The Kingslayer stood with his sword in hand on a ledge overlooking his army. He had changed after the many long years trapped in hell, his living body absorbing the background energies the demons easily harness causing changes to his physical form. A crown of seven horns reached upwards from his forehead, his skin shifting to scales in some spots, from his back eight ethereal strands of energy flowed outwards which he was slowly learning to use as wings, though the worst changes were to his mind. The ever-present danger to his life had left him cautious and jumpy, not to mention the constant nightmares on the occasions he could sleep.

The several dozen demonic servants he bound to himself with magic stood in position holding the hellmagic enchanted chains he painstakingly forged for them, ready to spring the trap. The Kingslayer could see his prey approaching, the titan's lumbering form following the bait of other servants as they retreated back to his position. He was eager to bind this titan. It would be the second to fall under his control, and he could siphon the energies from the thrice-cursed beings without needing to slay them again.

He watched the dumb two hundred foot tall behemoth follow the imps into the small canyon and stumble as the bindings were thrown and latched around it's legs. It's bulk caused the ground to shake as it hit, the bindings for it's arms quickly being tossed on while it laid there. The Kingslayer began the ritual that would bind the titan to his control. He needed the energy that it possessed to break through the dimensional barrier so he could finally go home.

He completed the ritual and watched as the Titan's eyes shifted to match his own. He commanded it to stand, and soon it and his forces began the march to return to the Pandemonium Fortress. He had claimed the ancient beyond measure ruins as his home after he found himself trapped here. He enjoyed the terror it held over the lesser demons and the wariness it fostered in the high demons. The ancestral memories of it's founding and use as a base by the angels in the Scouring of Hell many eons ago lingered in the minds of the hellborn. Some still fled at the sight of the blackstone walls, now repaired and manned by over a hundred demons bound to his service.

He marched his forces through the main gate and ordered the new titan to kneel in the spot next to the other. He waved the blade before the both of them and saw the runic carvings under them ignite into flame. Shortly after a pentagram under him ignited as their combined energies were funneled through him and into his blade. He took as much as he could without destroying them and sending them to reform in the spawning pits, then ended the ritual.

He could feel a familiar presence emerge nearby as his servants that still had parts of their minds intact nervously backed away from it and him. He turned and leaned on the pommel of his sword as the hooded Angel stood before him.

"Uriel. Come to check on my progress?" he asked in the language of hell.

"Indeed." the angel of wisdom confirmed. "I hope your passage back is uneventful."

The Kingslayer squinted at the almost kind words. "What do you know?" he asked.

"Only that Azrael is perturbed by the presence of the living in the realm of punishment, as well as your habit of escaping when dead... He will want to ensure balance is maintained, so take care when you return.

"Just another who may stand in my way." he snarled before he readied his blade then stabbing it into the ground violently, causing a circle around him to reveal the Overwatch base at Gibraltar. He could see familiar faces turning to look at the dimensional rift, or him, in fear. As he twisted the blade, Gibraltar took over the view of hell fully and he saw the Angelic beauty cautiously walk towards him.

"Sweetheart, is that you?" she asked, tears forming in her eyes.

...

It had been a month since he disappeared from the shuttle, and she could still hear the echoing laughter of the entity as he stole her lover away from her. She had ensured Siebren had been seeing the psychologist and been treated better than what Talon had done to him, and he in turn had been a wonderful help around the base. She had lately been enjoying going for walks through the base, often with Amélie, though occasionally with Fareeha when she is there.

It was on a walk that she saw an area distort as if space was bending in on itself. Soon the smell of sulfur and burning flesh wafted through as an image of a fortress appeared in the distortion, and standing there wielding a blade made of bone and metal was a familiar horned being, with strands of darkness flowing from his back. Next to him was a hooded figure with the same strands from his back, but of the purest white light. She slowly walked towards the distortion and asked "Sweetheart, is that you?"

She watched him pull the blade of bone from the ground as the effect around him disappeared. He began to walk towards her before pain crossed his face and he collapsed to the ground. She rushed to her lover and and pulled him into her grasp before she watched in horror as the changes to his physical form painfully receded, causing him to black out with his head against her chest. She could see his body was withered and his metal limbs worn down well past their limits as she called for help getting him to the medical facility...

...

He awoke in the medical facility with a start, only to feel a gentle hand be placed on his chest. "Dolio ethlum nefsolith..." he mumbled as he saw the most beautiful woman in the world looking at him through teary eyes. "Ohmjahlemeld iojahpul?" he asked her wearily, getting a confused look, before realizing the language he spoke. "Is this a dream of faith?" he asked again, this time getting a smile.

"No, you're finally home." she said as she leaned in and kissed him. "You've been asleep for days." She said as she held a hand to the side of his face, and giggled as he instinctively pushed his face into it and sighed at the first kind touch in what felt like years. "We had to strap you down because you kept flailing around in your sleep from nightmares." she explained. "You were severely dehydrated, on the verge of starving to death, and going through symptoms I would say looked like withdrawal."

"Please... release me." he begged after remembering the words. Angela hesitated, but released the straps holding her lover down. She no more than did so and she was pulled onto the bed. She could hear and feel him break down as he held her tightly, and wondered what horrors he had to deal with that finally managed to break him.

...

"Needless to say he won't be going on missions for a while." Angela said to Fareeha as she put food on her tray and another to bring to John.

"That makes sense." The Egyptian woman agreed. "Are you going to tell him about our little... incident?" she asked.

"Eventually." Angela sighed. "He needs a great deal of rest and I'm not sure how well he'd react to that right now. He wasn't exactly keen on helping me with Amélie until I had made it obvious that I wanted him to."

"True, but holding back may break his trust as well."

"That is a fair point." Angela agreed. "I sometimes forget how wise you can be."

"That is more from past experience with my mother than anything else." Fareeha shrugged.

...

Angela walked into the room and saw Amélie holding John's hand as he slept on the bed. "Has he woken up?" she asked as she set the trays of food down on the table nearby.

"Non, I just wanted to check on him..." she said without even looking up. "I have never seen him look this... weak. Thin as bone and pale as paper... It is heartbreaking." she said as she stood up and turned to leave.

"I agree. Though at least the nightmares seem to have stopped for a while." she said as the Frenchwoman stopped at the doorway to take one last look at her friend in the bed, before sighing and leaving.

"I have to agree with Chika." Sombra said as she materialized in the chair on the other side of the bed. "It sucks to see Loco like this."

"Miss Colomar, I didn't know you cared." Angela teased the hacker.

"He helped get Sigma away from Talon and kept me hidden from them as well. He may want to claim he was using me to get to Moira, but even I could tell he didn't want to see them hurt anyone else. Even their past members." she explained.

"Mmm... Speaking of which, I'm surprised you and Baptiste haven't spent much time together." Angela said with a smile.

"We were in different circles, but I guess talking about our history wouldn't hurt." she said before she stood up. "You really should tell him about your fling with Pharah." she said before disappearing again, the door opening and closing shortly after.

Angela shook her head and wondered if she knew everything that happened at any moment. "Time to wake up, sweetheart." she said to her lover as she gently placed one hand on his shoulder and the other in his hand. He slowly stirred to consciousness and she helped him get sat upright so he could eat with her. "I want to know how you ended up in this condition. You looked changed but otherwise healthy when you came through the portal, but as soon as it closed you withered away."

"One can sustain themselves indefinitely with the background energies of hell, but without them you are left a husk." he explained quietly before taking another bite of the food.

They sat there quietly for a while eating before Angela set down her fork. "Listen... I need to come clean about something."

"I know." he said.

"You... what?"

"In some areas of hell there are crystals that can be used to look at the material world. They were originally used to torment the damned, but that was eons ago." he explained. "I saw your misery, you and Fareeha getting blackout drunk, and you finding comfort in her arms."

"I'm sorry." she said looking down at the bedding.

"I get it. You were beyond drunk and needed the comfort. It was kinda fun to watch if a little weird seeing Haha like that. And honestly the looks on your faces the next morning when you realized what happened was a major moral boost I needed.

"You... aren't mad?"

"If it was... what did I call him... The Wind-up toy I would be. But next time you and Haha have a fling, at least wait so I can join." he said, and as she looked up she could see the first smirk on his face she had seen since he returned.