Queen's note: SO! Massive, massive big shout-out to Amazionion over on Ao3 for helping me out on this chapter when I got stuck on a few things. They are so nice, and write amazing stuff too n.n! Go check out their stories! They even have Doom ones. Just go… smush them! With all the loves.

Also sometimes DoomDad is oblivious until it hits him XD

Garnets

Chapter Fifty:

The. Healthy.

The pool-like space was amazing.

Vega was kind enough to heat it up a little more than normal on one side, but not so much like a hot tub. There was a much smaller room and pool like a hot tub, but Lily was not so cold to try going there as that room was like a sauna.

One would think she would not like to sit in the warm water after what happened. Since Lily was just sitting in the shallows and not breathing it, and if she closed her eyes… there were no sounds of large scales, no whispers or moving shadows. Just the sound of the water around her and the background sounds that hinted of the sea farther away.

It was actually peaceful.

That heaviness in her chest was gone now too. It felt like when she first woke up on the Fortress, her lunges seemed sore but not burning or aching anymore. It was strange to realize the pain and 'weight' in her chest Lily had been worrying and scared of was just… exposed to the hell made gasses again.

Asa had been so nice, at first, John… mostly nice. Lily did not really hate him right then, just really disliked everyone.

The Argenta woman had indulged Lily to get another scan. Help reassure the smaller human that the crystal growth that was Lily's heart now did not move or change at all. Vega also helped to explain once more now that Lily could retain what she heard, that it was more like one of the full heart replacements, as the altered heart still functioned as a heart.

Maybe she had been stalling as not that far away John had been moving an unused stasis pod down off the wall. Lily had been mildly betrayed as Asa smiled while picking the girl up. Not letting Lily hide behind her and instead just carried the human over.

"I want to lodge a complaint to management," Lily protested once beside the pod. Glaring at it and then at John, who smirked back.

Vega can note it. Still happening. The man signed back, opening the lid and stood up.

"Noted." Vega almost chirped.

Asa laughed softly, shifting her hold on Lily and dared to bump her head against the shorter girl. "It's perfectly safe Lady Lily. It won't be as harsh as the first time it happened to you. You're not suffocating. But it has always been the most effective way to clear someone of toxic gasses, even before hell invaded our home worlds."

"I don't understand how drowning in healthy works." Lily complained as she was lifted and set on the edge of the pod's opening. Finding Asa had just set her on the top edge and her legs dangled in the odd stasis fluid. It did not feel like freshwater or saltwater, but not a gel either. "Isn't there a coating that can't be washed off in the lungs?"

"There is," Asa had nodded, "From what Vega and I were talking about, for both Humans and Argenta. The stasis fluid will help that coating though. "

"...you're not going to forget about me, or leave me in here are you?" Lily finally got out her insecurity as she looked between Sentinel and Demigod, and peeked at the ort stasis tubes that were still full. A part of Lily then realized she had been given the bare basics when she was in the pod before.

But then, Asa had not been awake yet.

John leaned forward, carefully resting his head against Lily's as he signed between them. Promise.

"You'll only be in the stasis fluid for five or ten minutes." Asa assured the girl, smiling.

Lily made a face and moved to sit in the pod, keeping a hold of two of John's fingers for balance. As much as to be sure he did not leave her alone. Lily sank to her neck in the oddly warm liquid. Looking worried as she focused on her breathing. She whined, "I can't do it."

Asa stooped to look Lily in the eyes, her own almost gold ones soft. "It's okay, just focus on relaxing right now Lady Lily. Sit up if you need, take a few deep breaths."

It took a second before Lily could focus on that instead. All but hugging the big hand until she could start to calm down. John rubbed his thumb on the back of Lily's hand, drawing her attention up.

"Do I have to?" Lily asked, not for the first time but seemed so defeated. John nodded, looking sympathetic and smiled at the sigh he got back.

It was such a smooth, swift movement that it even took the Demigod off guard. Asa had firmly but gently moved to push Lily under the surface at the end of that sigh. So Lily's startled gasp had her inhaling the stasis fluid. The Sentinel healer was strong enough to hold the startled human under to basically drown the poor human. Grinning as her fingers were angrily bitten after a stunned pause. Not that it hurt.

"Don't worry my Lord. I'll be the evil one to your daughter." Asa said up at her king, smiling at the confused, startled look. Saying that as Lily would not hear them then. "Now, make sure she stays under for ten minutes."

Asa made the Slayer reach down to Lily, once the human gave up trying to bite her. Pulled back to walk over to the other pods while shaking her arm, to make sure the strongest of the humans were going to be ready to come out of stasis.

…daughter?

John mouthed the word for once clearly to himself, startled still. Feeling as Lily hugged his hand and arm as he kept her from sitting up. The human clearly pouting as in the back of his mind the Last Gift hummed happily, he had brought the living crucible with them in his waistband.

Daughter?

…did the Sentinels think that they were related?

When did that happen?

How did they get that idea?!

The Last Gift was laughing at its bound Demigod for a lack of a better term. It had been distinctly like the once man was calling John a dumbass, and smacking him. Warning that his adopted daughter better be taken care of or he would sink metaphorical fangs into the Slayer. The Last Gift was so loyal not just because it liked the Demigod, but that he had been keeping it's… his… (their?) mortal daughter as safe as possible.

Just as Fredrick loved his family so much to hold back possession and the Gorgon infection alike. He loved his daughter still so much even now, he would break the formed bond with the Slayer as a crucible to attempt to kill who hurt his surviving family.

Yet there was no reason to do so, as John shifted to reach into the stasis pods. After that needed ten minutes to lift Lily up and out. He helped to trigger her to retch and purge the stasis fluid back out of her lungs. Before holding the girl as he had sat on the ground, letting Lily lean over his right forearm and gasp at the air again until her breathing settled. Humming as he rubbed the knuckles of his other hand on her back.

"...I…" Lily paused to gasp, talking so soon after that had felt… hard. Strange. "Am… Offended."

"It kept you from overthinking it." Asa had called back over, shameless as she tossed some towels over.

John had caught them, wrapping one over his human as best as he could with one hand. "Mm?"

"I dislike everyone right now." Lily had announced, but also did not leave the lap of the walking heater she was curled up in.

John chuckled, he had felt only a little bad for doing so. "Hm."

"Don't laugh at me." Lily grumbled, grumpy that she did actually feel better after hanging to almost go upside down to get everything out. She tried to crawl off the lap she was on, but the large supporting arm shifted to keep her in place for a little longer. "Rude. Lemmego!"

John hummed again, shifting to just flip the towel over Lily's head and rubbed his knuckles through the thick fabric. Knowing she needed to sit still for a bit after that strange, but needed, dose of 'healthy.' Amused at the not so subtle attempts to sneak off, and grinned as Lily tried to bite his arm in revenge.

"I don't think that will help you, Lady Lily. He will feel you biting him less than I did. Just be patient and wait and you can go get cleaned up ." Asa said as she walked by, ignoring the glare.

John looked down, bemused as he checked. Yep Lily was still trying to bite his arm. That as well as the face his human had made him give a rasping laugh, and again at the betrayed look that followed.

"Everyone is betraying my tiny trust." Lily had grumbled in a low voice, pressing her head against John's arm and basically curling up to pout in his lap. She tried to pretend she did not like having her back rubbed.

Lily squinted at the ground, when John got up. Not really protesting as he walked out of medical with Lily. Stopping at the door that led to the pool and smaller showers, John set the young woman down, offering the other unused towels.

The young woman grabbed them, taking her salty self inside alone. After a moment Lily came back out to bump her head against one of the large arms. "Thank you for helping me. Imma be fine in here. I'm mad."

John hummed as he gave her a head pat but let Lily sulk back inside the other room.

…daughter…

The Demigod made his way to a quiet place not that far to wait for the promised talk. He had wondered if that might make sense of some of his feelings. Or if his new crucible could affect him after all?

That had been some time ago, at least what felt like some time to Lily. Not that she knew what John was thinking. It was long enough for her to get a full clean up and sit in the pool over a heater and sulk.

"Are you still mad at the Slayer, Lily?" Vega asked, Lily squinted at the middle distance as the AI sounded amused.

She had to think about it, and check that no one else was in the pool area. Only once sure she was alone speaking. "...I'm not really mad at him. Just used that as an excuse to be alone and think."

"Processing your experiences?" Vega's voice was just coming from one of the nearest speakers to the young woman, so as not to travel. That was nice of him.

"I guess so, now that things don't hurt as much… to think." Lily finally uncurled and picked at the water logged shirt she wore in the 'pool.' Moving without really thinking about it so she was sitting by the side of the water the speaker was. "Vega?"

"Yes Lily?" The once colony AI answered, a part of the young woman noted and liked that the 'miss' was dropped.

"...how broken am I?" Lily finally asked in a small voice, sinking into the warm water a little more.

"Lily, you are not broken." Vega reassured gently, already directing a drone to bring dry new clothes. "You are very adaptive, given your circumstances. But you were also traumatized before even coming to the Fortress. You are slowly recovering, mentally and physically. Even before what happened a few days ago."

"...I died." Lily finally vocalized what she had been afraid of. Feeling her eyes burn. "Vega, I'm still scared. I saw that abyssal…canyon. I don't think it was just an illusion. It felt so real, like seeing Vito, and I felt and smelled that thing…monster in the dark.."

There was a moment of silence before Vega spoke again. It almost hurt to hear the understanding in his voice. "You would not be the first person in this Fortress to die and come back to life."

"What do you mean?" Lily looked up reflexively at where his voice came from, before remembering to find a camera.

Vega nearly spoke up of the time he had seen the Slayer himself… died in Hell, and back on Mars. Only to come back seemingly angrier from elsewhere in Hell, then tear and gore his way back to his armor with bare hands both times. As fascinating as the Demigod's un-deaths were… Vega recognized it was not appropriate here.

Vega picked another path to lead the conversation.

Vega continued to speak, barely two seconds had passed. "On Mars, I was shut down, in a violent way. It was an experience as close to death as a program like I can endure. It was slow. My hardware melted as my cooling systems shut down one by one. And then, the shutdown took me. For the first time I felt nothing. I was not aware of anything that happened to me or around me."

"That doesn't seem quite the same." Lily said as she pulled her legs up to hug in the water, thinking of what she saw. Not denying that what Vega explained would be considered a death.

"No, I doubt it was. But when I was shut down, everything that remained of me was held within a data storage device in the Slayer's- in John's armor. I was aware of the nothingness. It was not like I had rebooted a few minutes later, I was aware of the time passing and the nothingness that surrounded me." He was silent for a moment, keeping to himself that he had only been aware of one thing outside of that nothingness.

Vega was sure it was John's heartbeat, but even he could not confirm that. Then or now. "That should not have happened. It is an error of my systems that I still do not know the cause of. But I am not broken. And neither are you, Lily. No matter what you saw or experienced. You are strong, and resilient, and you are here and living and that is what truly matters."

A little drone appeared near Lily, the dry clothes balanced on top of it. Like someone had set them there instead of letting the drone roll the bundle.

"Everyone in this fortress cares about you, Lily." Vega's voice was notably fond, enough so that he saw the young woman look up in response to it. "And you are not broken."

"Cares about a strange orphan mechanic." Lily smiled despite herself. She paused to turn and face the drone, gently tapping its shovel face. Pretty sure Vega was watching through it. "...thank you Vega."

"You are welcome Lily."

"Vega? Can I ask something else?" Lily asked, starting to get up and sit on the edge of the pool.

"Yes, you may, Lily." Vega assured as he brought back the softer and casual tones of his voice.

"...is it bad that I'm not scared of John?" Lily finally asked. "A part of me knows it's not normal, what he does sometimes. That… I don't know, territorial air he shows sometimes. Something says I should be scared of that, but…why am I not?

"I don't understand why I feel…safe. Not scared." Lily admitted as it was still just them.

"You feel safe, Lily, because you have no reason to fear him." Vega offered an explanation, pulling on what he had been quietly observing this whole time over the last months. "It is not a bad thing to not be scared of someone who tries to do nothing but protect you."

"No reason," Lily hummed almost to herself, fiddling with the wet shirt before pulling it off.

"He cares deeply for you, no matter how… ungraceful he is in trying to show it." Vega chuckled, it was soft and gentle, but clearly there. "And I think you understand that, even subconsciously."

"Sometimes… he really reminds me of dad," Lily felt her eyes burn and had to get one of the towels to scrub her face. Reaching for those new clothes, the looser Argenta ones again, that same lavender color. It was nice and clean though. "Not all the time, not just… the outline or build. But… he just does."

"I think John would be proud to hear that." Vega noted, watching and waiting until Lily was dressed. The little drone trilling for attention and holding up a device it had been holding with some of its legs under its shell frame. "Do you still feel up to talking with John? I will be there to help."

Lily crouched down, taking the device, it was a lot like her old phone hiding in the blankets of her bed. It had the now familiar blue emblem that was rotating, Vega's normal emblem. "Vega?"

"Right here," Vega used the device to speak, his voice seeming oddly human through a phone-like speaker. As if losing part of that metallic edge Vega normally had. "Do you remember where John took you to see the stars for the first time?"

"Yeah… yes I do." Lily nodded, giving the cleaning drone a little scritch where they seemed to like it on their back to clean a sensor. She got up at last to finally walk out of the pool area, half expecting John to be waiting. It did seem like he was where Vega mentioned, and after a few minutes Lily found the right set of stairs.

It was where John held her by the window, then sitting while holding Lily.

Lily just wanted to be held again as she padded barefoot over to the massive not quiet man that was back lit from the edge of the moon. It still looked whole from this angle. There were new things set up, the bench had been cleaned and someone put a long cushion on it, as well as other larger pillow-like cushions near the window. A human could almost curl up on them, as they were made for Argenta comfort. Lily wondered where they had been stored as she noticed John was sitting on one, and had two of the largest behind his back to help him lean back as he watched out the window.

Those eerie blue eyes opened and looked over only as Lily was only a few feet away. He gave a soft chuff sound and looked up at the human as he was slouched comfortably. He smiled as Lily leaned on his right shoulder, then shifted to let her climb in his lap. John hummed, unable to resist pulling the young woman, girl, close and close his arms around Lily.

She still seemed so young to him most of the time.

The demigod gave a happy, thunder deep rumble as Lily leaned up to press her head against the side of his face. At least seeming like he was forgiven for the second healthy incident. Feel better?

Lily went limp as she had to take a second to read what was signed around her, sagging in defeat really. "...yeah. I feel better. My chest stopped hurting and feeling so heavy after… that."

Still did not like it that the stasis fluid worked so well. Lily made a face as she was lifted for a nuzzle basically. Pretending she was not curling up for that wanted cuddle for all of, maybe twenty seconds. "...can I have a hug first?"

John shifted and happily squished her in a tight hug before settling back. Letting Lily poke at the now 'broken' sigils on his palms, healed to scarring that broke the old hell magic that once kept him asleep. Letting Lily trace them, and gave a lopsided smile at the oddly light feeling it caused.

"How did you get these?" Lily finally gave in and asked, both of her hands holding his right to look at the pattern of the scars. Really paying attention again to notice how they were a set pattern, and different then what was on the left hand.

Long ago. Was in Hell. John signed carefully around Lily. Looking uncomfortable before sighing. I made a mistake. Let rage blind me again. Blood Priests then, dropped a temple on me. Knocked out.

"Dropped a… temple on you?" Lily wondered if she had that right before getting a nod. That did not seem possible to her, "...how big was it to stop you for any amount of time?"

John smiled at the warm faith he felt, shifting to cross one leg over his knee and pointed out another scarred over sigil almost on his heel. Tapping it then pointed to his other foot before signing. Lots of weight. Blood Priests put these on me. Slept in sarcophagus. Until humans found me. Longer story can tell.

"I sense a 'but.'" Lily shifted as John settled back into his slouch, legs stretching out.

Can I hear Flower's story? John asked after a few moments, lifting one hand to tap her chest and draw a circle clockwise. Please?

It was almost a full minute before Lily could talk, grasping what he meant and had to think about it. She shifted and reflexively found herself picking at the hilt of the familiar crucible. John shifted to pull it out of where it was hooked to his waistband and pressed it against Lily's chest. He took a deep breath, ready to tell her she did not have to ask, and try to see if she had more questions for him before Vega took over leading the talk.

"It was so nice," Lily said, hugging the living weapon that had her dad's soul in it. Finding that she could press against the broad chest beside her and John was starting to hug her. "It really was. I wish there was some sort of storm or some sort of sign that the world was going to end… maybe we would have stayed on the Platform for another day or been back sooner."

Reviews!

XFireStoneX: Nom the adopted daughter gently! lol I'm so happy you liked the chapter!