A/N: To the guest asking about how long John has been in Hell, John's been in Hell for four years as stated at the beginning of the story.

"So, you were drunk?"

"Yes."

"And you saw a shotgun?"

"Yes."

"Hanging from a wall?"

"Uh huh."

"And you saw that it was an intricately designed weapon?"

"Yep."

"And you… thought it was a toy?"

John simply chuckled at Charlie's disbelieving questions as he nodded his head in affirmation, taking a sip of the cola he'd grabbed from the kitchen as he did so.

After Charlie's impromptu tour of the Hotel with Bee, they and Vaggie had eventually returned and settled in with the rest of the lobby's current occupants. They'd returned to find John and Vanessa sitting upon one of the couches, while Vortex had chosen the other sofa and Husk had opted for one of the recliners. She wasn't sure where Leo had gone off to considering he hadn't been present when they returned, but they'd gotten their answer when the boy's gleeful giggles rang through the Hotel right alongside Niffty's.

They'd eventually lost themselves in conversation, immersing themselves in various stories they all had to tell.

Vaggie couldn't say she was too shocked that John's apparent fight with the literal Sin of Lust, Asmodeus, had come up. Honestly, she'd been curious as to the story herself after she'd heard it mentioned.

And just like everyone else, she'd laughed like a mad woman when Bee revealed that John had quite literally shot the Sin of Lust in his rear.

"Did it even occur to you that it probably wasn't supposed to be touched?" Vaggie asked as she came down from her fits of giggles along with anyone else who was laughing, raising an eyebrow as she shot a glance at John.

The behemoth simply shook his head. "When I get drunk, I'm not the brightest bulb." Was John's simple excuse as he sat his drink down on the floor next to the sofa and offered a smile. "Believe me, Tex has plenty of drunk me stories for everyone, and Bee's got a few herself."

"So, who won the fight?" Vanessa asked, looking at John with a grin. She was more than eager to learn just who had won the fight between Asmodeus himself and the Angel-Slayer.

"Oz, not even a question." John admitted without a moment's hesitation, chuckling as he did so. "I managed to stand my ground, but being drunk definitely wasn't too much of a help."

"Didn't make it any less impressive how well you managed." Bee assured with an amused expression on her face. "I mean, you could see your training right there, because he never got a single hit on you until you stopped going on the defensive."

"Yeah, I nailed him square in the face before he flipped me on my ass and put me in a chokehold." John revealed with another chuckle and an amused shaking his head, earning laughs from everyone. "After that, I was out like a light."

"Next time, don't pick a fight with a Deadly Sin." Vaggie teased from her spot on the armrest of the recliner Charlie currently occupied. Though, if she were honest, she got the feeling John would pick a fight with anyone if he felt the need.

"I was drunk and stupid, screw you." John replied without a second thought, chuckling as he raised a middle finger for the moth to see and earning a giggle in response.

"Well, at least one of those isn't a constant." Vanessa teased, causing everyone to erupt into laughter once more and making the succubus smile wide in pride.

John himself merely chuckled at the joke, turning to the teen with a small grin. "That's good, I'll give you that one."

"Hey, I'm curious about something." Husk spoke aloud once he'd come down from his laughter, grinning he took a sip of his booze before turning to look at John. "How the hell did either of you two even meet the Sin of Gluttony herself? I know John is from the Pride Ring, but aren't you too?" He shot a glance at Vortex as well, and earned a chuckle from both men and the Sin herself in response.

"I came up to the Pride Ring once a couple of years ago." Bee began the tale, looking over at Vortex with a fond smile on her face. "I throw parties all the time, and I'd heard that parties in the Pentagram get real crazy, so I came up to see what all the fuss was about."

"And I may have thrown a party while most of my family was gone." Vortex admitted with a cheeky grin as he turned his own gaze to Husk. "John, Verosika, and my little sister Viv were still there, so they got to be a part of the party. The next thing I know, John's coming to me with a giant grin on his face."

"Some lava lamp hound is at the door asking if she can come in." John recalled his exact words perfectly with a grin. "Next thing I know, Vortex is walking around with Bee like a nervous wreck, trying to avoid pissing her off, while the rest of us are all just watching what is happening and laughing."

"Including me." Bee admitted gleefully, earning a look of embarrassment from her boyfriend, and likely a blush hidden under his black fur. "Don't worry though, it was cute."

"Didn't feel too cute in the moment." Vortex replied with an embarrassed grin as he ran a hand through the fur atop his head as if it were hair. Something Vaggie couldn't help but notice as something John did often as well. "I spilled punch on myself because a couple of party guests knocked me into the bowl, and imagine how embarrassed I was to be standing there soaked in punch with John howling across the room and Beelzebub herself standing there laughing at me too."

"Come on, it was funny." Bee admitted with a smile, raising an eyebrow at the hellhound as well. "And it was a party, too. If you didn't expect things to get out of hand with that many people in an apartment, I don't know what you were expecting."

"Thank you!" John suddenly shouted, throwing a hand up in the air as he did so before leaning back over the side of the couch and retrieving his drink once more. "I was fucking rolling when it happened, and watching Tex make a fool of himself was rather refreshing considering the guy's usually so fucking relaxed that it'd take a bomb dropping to scare him."

"Or, you know, one of the actual Seven Deadly Sins showing up at my door?" Vortex retorted with a raised eyebrow. "I still can't believe you left me high and dry like that."

"What, I'm supposed to be the one showing her around? Your party, your job." John shot back without a second thought, taking a sip of his drink before setting it back down. "Besides, it's not like she was there trying to pick a fight, or I would've done something."

"Yeah, I don't think I want to feel those hands again in the form of a fist." At that sentence, and likely the implications it carried, Vaggie wasn't surprised in the slightest when Charlie's jaw dropped to the ground and she stared at the Sin in disbelief.

A sentiment echoed by Vanessa and Husk as well. However, considering John had dated Verosika fucking Mayday, Vaggie couldn't exactly say she was shocked. Still though…

"Y-You and… him?" Charlie couldn't help but to stutter out, her white skin turning a deep red of embarrassment at the little fact that Bee had let slip.

John, Bee, and Vortex all looked at each other as they saw the shell shocked gazes and busted out laughing to their heart's content.

"Don't let him fool you, John's a whore when he's a single man." Vortex commented as his laughter died to chuckling, shaking his head in amusement at that.

"And I feel no shame in that." John admitted without a second thought, before raising an eyebrow at Vortex. "Besides, it's not like it was a regular thing. A one night stand at the party, and then me and Verosika were together next week and Bee was all yours to please."

"And please he does." Bee teased, a tempting smirk on her face as she leaned over and gave Vortex's ear a slight nibble.

Charlie promptly groaned in disgust, childishly covering her eyes to block out the sight that assaulted her eyes as she did so.

"Aunt Bee, why?" Charlie moaned out, earning a giggle from the woman in response along with Vaggie, Vortex, and John.

"Do I even need to-"

"Keep your mouth shut on what you've already heard." Vaggie immediately shut John down before he could say anything, a stern expression on her face as she jerked a finger towards. The effect was lessened by the genuine smile on her face however, and she earned a chuckle from the behemoth in response.

"Well, I wasn't gonna talk about you two, but sure." John flashed an amused thumbs up towards the moth, assuring that any secrets he'd already unfortunately learned would stay exactly that.

"I find it funny that you needed to specify the single man remark." Vanessa admitted with a slight grin to Vortex, before glancing up at John with a raised eyebrow. "Something you want to tell us, John?" She teased.

John simply raised an eyebrow and offered a cheeky grin to the succubus. "Well, I'm a beast in bed, I can literally last all day and then some, most of my partners are exhausted by the time I'm even the slightest bit-"

"Okay, nevermind!" The succubus quickly regretted her joke when John began naming those off, even raising a hand and lowering fingers for visual reference. Vanessa had promptly slammed a hand over the behemoth's mouth as a harsh blush of embarrassment overtook her face.

Something Vaggie shared. Her feelings for John were confusing enough, she did not need to hear that. All she could do was hope that the massive flush of red on her own face could be dismissed as embarrassment like Vanessa's own was.

Now that she thought about it… what exactly would it be like with John in bed? Did he actually push his partners to the point of exhaustion like he said, or was he as careful as he always seemed to be?

…

Why did Vaggie care again?

No, don't think like that Vaggie, you have Charlie.

"I could've mentioned the-"

"Nope!" Vanessa refused to even let John speak as she once again clamped her hand down upon John's mouth, and Vaggie found herself thankful that the succubus was far too embarrassed to even hear John speak. "I do not need to hear about my brother's sex life."

At that, John raised an eyebrow, and Vaggie could almost see the teasing grin on his face under Vanessa's hand.

"Brother?" John questioned, causing Vanessa's blush to return with a vengeance before it had even disappeared, as the behemoth brought his own hand up and gently pried the smaller one away from his mouth. "I didn't know I was your brother."

"I- You- I mean- you know what I meant!" The succubus stuttered as she crossed her arms aggressively and locked her gaze on the wood floor of the lobby, almost pouting at her own embarrassment.

John seemed to at least be nice enough to cease the teasing. Instead, his amusement shifted to fondness as he let his arm move over and pull the teen into his side with a lighthearted chuckle.

"Don't worry, I love you too, kiddo." John assured her. Though Vanessa seemed determined to maintain her pout, she visibly relaxed and her arms uncrossed as she pressed herself against John's side.

"Dad!" Leo's voice echoed through the lobby, interrupting the nice familial moment between the two demons as the boy's small but heavy footsteps could be heard rapidly thumping down the steps as all attention turned to the boy.

They all watched as Leo ran up and easily hopped up onto the back of the couch, before offering John a phone with a massive smile on his face.

"Mom's on the phone!" He informed his father, who merely chuckled as he plucked the phone from the boy's grip and held it up to his ear.

"Hello?"

"Why did Leo just tell me about an adventure with a… needle?"

The phone must've been on speaker and John hadn't realized, as he quickly pulled the phone away from his ear in surprise as the question rang through the room.

Once he actually processed the question, however, his head slowly rotated until he was looking at Leo with a blank expression.

For his part, the boy at least had the courtesy to look sheepish.

"Did you steal one of Niffty's needles again, Leo?" John asked, his expression tightening into a stern one as he awaited Leo's answer.

The Sinnerborn promptly shook his head rapidly, obviously in no hurry to face his father's wrath as he did so. "No! I was telling her why I was on timeout earlier when she told me to put you on the phone!"

"Ah." John nodded his head, before turning his attention back to the phone as everyone watched. "You hear all that?"

"It makes me feel better, at least." Nea's relieved voice responded through the phone, and Vaggie could understand the sentiment considering the boy had managed to get up to all kinds of hijinks in the time since he'd been at the Hotel. "Has he been using the inhaler?"

"Yeah, I wake him up every morning and have him take it before letting him do whatever." John replied without a second thought, offering a small smile despite Nea not actually being present to see it. "Usually, he just goes back to sleep for a bit."

"As long as he's taking it." Vaggie believed wholeheartedly that much like John was a better father than he believed, so too was Nea a good mother. "Oh, by the way, Dr. Stone was nice enough to give me a few epipens in case of the peanut allergy."

"Where the hell did he-"

"Snuck up to the living world at some point. Snagged a few for Leo."

Ah. Sometimes, it surprised Vaggie that there were ways that sinners could find there way back up to the living world.

Admittedly, it was rare and absurdly difficult without the right friends, but she'd be stupid to believe it was impossible.

After all, if a sinner could form with enough power to slaughter Exorcists, why couldn't sinners find a way back up to Earth?

"What? No, Ray, I didn't- what are you- Ray, put that thing back down! You just got back surgery!"

"What the hell's going on?" Husk couldn't help but to ask. John simply replied with a small shrug, because he clearly didn't know either.

"Sorry. We just bought a new TV, a seventy inch, and Ray's trying to move it in here while I'm on the phone."

John's brow furrowed at that, before he shook his head in what seemed to be exasperation before looking back down at the phone.

"Put Ray on the phone, you get the TV." John instructed. Vaggie couldn't help but to feel that was a little rude considering he was talking to the mother of his child.

Nea, however, seemed to have different thoughts.

"With pleasure. Ray! Get over here, John wants to talk! No, I'll get the fucking TV, just get over here!"

They could hear the sounds of shuffling over the phone, and despite apparent frustrations, Vaggie could still hear the sound of a soft kiss on the other side before a new voice spoke up.

"Hello?"

"You break your fucking spine again, I'll kick your ass." Was John's immediate form of greeting a stern expression on his face as he spoke to the Hellhound on the other side. "Come on, you know better than that."

"She was talking to you, and I wanted to watch TV." Ray responded, sounding like he didn't have a care in the world about his recovering back. "I wasn't gonna bug her when I could get it myself."

"Well, unlike you, Nea's a sinner." John retorted with a raised eyebrow. "And a tough one too. Even if she somehow manages to hurt herself, she'll heal. Do you have that luxury?"

"I mean, I am a hellhound." Ray replied, as if that perfectly excused the fact that he'd been trying to hurt himself. "Our healing, all that."

"Ray, you had a slipped disk." John replied, leaning forward and resting his free hand upon his thigh once more as a sigh of frustration escaped him. "That's not exactly something that'll just heal. If it was, you wouldn't have needed to see a doctor."

"Yeah yeah, I got this same spiel from Nea, John."

"I wonder why." The deadpan look on John's face said it all. "And people say I'm stubborn."

"Like you can argue."

"Hi, Ray!" Leo injected himself back into the phone call, his feet kicking in the air in excitement as he looked like he was barely keeping himself from falling in between John and Vanessa.

"Hey, Leo!" Ray greeted the boy back, sounded jovial and upbeat as John let his own irritations disappear as well, smiling as he held the phone closer for Leo to talk to the man. "How are you liking that Hotel?"

"It's awesome!" Leo answered with a grin, practically bouncing in his spot. If John weren't currently occupying the sofa, Vaggie was sure that the whole couch would be shaking. "There's a bunch of cool people here! Vanessa's fun, and Vaggie is awesome!" Okay, Vaggie let herself feel a bit of pride at that one.

Just a small bit.

Maybe a little more than small.

"Glad to hear it. Have you stayed out of trouble?"

"Define trouble." John answered rather than Leo, shooting his boy an amused expression as he shook his head. "Did you hear what he was telling Nea about?"

"Something about a needle and a timeout? I'll be honest, I was more focused on trying to get the TV into the house." Ray admitted, causing John to once again roll his eyes in frustration. However, he refused to comment on it, and instead let a chuckle escape him.

"Little guy stole a needle from our housemaid, took off running with it like a bat out of Hell."

"Leo!"

Leo visibly flinched at the harsh tone the hellhound employed, and Vaggie personally couldn't blame either of them. Leo did know better, but it wasn't exactly pleasant when a parental figure was mad at you.

"I had a timeout." Leo replied in a mumble, looking away as he took on the demeanor of a kicked puppy.

"And you learned your lesson. Again."

"For however long it sticks."

"Hey!"

Both John and Ray let out a laugh at Leo's cry of indignation, the behemoth raising a hand as the boy began swatting at him as a means of payback.

"Alright, enough Leo." John chuckled as he instructed the boy to stop, though his amusement was very apparent regardless as he turned his attention back to the phone. "Look, just let Nea help with anything that'll hurt your back, alright? She worries enough as it is."

"It's not like I'm gonna keel over and die, John." Ray assured, but John merely shook his head despite the fact that the hellhound couldn't see it.

"Ray, you gotta think about how old Nea is." John pointed out, causing everyone to raise a brow at that. Because that doesn't sound offensive at all. "She keeps up with the times, but she's two birthdays away from a hundred. We sinners don't age like Hellborns." He elaborated further, and Vaggie felt a surge of understanding as she realized what John really meant.

"I uh… I never thought about that, if I'm honest." Ray admitted, sounding a touch more shameful than he had before. "I thought she was being a bit overprotective. I never actually thought about that."

"I kind of figured." John finally let some amusement seep into his tone, offering a grin that Ray couldn't see as he let a chuckle escape him. "Stack that onto how powerful Nea really is… Ray, I know you love her, I do too, but you have to realize that you're no tougher than porcelain to her."

"And having my porcelain husband break his back over something I can do with ease is not something I'd like to experience." Nea's voice returned to the call as well, and they heard the sound of an audible if somewhat gentle smack to accompany it. "So for the love of god, Ray, would you take it easy until we know your back is healed?"

"I get it." Ray assured with a sigh over the phone. That seemed to satisfy John at the very least, and Vaggie could also hear a relenting sigh from Nea over the phone as well. "I'm sorry, alright?"

Silence ensued following the apology, and Ray sounded far more sincere than he had about the ordeal at the beginning of the conversation at least.

When Nea spoke again though, that seemed to signal that the conversation regarding Ray's health was over.

"Anyway, I called to see how Leo's doing. He hasn't been too much trouble has he?"

"No more than usual." John assured as he turned to his son, who promptly stuck his tongue out at his dad in the process. A mistake the boy paid for when the behemoth's considerably larger hand came up and promptly pushed him off the back of the couch and onto his butt.

"I don't know, the needle thing is new." Nea replied, and Vaggie could hear the amused tone in her voice as she spoke. "What was he going to do with it?"

"If I had to guess, he did it just to mess with Niffty." John replied with a chuckle as Leo pushed himself back up onto his feet and made his way around the couch, hopping up into the spot between Vanessa and John to sit. "Hell, he was laughing his little ass off while she was chasing him till I put him in timeout."

"He should be glad he didn't get a spanking. I mean, a needle?"

"It's not like he was trying to do something bad with it." John assured, before turning his stern gaze to Leo. "But you heard that, right? Cause next time, I might take that suggestion."

"Yes sir." At the way Leo unconsciously rubbed his bottom as if it were actually aching, Vaggie couldn't help but get the distinct feeling that John made sure Leo remembered any spanking the behemoth gave.

Considering John hadn't so much as laid a hand upon the boy that she'd seen and with how happy the boy was around his father, it made her wonder just what he'd done to earn himself a spanking at all in the first place.

"Other than that, he's been good, right?"

"Yeah, no complaints."

"Good." Nea sounded almost relieved at the news. "Alright, I just wanted to call and check up on him. I didn't expect the whole needle thing, that's why I had him put you on."

"You're fine, Nea." John assured, actually waving it off despite Nea's current absence. "I'll let you get off here, have another day to yourself. I'll call you later to talk to Leo before bed."

"I appreciate that." Nea replied with a tone of gratitude. "Put Leo on?"

"He can hear you."

"Hi, Mom!"

"I'll talk to you later, okay sweetie?" Any frustration was completely gone now, and Nea sounded like a doting mother as she spoke. "I love you, and I'll let you get off here."

"Okay! Love you, Mom!"

"Love you too." Following that, they heard the sound of the phone call ending, before John handed the phone back to Leo.

"Don't lose that, I'm not looking to buy a new phone." John warned the boy as he took the phone back, and Leo nodded obediently. The behemoth let a small smile come onto his face, and brought a hand up to ruffle the child's hair.

"Daaad!" Leo moaned, shoving his dad's hand away as he looked at him with a smile. "That's annoying!"

"And yet, you're still smiling." John retorted with a small grin as Leo hopped off the couch and made his way back towards the steps, disappearing up them and leaving them all once more.

"Well, that was an unexpected development." Bee commented with a slight giggle. "But hey, at least she cares."

"Which is more than enough." John threw out the offhand comment with a smile as he stared up the steps where Leo had disappeared before turning his gaze to the Sin. "Anyway, where did we leave off?"

"Well, I'm pretty sure Ness there had just called you her brother." Vortex took the chance he saw, and he was more than happy as he watched Vanassa's face once again return to it's red hue with a grin on his face.

"It slipped out!" Vanessa immediately tried to defend herself, earning chuckles of amusement from everyone in response.

"What slipped out?" The familiar voice of Angel rang through the Hotel as Vaggie, and everyone else, turned to see him entering the lobby from one of the hallways.

John simply grinned. "Apparently I'm Vanessa's big brother." He joked, causing the spider to shoot a teasing smile at the succubus.

"Oh really?"

"Don't you start too." Vanessa once again resorted to crossing her arms and pouting as she turned away from Angel.

Angel simply shook his head in amusement, chuckling at the teen's antics, before his amusement faded and he let his gaze sweep the room. "Any of you seen the news?"

At that, Vaggie raised an eyebrow, and she found herself crossing her arms at the question. "No. Why?" Because apparently Angel had heard or seen something that he thought was worth mentioning, or he wouldn't have asked.

"The Vees just released their newest software." Angel revealed, earning himself an annoyed eyeroll from John and an unamused expression from Vaggie. "It's something called Angelic Security, and it's supposed to be some defense system against angels."

Okay, now Angel had everyone's full attention.

"How the hell did they manage that?" John asked, sitting up straight as he locked his gaze upon Angel in confusion and slight apprehension. "It ain't that easy, or it would've been done already. Does it even work?"

"Knowing Vox, I wouldn't have been surprised if it didn't." Angel admitted without a second thought. "The thing is though, Carmilla Carmine helped him build it. And they're already being sold to the public."

"More money for the guy, I guess." Husk remarked with a small shrug, before looking at Angel with a raised eyebrow. "What's the big deal though? It's not like Vox doesn't pump out a bunch of useless high tech shit on a regular basis."

"Except Carmine didn't strike me as the kind of person to work with Vox." John piped up, glancing at Husk with a furrowed brow. "As a matter of fact, I know she didn't. She's the one that killed the Exorcist on Extermination Day, so I really doubt that means she's suddenly okay with Vox."

"Personally, I think it's because of you." Angel admitted as he glanced at John, crossing both of his arms as he did so. "You go to one of those meetings and kill Val within a day, and now they work together for some anti-angel security system? You can't tell me that doesn't sound fishy."

"No, it does." John found himself agreeing with the spider as a finger came up to his mouth in thought.

"But then why sell it publicly?" Vanessa pointed out, catching everyone's attention as she looked at Angel in confusion. "If it's some kind of countermeasure against John, wouldn't it be something they'd keep for themselves?"

"I think I remember Vox announcing something like that just after Extermination Day." Vortex remarked, looking at John with a serious expression of his own. "He did his whole hypno schtick, and announced the system a while ago."

"So either they've been working together on this for a while, or they saw a chance and jumped at it." John surmised, his brow furrowing in deep thought as he processed the information.

"But if it's supposed to counteract angels, what's it supposed to do to you?" Charlie asked, her head tilting in confusion as she too joined the conversation. "I mean, we know you're more powerful than the Exorcists, and from what I know, neither of them are stupid enough to really think this would work."

"You're right." John agreed, nodding his head as he stood to his feet, cracking his neck a little as he did so. "But I plan on finding out."

"Are you gonna go talk to them or something?" Vortex asked, earning a nod from John in response as the behemoth turned around and began making his way towards the lobby doors.

"Sorry to just cut and run, but I don't feel right just waiting to see what happens." John gave both an apology and an explanation without looking back. When he reached the doors, however, he paused and then turned around and settled his gaze upon Vaggie. "Um… Vaggie, do you think you can-"

"Go figure out what's going on, I'll watch over Leo and let him know you left." Vaggie interrupted him, raising a hand to stop him as she offered him a smile. "But please don't come back drenched in blood. I had to help Niffty get the footprints of the floor."

John found himself chuckling at that, shaking his head in amusement before nodding to the moth.

"Of course." And without another word or even a proper farewell, John was gone.

After a few moments of silence, Vortex broke the tension with a chuckle as he turned his gaze to his girlfriend.

"While he's gone, we oughta tell them about his birthday last year.."

Bee simply broke out into wild laughter, and Vaggie found herself curious as to what exactly that meant.

With Valentino dead and far too many souls to really try and keep track of, the Vees had been almost entirely unable to account for all of the now free souls that were once under Val's ownership.

Grima was more than thankful for that.

It had been far too long since she'd tasted freedom of any kind. About the only kind of freedom she'd ever had was free reign to go and do whatever, so long as she wasn't shooting a movie or Val didn't need his second favorite pet.

When she'd realized what that position had entailed, she found herself glad that she hadn't been the top performer/slave/sextoy for the moth. And she felt no sympathy either, because as old as he actually was, Angel should've known damn well what he was getting into. After all, the existence of the Radio Demon at all should've been enough of a warning.

In fact, Grima still struggled to understand how Angel had no idea who the Radio Demon even was. Alastor's greatest nemesis was Val's coworker/lover, and he definitely broadcasted enough for everyone to know very well who he was even today.

Well, except for that weird absence for the last seven years, but Grima had enjoyed the peace while it lasted. Well, the closest thing to peace that one could find while bound to an Overlord and living in Hell.

Not to say that the peace, if it could even be called that, was even remotely peaceful in the slightest. No, all it meant was that Vox wasn't having a shitfit over Alastor, which meant that Val wasn't getting angry as much, which meant she didn't run the risk of walking funny for the next three months.

She'd love to be able to tell someone all her struggles, lament all of her issues to anyone with half a mind and a fraction of a heart that's willing to listen. Because the confident, sexy, and flirtatious succubus that Grima had been forced to become was a far cry from the dignified therapist that she'd once been.

In fact… it was a far cry from the woman she'd been at all before her death.

She'd gone three months in Hell before she met Val, and another two months before she finally signed her life away.

After that, the old Grima disappeared. And the succubus currently flashing her tits to any person on the street had taken her place.

She'd wished she could drop the act. Valentino was dead, or she would probably still be at the studio. Her life, or afterlife anyway, was her own once more. No one owned her soul, and as far as she was concerned, no one ever would again.

But keeping on a front for close to twenty years could damage someone's psyche, human or demon. So, the immodest demoness currently strutting down the street with an ever present grin was the only person Grima knew how to be anymore.

It sucked, because of course it did. But the woman wasn't sure she even knew how to be the person she once was, or if she could even be that person again.

Much like Angel, she'd put up a mask. Much like Angel, she had a persona she could slip into, a reputation to uphold at all times lest she wanted to face the wrath of torture and humiliation personified.

For close to twenty years, her body hadn't been her own, but simply another possession of a psycho. And now that she was free… Grima had absolutely no idea of what to do.

So, she followed her instincts. Instincts that had kept her safe, instincts that had meant she'd never pissed off Valentino again. A feat not even Angel had managed to accomplish for long.

After the first time she'd angered the now nonexistent moth, Grima had vowed to herself to do whatever it took to avoid facing that kind of pain again. She still remembered the pain clearly, as if it had happened yesterday. Val got pissed, had his fun, and Grima was pretty sure that it was blood that had lubricated herself for the next month.

From the point on, she vowed to never anger Val again. No matter what she had to do.

So she threw herself into the role he wanted, until he believed she was broken.

Sure, it meant many sleepless nights. Many nights crying herself to sleep, or drowning herself in booze.

And those were the easy nights.

On the hard nights? Grima didn't often remember anything following work.

After living a life like that so long, dedicating herself solely to Val's pleasure, it wasn't easy to just drop those habits. To break the hold Val held on her even still.

So when a she felt a hand come up to grope her breast as she passed by an alley, her body tensed up in discomfort. However, both her expression and the fake moan that escaped her conveyed a nonexistent sense of pleasure.

Both of which came from a downright instinctual desire for self-reservation.

"Oh baby!" Her best voice of desire escaped her as the succubus immediately spun to face her aggressor, flashing him a cheeky smile. "Looking for a good time?"

The demon, some kind of ram sinner from the looks of it, was giving her a grin and a stare filled with nothing more than lustful desire.

"You bet, Grima!" Of course this guy would know her. What person in the city didn't? Being just behind Angel in popularity meant just as many people were coming after her as they were Angel.

So, Grima let her eyelids droop a little, flashing him a look that was downright seductive as she did so, and pressing a hand to his chest as she leaned forward until her mouth was inches from his ear.

"Should we go to your place?"

"What about doing it right here?"

Well, the guy was eager. Grima wished she could be shocked, but she wasn't in the least. This was Hell after all, and it honestly wouldn't be the first time at all that people in the city got down and dirty in the open air.

"Well then honey, let me-"

BOOM!"

"AH SHIT!"

She was on her knees in a second, but her hand had barely touched his zipper before an utterly deafening boom rattled her bones and shook the very ground beneath her.

Her partner/rapist/whatever he was going to be jumped a fair bit back in fright, before immediately turning tail and running as fast as he could.

Leaving Grima on the ground, utterly shellshocked and attempting to process what the fuck happened.

Her hand hovered in the air, her body gripped by the crippling fear of harm. Unable to move, all she could do was sit in shock.

When the succubus was finally able to bring her head to move, her head slowly rotated. The further it turned, the more her vision was obscured by a dust cloud until she'd twisted herself far enough that she was facing the completely opposite direction of the street.

"Street was not where I meant to go." A familiar voice rang out through the street, touched with annoyance and a slight bit of sheepishness.

When she heard that voice…

Grima froze.

If she was frozen before, she was nothing short of stone now. She recognized that voice. She recognized it very well. It belonged to her savior.

It haunted her nightmares.

After all… it's hard to forget the voice of the monster you watched slaughter your boss.

She'd seen everything. From the start of his complete dismemberment of Val… to when he found a meal in the former Overlord's organs… all the way to when Val stopped being anything resembling a person at all, and became nothing more than itty bitty chunks scattered across the room.

It didn't matter what kind of person Valentino was. It didn't matter what intentions the man had when he killed Val, when he destroyed the very soul that drove the psychopath.

She didn't see a man. She didn't even see a demon. What she saw was a freak of nature, an almost lovecraftian abomination that was driven by nothing but hatred and vengeance. And those eyes…

Those blood red eyes…

The eyes of a true monster.

The dust settled, until she found herself staring at the familiar gray skin and large, murderous spikes of Val's killer.

He was a behemoth of a demon, no two ways about it. While most demon's had thin or lanky frames with an occasional bit of bulk, the goliath in front of her was nothing short of nine feet of pure muscle.

The vengeful features she remembered were much softer, and those fear inducing eyes she remembered were replaced with a pair of rather normal looking blue orbs.

The behemoth took a quick glance around him, ignoring the cars who's drivers had already covered from the unexpected incident and were currently honking at him.

Grima wasn't sure what he was looking for… but blue hues suddenly fixed themselves on yellow felines, and the succubus couldn't help but to visibly wince.

However, what was said was… unexpected.

"You good?" The behemoth spoke to her in a genuinely curious tone, raising a hand and flashing a thumb between up and down to ask her if… she was okay?

Grima could only nod dumbly, her head slowly shaking as she stared slackjawed.

The behemoth let a hand fall to his side and gave a quick nod, a look of relief flashing across his face, before turning his gaze out towards… somewhere down the road it seemed.

And then, with a quick neck crack, powerful legs pushed off the ground with bone-breaking force, and the ground shattered where the behemoth once stood as he launched himself into the air…

And miles away.

And Grima could only stare.

What… What was that?

He was asking… if she was alright?

That didn't sound like a monster…