Damien sighed loudly, crossing his arms as one of his father's advisors rattled on about something or another.

"Damien, are you listening?" the demon growled. "This is your one chance to go up to Earth unsupervised, and-"

"Wait," Damien interrupted, sitting up at the table he and the demon were sitting up. "Unsupervised?" Now he was interested.

"Well, yes," the advisor faltered slightly, before shaking his head. "But not entirely. We'll be watching you from down here, mind you. Now, were you listening or do I have to explain everything again?"

"No one ever listens to your mumblings," Damien said offhandedly. The demon snarled.

"You're going up to Earth to check on some things, which we'll go further into detail with later," he growled. "We've finally found a place for you to stay where you will be safe and easy to keep an eye on. There's a catch, though."

"Yeah? And what's that?" Damien asked, not really caring about anything other than the fact that he was finally going to be able to visit Earth without his father or some other demon to get in his way.

"You have to act the part of a guardian angel," the demon smirked. Damien slammed his fists on the table at the news, standing up and pointing a finger at the other.

"What?! Oh, hell no am I going to watch over some brat-"

"Damien, that's enough!" Satan's loud voice boomed through the room as he entered. "Sit down!" The Antichrist glared at his father for a few moments before doing as he was told, huffing and crossing his arms. "There's important work for you to do while you're up there, the guardian angel act is only serving as your disguise."

"Why can't I just stay up in an abandoned house or something-"

"That would be too suspicious," Satan answered, standing before the table. "And we've already enchanted the house you'll be staying at. The angels won't be able to detect your presence there."

Damien's eyebrows raised. "Angels?"

Satan's advisor sighed loudly, letting Damien know that he'd already explained this once before. "Yes, you ignorant brat, your duty is to keep an eye out for angels while you're up there. We've received word that they're planning something that could mean bad news for us."

"If you detect any, you're to tell one of us immediately so we can take care of it," Satan boomed. "Don't try to handle it on your own, son. This is bigger than you."

"Yeah, okay, fine," the noiret growled. "So, when do I leave?"

The demon and Satan looked at each other. "Tonight."

Xxx

"Do you remember how to contact me?" Satan asked as they stood at the gates of Hell. "You remember the chant, right? Have you been practicing your circles? Are you-"

"Dad, cut it out, I'll be fine by myself." Damien shoved away from his father, who was looming over him with tears in his eyes. "Oh, don't you dare cry, that's so embarrassing."

"My little boy's never been off on his own before!" Satan defended, catching Damien's arm and pulling him back into a bone-crushing hug. "I'm allowed to get a little emotional."

"My Dark Lord," the advisor intervened, sighing. "He really must be going now, the portal to the Earth Realm won't be open much longer." Damien would've given the demon a grateful look, but he knew that he was just happy that he wasn't going to have to see Damien for a while. They both got on each other's nerves tremendously.

"Alright, alright," Satan sniffed, releasing his son. "Remember, Damien, it's important that you remain undetected. This kid's going to think that you're his guardian angel – making sure he keeps believing that is your first priority. Second to that alone, your job is to keep your eye out for angels and to report back to us. If you can, try to figure out what it is they're planning, but only if it's safe to do so."

"You're going to rule this Earth one day, Antichrist," the advisor spoke. "Don't let yourself be killed this early on; angels are stronger than you think they would be. Be cautious."

"Alright, I get it already! I don't need to be lectured. Can I go already?"

"Very well. Step through the portal; it will take you directly outside the house you'll be staying at. Make sure the boy knows you're his angel-"

"I know, I know, goodbye!" And with that, Damien turned away from the two and walked through the swirling vortex before him. Two things happened then: One, fire seemed to engulf him, and while it wasn't painful, he felt the heat through his bones, and it was extremely uncomfortable. He felt like he was going to be sick, but before that could happen, the second thing happened – he fainted.

It felt as if he were asleep for hours, no, days. He didn't dream, the only thing his mind produced was pitch black darkness. He felt the heat slowly fading away, however, and a chill began spreading through him slowly. When he finally awoke, he was surprised and slightly curious to see bright white all around him. It was freezing here. He lifted his head, wet hair sticking to his forehead. "The hell?"

Snow. He was buried in it. Pushing himself up, he wondered how long he'd been laying there. His clothes were soaked with melted snow, so he figured it must've been quite a while. It was still dark, though, so it couldn't have been much longer than a few hours. He stood up on wobbly legs, totally exhausted. He'd forgotten how much it took out of someone to transport between realms. Shaking his head to clear the snow off of him, he glanced up at the house he'd landed behind and scowled.

The place was unbelievably run down and in horrible shape. All of the shutters on the outside of the house were broken, the roof was missing shingles, and it was in desperate need of a paint job. The only upside he could think of was that at least the kid wouldn't be some spoiled brat. This might actually be pretty easy. His father's advisor had told him the window he would need to climb through, and he spotted it on the second floor, a large crack running through it just as the demon had described.

Deciding it would be best to acquaint himself with the boy as soon as possible, and because he was freezing, he walked toward the house, placing his hands onto the side of it and effortlessly pulling himself up a few feet. Then his knees met the peeling surface and he crawled up the house as easily as if he were crawling on the floor. He came to the window and peeked inside. He was confused to see long blond hair spread out over a pillow. Wrong window?

Another glance proved that no, this was the right window. The room was neat, but it obviously belonged to a boy. Not wanting to waste any more time, he put his hands on the bottom of the window and pushed it up, thanking whatever power he was meant to thank that it was unlocked. Carefully, he slipped through, stepping down onto the carpeted floor and staring at his new roommate. He walked around the bed to get a better look at his face and gasped quietly. It was definitely a boy, but what was more, it was a boy he knew.

"Pip?" he whispered, and the blond's eyes shot open, blue like a robin's egg. "Of course they would send me to the shit hole of South Par-" He was cut off by a shrill scream coming from the bed.

"What are you doing in my room?! Joe! Sister! Help me!" Pip yelled, scrambling up and falling onto the floor in terror. Across the hallway, Damien could hear bed sheets rustling and heavy footsteps.

"Hey, don't scream, it's okay, I'm-" Damien was once again cut off as a lamp was thrown, striking him across the face. He cursed, hearing the footsteps approaching fast. He couldn't be caught.

Thinking quickly, he ran toward the window, past Pip, and jumped out of it just as the blond's bedroom door slammed open. Just before he slipped out of the window, however, he caught Pip's eyes, and he didn't miss the look of recognition that flashed over the blue-eyed gaze.

"Phillip! What's going on?"

"What the hell are you screaming about?"

Damien listened to the two voices from outside the window, back pressed against the side of the house. There was a long moment of silence before he heard Pip quietly answer that it was only a bad dream. A woman's voice shouted for quite a long time and then he heard a door slam. Damien remained outside the window, heart racing. After a long moment, he saw Pip's head peek outside the window, and the blond screamed again when he spotted Damien against the wall as if he were lying on it.

"D-Damien?"

"So you do remember me," the raven said, turning his head to look at Pip. "May I come in?"

"Why are you here?" Pip shook his head, disbelief plain on his face.

"You asked for a guardian angel; here I am." Damien pushed past Pip and into the room.

"But…but you're not an angel!" he whispered harshly. Damien rolled his eyes, taking in Pip's room and wondering how he was going to manage living here for however long he was supposed to stay. He finally turned to stare at Pip.

"You didn't pray to God, so don't expect one of his angels to come for you," Damien said. "If you'd prayed to God like you're supposed to, my father's advisor wouldn't have been able to hear you."

The Brit before him looked as if he were at a total loss for words, so Damien continued.

"Your prayers weren't directed to anyone, so he was able to pick them up. Don't look at me like that," Damien growled, taking in Pip's disgusted expression. "I'm your guardian angel now, you asked for me."

"I didn't ask for you!" Pip yelled, then remembered how late at night it was. He lowered his voice. "I wanted an angel to watch over me, someone who would actively help me to make my life better. Not a demon spawn who's only ever caused me pain."

"Well, that's rude."

"I haven't forgotten about what you did to me all those years ago, Damien." Pip turned away, sighing deeply as if he were trying to control his anger. Damien hadn't known the docile Brit could even show that emotion. It piqued his interest.

"Pip." He walked closer to the boy so that he was directly behind him. "I'm your guardian angel now, I'm here to help. Kind of against my will, but it's my job now." He was only saying these things because he knew he had to gain Pip's trust somehow. If the Pirrup boy refused to let him stay, he'd have to go back down to Hell…and he certainly didn't want that. It'd taken this long for him to be allowed to come up here by himself, he didn't want his father or the other demons to think he was incapable of completing one task on his own.

"Damien, I'm a very forgiving person," Pip said, giving the antichrist hope. "But I'm sorry, I don't think I can ever forgive you for what you did to me back then."

"Oh, come on, that was years ago!" Damien growled; Pip turned around, glaring himself. The demon spawn closed his eyes, trying to think of what to do. "Okay. How can I make it up to you?" He opened his eyes, only to see that Pip had turned away again and was climbing into bed.

"I don't mean to sound rude, but you can start by getting out of my room," he said softly, sleep evident in his voice. "I'm too tired to deal with this, Damien, I have enough problems without you adding to them."

"What if I helped you with some of your problems?"

"I'm going to sleep, Damien, I don't want to talk about this anymore." Pip pulled the covers over himself, his voice softening just a bit. "I will allow you to stay here tonight, since I assume you've got nowhere to go, but when I come back from school tomorrow, you had better be gone."

"Well, fuck you, too." Damien furrowed his brows, glaring at the back of Pip's head for a half-minute before turning away and looking for a spot to sleep. He spotted Pip's clothes hamper and overturned it, spilling out the clothes and making them into a sort of bed for himself. He lay down, curling up and pulling a sweater over himself. His own clothes were still soaking wet, and there appeared to be no heating in this house. He shivered, and his teeth began to chatter as the coldness set in now that he wasn't moving.

On the bed, Pip stirred for a few minutes, eventually sighing and sitting up. "Damien."

"What," the boy hissed, his voice cracking slightly from the cold.

"Why are you wet?"

"Oh, I don't know, I just woke up buried in ten inches of snow because some picky Brit wanted an angel!" Damien burrowed underneath Pip's clothes, trying his best to warm up. This was miserable. He heard a long sigh come from the bed.

"Well, I'm sorry for your trouble. If it makes you feel better, I don't even want a guardian angel anymore…" His voice was almost a whisper, and Damien had to strain to hear him. "I should've expected that I'd get stuck with the short end of the stick in this matter as well. God has abandoned me, it seems. I've made up my mind and have decided that I'm just going to give up."

Damien sat up, clothes falling off him. "What do you mean?"

"I'm not strong enough to keep going on like this everyday, Damien." Pip swallowed and took a shaky breath. "I'm really not." He glanced at Damien, watering blue eyes meeting his own black ones. "Now take those clothes off, you'll catch a cold. Um, you can sleep in my bed tonight, I suppose. But just promise that you'll be gone in the morning."

Damien didn't know what to say. He didn't know what to think about this situation, or how to act in a situation like this. His normal confident self had gone, and now he just awkwardly did as he was told, removing his clothing save for his boxers, dropping the wet clothes on top of his make-shift bedding. He crawled into Pip's bed, careful not to get too close to the boy. Pip threw some of his blanket over the raven, which Damien took gratefully, curling up underneath the warmth. "I can't promise that I'll be gone in the morning," he said, earning a huff from Pip. "I'm your guardian angel now, whether you like it or not, and I've got other duties up on this Earth, so I'm stuck here." Pip turned around in the bed so he could give the Antichrist a distrustful look. "Look, either you let me stay in your home and help you, or you kick me out and I sleep in a box outside while you end your miserable life."

The Brit closed his eyes, sighing angrily. "We'll talk about this in the morning, Damien, I'm just too tired right now."

That was fine by him. Damien rolled over, facing away from Pip, already knowing that the other boy wouldn't have the heart to throw him out on the streets. It looked like this would be him home for the time being.