Sins, the Goetia Demons, shit like that. Maybe when your sick of playing with some toy, you can come to the party, and I'll make you feel like a real woman again.

Love,

Your old flame, Seviathan Von Eldritch.

After reading the email for herself, Charlie had to admit that she was seconds away from leveling the entire building with a single scream.

How fucking conceited could he BE?!

"Hun, your horns are showing." Vaggie said with a sigh, causing Charlie to glance at her in confusion.

"Huh?' Charlie asked, before she finally processed the familiar feeling of her demonic horns protruding from her skull, rather than the smooth skin she usually had. She let out a sigh of frustration as she shifter her form to what she preferred, before looking at Vaggie. "I'm sorry, Vaggie."

The bills and other important documents for the Hotel were always sent to Charlie's personal email. Since Vaggie was Co-Manager with Charlie, the Princess had given the moth demon full, uninhibited access to her email for anything she might need to do or take care of for the Hotel. She had nothing to hide anyway.

But still, the fact that Vaggie had to end up reading this irked her to no end.

Don't get her wrong, it wasn't Vaggie's fault she'd ended up reading this anyway. Charlie made sure Vaggie knew she could read any email she wanted if she was curious enough, and the fact that Seviathan felt he was entitled to send something like this was extremely infuriating.

Unfortunately, there was nothing she could do about it, because she knew how she was. She would get angry, furious, downright godlike in her rage when Seviathan pulled something like this.

But then Seviathan would show his face in person, and any anger she had turned to fear.

It wasn't that Seviathan was more powerful than her. It was the fear of disappointing her parents by shunning who was supposed to be her childhood friend, even though she never admitted what Seviathan would do to her behind closed doors.

It was the fear of his old abusive tendecies popping up, and feeling like she was in a cage with no way out.

It made her feel pathetic.

It was pathetic.

"It's not your fault, Charlie." Vaggie assured with a sigh, running a hand through her hair in irritation. "It's this fuckwit. Who does he think he is?"

"He's like most of the higher tiers in Hell." Charlie explained with a sigh, taking a seat on the desk next to the computer. "He thinks that because his family are nobility in Hell, that he can pull shit like this without anyone to stop him." Her expression turned to one of guilt. "And the sad part is, I can't do anything about it."

"Charlie, you've told me how he was to you." Vaggie said, her gaze soft as she stood up off the chair and stood in front of her girlfriend, wrapping her arms around the Princess. "Why don't you tell your father?"

"I'm too scared." Charlie admitted, hugging Vaggie back, desperate for the comfort. "He already thinks I'm a failure as it is. I don't want him to have even more reason to believe that."

"What about your mom?" Vaggie questioned, running a hand through Charlie's blonde hair to comfort her. "She doesn't think your a failure, and you know she'll do something about it."

Even though there was no higher power in Hell than Lucifer, it was Lilith Magne who's temper was more feared throughout all the seven rings. Because her temper was easier to set off than Lucifer's own, and you better believe her fury was rightous.

Outside of Lucifer Magne himself, and possibly, very possibly, Charlie, no one was more powerful than the Queen of Hell.

"I don't want Helsa to suffer." Charlie admitted. "She makes fun of me for the Hotel, sure, but she's still my friend. She cares for me, I care for her, and I know that regardless of what she thinks, she'd still be there to help me if I needed it." She admitted, rubbing her head on Vaggie's chest, taking comfort in her warmth. "As much as I love Mom, if I tell her what Seviathan did to me, what he's still doing, she'll slaughter all of them, including Helsa."

Vaggie couldn't help the disappointment within her at Charlie's answer. The disappointment wasn't directed at Charlie by any means, it was just… it sucked that it really felt like there was nothing she could do.

There had to be someone, anyone, who could put a stop to this!

Lucifer and Lillith were both out due to Charlie's own fears and concerns, but they couldn't be the only ones strong enough to put a stop to this.

Think, Vaggie, Think!

Who did she know that was strong? Who did she know that was brave? Who did she know who could possibly stand up to the might of any of the Von Eldritch family?

There was no one. Absolutely no one. The only person Vaggie could think of was-

Vaggie gasped as she finally thought of someone. Someone who was strong. Who believed in doing what was right. Someone who was a protector.

Someone… who would probably do anything for his friends.

When Vaggie thought of a protector for Charlie, admittedly, it wasn't an image of a beautiful succubus or a former archangel that formed in her mind.

It was an image of a man. Nine feet tall, covered in gashes and scarred, nothing but pure muscle, with spikes on his shoulders, arms, and legs. A man with an affinity for superheroes and helping people. A man who always saw the good in people, but accepted that there were truly bad people.

When Vaggie thought of a protector for Charlie, she didn't think of Lucifer or Lilith. She didn't think of herself.

Though she held no more ill feelings towards him, she was still loathe to admit that when she thought of a protector for Charlie…

…she thought of John Gallagher.

"What about John?" Vaggie suddenly proposed, causing Charlie to look up at he in surprise.

"John?" Charlie questioned in confusion. "How could he help?"

"John's strong." Vaggie admitted with a smile. "John might be the single strongest person in all of Hell."

"But John says that I'm more powerful than he is." Charlie recalled, confusion lacing her tone as she tilted her head. "How could he deal with Seviathan?"

"What else does John say, Charlie?" Vaggie asked with a smile, leaning her face closer to the Princess' own.

Charlie looked down in confusion, before looking up at Vaggie questioningly. "That there's a clear difference between power and strength?"

Vaggie nodded, kissing Charlie on the head. "Exactly." She nodded, smiling. "You and I both know John would march right up to their damn home without fear, and he'd fight through them all if he had to just to get to Seviathan."

Charlie averted her gaze. "I don't know…" She was admittedly hesitant to the idea. "John's still only a sinner, and it's possible that Seviathan would still be more powerful than John." She listed off reasons as to why this may be a bad idea. "And besides, with the Von Eldritch family being a nobility, we could have all of them coming after us, regardless of if John succeeds."

Vaggie smiled, and her hand came to cup Charlie's chin. "And you and I both know that if they are actively coming after you, Lucifer and Lilith will know, and they will get involved. And I doubt your father would think of you as a failure because of that."

Charlie averted her gaze, deep in thought.

John was the security guard for the Hotel, and she didn't want to come off like she thought of him as some attack dog to order around. Besides, he was also her friend, and while he could quite be the single strongest person she had ever met, she didn't feel comfortable sending him what was likely a fight that he could very well lose.

She… she admittedly didn't know if she'd even be able to handle that.

Ever since Andre, Arya, and Madrox had put the possibility out there, and unknowingly forced her to confront possible growing feelings for the behemoth, she's had the possibility in the back of her mind. And now, they were coming forth once more, another reason not to send him.

But then came the possibilities of if he could do it.

It was a no brainer that Seviathan alone was more powerful than John, but she had also known from the simple test when they went to the mall a week ago that John had Seviathan trumped in pure brute strength, many times over.

While physically, Seviathan could overpower her if he used his abilities to enhance himself, John was the only person she'd ever met whom could hold her in place like a brick wall. She had no doubt in her mind that if John wanted to, he could hold her in place in she'd never be able to physically out msucle him.

And she knew Seviathan never would be able to either.

So, it came down to a matter of strength vs power.

Even more importantly, it came down to a matter of John's sheer durability vs not just Seviathan's own immense power, but that of possibly the entire Von Eldritch family.

And as much as she'd like to hope otherwise… she just didn't have faith in those odds.

There was a reason the Exterminators avoided higher tiers in the hierarchy and the Nobility of Hell when they came down every year. So John being able to beat back exterminators wasn't enough for her to justify sending him to possibly get killed.

If John could do it, Seviathan would no longer harass her, and she'd never be have to worry about it again.

But if John lost… he could very well be killed. And not just in a sense of dying and regenerating somewhere. He could be sent to the Void.

And then he'd be gone for good.

And whether her feelings were small or not, that's not a possibility that she had confidence she could face.

"I'll…" Charlie was contemplating what she would say, before she sighed. "I'll think about it." She said, hoping to appease Vaggie. "I just don't have enough confindence right now to ask him."

Vaggie smiled, and kissed Charlie's head. "That's okay, Hun." She assured, looking into Charlie's eyes with a reassuring gaze. "When you think you want to ask, I'll gladly do it with you." She promised.

Charlie smiled, before she leaned in, and her lips met Vaggie's. "Thanks, Vaggie." She said when she pulled away.

"No problem, Charlie." Vaggie said with a smile.

The moment was interrupted by a knock at the door, followed by a familiar voice coming from the other side.

"Hey, Alastor wanted me to let you two know that dinner's done! The guests are eating right now, but he's waiting for you two before he serves the staff!"

Niffty's excited, high pitched voice came from the other side, before causing the two of them to look at each other with a smile, before Charlie called back towards the door.

"We'll be right out, Niffty!" Charlie assured the cyclops, before turning to Vaggie. "Come one, there's someone you have to meet, anyway." She said as she hopped off the desk, catching Vaggie's hand in her's as she led the moth demon towards the door.

"Oh?" Vaggie perked up. "Who?"

"John's girlfriend." Charlie answered, smiling at Vaggie's stunned expression. "Come on."

Vaggie could only let Charlie pull her as she processed what she'd been told.

John had a girlfriend.

She… wasn't sure what to think of that.


"Come one, come all, to feast upon my greatest dish: Jambalaya!" Alastor announced theatrically to the staff, and three guests, of the Hotel, his arms spread wide as everyone took a seat, with the exception of Charlie and Vaggie, whom they were still waiting on.

"Always gotta be a showman, don't you, Al?" John asked with a raised eyebrow as he looked at the Radio Demon with a smile.

Alastor let out a genuine chuckle as he gave a smile to the giant. "Why, of course, my dear boy!" He responded, raising an eyebrow. "After all, I am a radio host."

"Yeah, and an annoying one at that." Husk remarked with a roll of his eyes, causing Alastor to frown.

"Oh, you wound me, old friend." Alastor said, putting his hand over his chest in a theatrical fashion.

John let out a chuckle at the display, while Verosika smiled, and Vanessa and Niffty both giggled at the sight.

Angel watched the scene with a smirk, before glancing at Husk. "I can be even more annoying, handsome."

"In your dreams, spider-freak." Husk muttered without fail, not even looking at Angel as he raised a questioning eyebrow at Alastor. "What are we even waiting on anyway, Al?"

Alastor simply smiled. "I refuse to have serve dinner until everyone is present. It's propper manners, you know."

Husk let out a sigh as he rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. You're one for manners, invading personal space, and killing people. Nice combo." He muttered with a raised eyebrow.

Alastor glanced at Husk with a chuckle. "Why, I certainly think so!"

"And that's why your a nutjob."

"Exactly- Hey!"

The fact that Alastor had even said such a word of indignation without completely slaughtering Husk spoke volumes of how close the two actually were. Were it a random stranger, well…

They most likely would've been made a snack.

"So, how long have you been back, Rose?" Niffty asked, looking at succubus with a curious gaze.

"I just got back today, honestly." Verosika admitted, eyeing the cyclops with a weary gaze of her own. "John took me back, and he said he wanted me to stay here with him."

"Ohhhh…" Niffty nodded, accepting the answer before turning to John. "Did she suck your dick?"

John, who'd been taking a drink of water, actually managed to choke on it at the rather loaded and personal question, while Verosika's pink face turned a cherry colored red.

"Niffty!" Alastor said, looking at his friend with wide eyes filled with shock. "You know better than to ask such questions at the dinner table!"

Niffty pouted. "Sorry." She muttered, glancing towards the two.

Something that wasn't common knowledge to anyone outside of her closest friends was that Niffty was a child.

Not age wise. In terms of age, she was nearing her sixtieth birthday, in fact. Husk was only older than her by ten years.

But Niffty had died when she was only a child, around age eight from what she'd said. What led to Niffty's death, no one knew. Not even Alastor. It was a sore spot for the cyclops that literally sent her into sobbing mess, so no one would ever bring it up. Despite her affinity for… well, erotic literature and men, her mind and body were unable to progress past the age of eight, due to the fact that the body a sinner forms with is their permanent form for the rest of eternity.

Of everyone in the room, only Alastor, Husk, John, and Verosika knew of it.

So, in spite of her interests and knowledge she'd gained from her fifty plus years in Hell, most of those who knew her, and plenty who didn't, knew to treat her like the child she technically was.

John shook his head, rolling his eyes at the question. "Nif, 1, you know that's none of your business, and 2, yes, she's forgiven." He said, before his face turned stern. "Now give me the spear!"

Everyone watched in confusion as John stretched his hand across the table, confusion in their faces at the demand.

"Spear?" Angel asked with a raised eyebrow. "Where does she-?"

"Here." Niffty suddenly interrupted, still pouting, as she abruptly pulled a spear out of what looked to be absolutely nowhere, placing it into John's hand with reluctance.

John glanced at Alastor with a raised eyebrow. "Didn't you take this from her anyway?"

Alastor eyed Niffty with a stern gaze. "Yes, I did." He confirmed, before turning his gaze to Husk. "In fact, Husker was watching it for me."

"Yeah I was." Husk said, looking at Niffty with a none to pleased look. "Did you take from my room while you were cleaning?"

Niffty looked at Husk for a moment, before averting her gaze. "Yes." She admitted.

"You're grounded." Husk said sternly, causing Niffty's gaze to snap back towards him in shock.

"But-"

"No buts! You know that you weren't supposed to touch the spear until next week!" Husk interjected sternly. As the only man in the room who had kids in his living life, Husk was the one best suited to deliver punishments to the cyclops when she misbehaved. "Now, don't argue with me or that spear will still be gone for another month, do understand me?"

Niffty looked stricken at the thought, and almost immediately nodded her head in agreement. "Yes sir! I'm sorry!"

"Good." Husk said, before glancing towards John. "You hold onto that thing. She knows better than to go into your room anyway."

"No problem." John said with a nod as he sat the spear down next to him.

Meanwhile, Angel and Vanessa watched the entire exchange in disbeleif, before Vanessa leaned over towards Verosika.

"Is this kind of stuff really normal with you guys?" She whispered curiously, to which the fellow succubus nodded.

"You should see Husk with my brothers." Verosika commented back, glancing towards the cat demon, who was currently taking a sip of water as he glanced towards Alastor, looking asking a question that neither of the two were paying attention to. Husk had a soft spot for kids, but he also had a no nonsense attitude when it came to misbehaving kids. "He's the only person they'll listen to without question."

"Why?" Vanessa couldn't help but ask curiously.

"He grew up the in the early twentieth century, so he's not afraid to give a good smack to unruly kids." Verosika explained. "One day, we were at the deli down the road from where me and John lived, and he caught a kid trying to steal his hat from a table while he was watching my youngest brother. He sat Beartrap down, snagged the kid by the arm, and he used his bare hand to bust his ass."

Vanessa's eyes widened, before looking at Husk in surprise. "He reminds me of my grandmother." He admitted.

Verosika shrugged, before glancing over at Vanessa with a playful smile. "He's probably as old as your grandmother." She joked.

"I heard that!" Husk interjected, causing the two to jump as he glared at the two. "Did you forget that I had cat ears, woman?"

"Sorry." Verosika quickly apologized.

Any further conversation was halted when Charlie and Vaggie finally arrived for dinner, and Vaggie almost immediately set her sights on the newcomer among them. "You're the new girl?"

Verosika nodded, smiling at the moth demon as she stood up out of her seat. "Yep! A lot of people will call me Verosika, but I prefer Rose among friends."

Vaggie smiled at the succubus, shaking her hand when it was offered. "Well, you can call me Vaggie."

"Oh my god!" Angel exclaimed, catching everyone's attention. "Vaggie being nice? It's a sign of the end!" He joked, eliciting chuckles from everyone while Vaggie frowned.

"I can be nice." Vaggie muttered as she took a seat next to Niffty, Charlie situating herself between her girlfriend and Angel.

John couldn't help but take the bait. "Really? I never would've guessed." He teased, giving a smile as Vaggie turned to look at him.

"I said sorry!" Vaggie objected, pointing an accusing finger at John. "I thought you were on my side!"

John raised his hands in surrender, but the smile was still on his face. "I saw the moment, I took it." He said simply.

Verosika glanced between the two for a moment, confusion evident in her face. "Did I miss something?"

"Miss Vagatha here was quite hostile towards John up until, from what I heard, yesterday." Alastor explained to the succubus before anyone else could. "From what I hear, he gave her the tongue lashing, before going to apologize, of all things."

John and Vaggie both frowned, while John's brow furrowed in confusion. "I just told you I went off on her, how would you know what I said?"

Alastor's eyes flicked towards Angel, causing both John and Vaggie's eyes to snap towards the spider-demon.

"Angel!"

"Really?!"

"What?" Angel shrugged, without a hint of regret in his voice. "It was about time, Vags was being a grade-A bitch, and it's not gonna kill anyone else if they know." He reasoned with a shrug.

"I can't say much, because I wasn't around to see or hear how she was." Vanessa piped up, glancing towards the two. "I just heard that Vaggie was being mean to him from Husk this morning, but John got really mad yesterday."

John let out a sigh at the reminder, glancing towards Vaggie. "Again, sorry."

Vaggie raised her hands in acceptance. "No, it's fine. Angel's not far off the mark, anyway. I was rude, unfair, and practically picking a fight. What you said was more than deserved." She spoke her thoughts with a smile, fully admitting to her mistakes.

Verosika glanced between the two for a moment before she spoke. "But you two are good now, right?"

"Yep."

"Uh-huh."

Verosika looked at them, before shrugging. "Alright."

"Now that everyone's here, can we fucking eat, Al?" Husk interjected, turning to look at the Radio Demon with an impatient gaze. "The guests are all having a snack, but you're starving the staff!"

"Come on, Alastor!" Charlie piped in, smiling wide, her fangs showing as she looked at Alastor with an excited gaze. "I want some Jambalaya!"

"Yeah!" Angel agreed, and Vanessa looked just as eager to try some.

Alastor chuckled. "Alright, alright, I suppose I've made you wait long enough." He conceeded as he began passing out servings of Jambalaya to everyone.

And over the course of dinner, stories were exchanged, jokes were made, people bonded.

And by the end of it, not a single soul was left without a smile.