Charlie's eyes cracked open as she woke from her sleep, blinking as she stretched her arms on legs and let a yawn escape her. She pushed against the bed, raising herself into an upright position as she smacked her lips together and blinked in order to focus her eyes.

She threw the covers off herself, and stood to her feet, stretching her back as she made her way towards the bathroom.

It didn't take her long to get a shower, and after drying herself off, she made her way out of the bathroom and walked towards the closet. She picked her usual outfit, taking no time in getting dressed.

As she finished, gaze wandered over towards the still sleeping form of Vaggie on the bed, and the Princess found herself letting a small smile cross her face.

Vaggie clearly still struggled with her growing attraction to John, and Charlie was admittedly starting to notice even more. The princess had seen the moth blush many different shades, and at this point, she recognized any time it happened.

Granted, she supposed the blush wasn't exactly too much to worry about. Vaggie was normally very composed anyway, so she honestly would have just been bashful. Though admittedly, Charlie doubted.

Though, nonetheless, one thing that wasn't in doubt was that Vaggie was still her world, as she remained Vaggie's.

Opting to let the moth enjoy some well deserved sleep, she turned and made her way to the door, softly opening it before stepping outside. Her eyes remained on Vaggie, a smile on her face, as she closed the door behind her.

Now… for some of John's delicious cooking!

The gleeful smile that overtook her face at the thought was followed quickly by her beginning a quick pace down the hall. Her feet tapped against the ground with a rhythmic thump, far less audible then John's were, but enough that everyone would notice the skip in her step.

Then again, there was always a skip in her step.

As she traversed the Hotel and made her way down to the lobby, her brow furrowed slightly when she realized that the usual smell of John's cooking was absent. Which wasn't necessarily suspicious… but when one could smell the behemoth cooking from well up on the second floor, it would definitely become noticeable when an every day pattern is broken.

When she finally made it down the last set of steps and to the lobby, her smile had disappeared completely as she realized that the wonderful smell was still unfortunately absent.

"He ain't up yet." Husk's familiar voice rang out from over at the concierge, causing Charlie's gaze to snap towards him in confusion. "I'm up before everyone, and he hasn't gotten up yet." He elaborated further, leaning over the bar with his head propped up in his hand.

"Oh." Was Charlie's answer as she nodded her head, though she found herself disappointed at that bit of news.

She was really looking forward to John's cooking.

Though, there was another question that flashed through her mind as she abandoned her trek to the kitchen, instead turning and making her way over to the bar.

"Do you think it's something to do with last night?" Charlie asked, hopping up onto a stool as she rested her elbows on the bartop.

Husk nodded his head with a small chuckle as he sat up straight. "What else would it be? Yesterday as a whole was a shitshow." He reminded her as his smile faded. "Hell, I've been thinking about heading up and waking him up. He doesn't strike me as the kind of person to be happy waking up late."

"It could be his late nights catching up with him." Oh yeah, Charlie was aware of those. Niffty had let it slip once that she'd ran into John playing games at four in the morning. After asking him about it, apparently it was something he did on a regular basis. Sleep a little, wake up and occupy himself, sleep a little more.

Charlie had questioned how anyone could do that without feeling exhausted all the time, but John had always been an enigma in regards to his physical limits. On the surface, he seemingly had none, quite literally breaking the floor with Alastor and easily subduing a room of most if not all dangerous Overlords.

But even though she proposed the idea… it didn't really make any sense. If John could maintain that kind of sleep schedule for months straight without a single sign of anything resembling fatigue, why would that change?

Husk seemed to pick up on that train of thought, as he shook his head in response.

"Doubt it. I don't know anything about any late nights, but if they were affecting him, we'd have seen it by now." He pointed out as he turned around to face the stack of drinks. "Want a drink?"

"This early?" Charlie questioned with a raised eyebrow. "I know I get drunk from time to time, but this is a bit early for me."

"Suit yourself." Husk replied with a shrug as he took one of the bottles off the counter, popping the cork out with practiced ease before tossing it aside and taking a swig.

Though she felt a small pang of disappointment, Charlie felt more amused than anything else at Husk's choice, offering a matching amused smile to show it.

"You know you shouldn't drink this early, right?"

"I gotta deal with you fucks bitching, you really think I'm doing that sober?" Husk commented as he sat the bottle down on the countertop, turning to Charlie with a raised eyebrow. However, his usual disdainful disinterest wasn't present, if the amused smile on his own face was any indication. "Fuck you." He flipped her the bird as he gladly took another swig, causing Charlie to let a laugh escape her in amusement.

"Yes, Uncle Drunk." Charlie cracked a joke of her own as she shook her head with an amused laugh as Husk sat the bottle back down. "Anyway… how are you feeling?"

"Well, I'm still owned by Alastor, so there's that." Husk commented with a small grin, though it definitely had the opposite effect than intended as Charlie frowned at the response.

"That's… not what I meant. And that's something I hope to fix." Charlie admitted, propping her arms up over the counter as she averted her gaze in sadness. "But… I'm still struggling, so…"

"Hey, don't sell yourself short." Husk commented with an amused shake of his head, waving off her laughter as he raised an eyebrow. "I may not believe in the whole redemption thing, but you're still the only one trying to help."

"I think John would have something to say about that." Charlie pointed out, only to look at Husk in confusion when the cat simply scoffed in response.

"I disagree." Husk admitted as he turned to the Princess with another raised brow. "Sure, he wiped out a bunch of Exorcists, and I'd be lying if I said he doesn't help… but he's not doing what you are."

"What do you mean?" Charlie asked, tilting her head to the side as she gave the cat a curious gaze. She was honestly interested in hearing what he had to say.

One thing that was always a constant? Husk was wiser than even Charlie herself, despite the Princess being much older than the sinner.

"John cares about his loved ones more than anything." Husk pointed out with a shrug. "I think we've heard him outright admit that plenty of times. He'll help his community, he might offer to help a stranger, but even fighting off the Exorcists isn't the same as what you do." As he spoke, the cat leaned forward, and offered a small smile. "You don't see John building a massive Hotel, trying to help sinners redeem themselves out of the goodness of his heart."

"But he's done more for any of you than I have." Charlie retorted with a saddened shake of her head. "I mean, we've only got… what, three months left? And I felt like I've barely made any progress. John's made more with all of you than I ever have, and that's not even his job. When you think about it, his only job is security."

"Fair enough." Husk could agree, as everything Charlie had said was one hundred percent true. "But do you think John would be here going out of his way to help… well, anyone really, if you hadn't brought him here?"

Charlie found her gaze falling away from Husk, falling into thought as the cat brought up a valid point.

She had technically sought John out, went all the way to his home just to offer him a job as security. It was her who assured that he wouldn't have to actually participate, and the behemoth had become a constant in the Hotel.

When it came to John, you knew what to expect because he laid it all out from the get go. He didn't put up a front, he didn't try to lie about anything, what you see is what you get. With the behemoth, it's quite literally that simple.

Even on the way here, he'd outright told them that he was more than willing to be the most cruel person in Hell if it meant something good was coming of it.

But… could she really take credit for all the good John had done since she brought him here?

It was John who had gotten them another guest, not herself. It was John who had stepped to Angel's defense and pointed out that he was actually trying when Charlie herself had even grown a little more weary. It was John who had managed to comfort Vanessa where everyone else had failed.

It was John who Vanessa felt safe around, not Charlie. It was John who made sure everyone felt safe within the Hotel, as it was meant to be.

It was John who had become the friend that Charlie wanted to be to everybody. While Charlie herself only managed to become an annoying friend at best, and an outright nuisance at worst.

"I may have hired him, but I can't take credit for what he's done." Charlie replied with a shake of her head as she turned her gaze back to Husk.

Once again, Husk nodded his head. "Fair enough, but I don't think you really get what I'm saying." Once again, he offered a small smile and an amused brow raise as he met Charlie's gaze. "Look, it gets frustrating, I'll be the first to admit. It really seems like this whole redemption thing is going nowhere every time you try something."

Charlie could only hug herself as Husk pointed out that blatant fact with a blunt harshness.

But the cat wasn't finished.

"But credit where it's due, as John likes to say. You're the one making an effort to help sinners in the long run, not John. You're the one who started this Hotel, you're the one who hired actual security, you're the one who does sessions that… well, more or less actually help in some way. Sure, a few failures, but that's as much a part of life as it definitely is in death."

"But what's the point if redemption doesn't-"

"Oh for fuck's sake!" Now, Husk was visibly and audibly annoyed as he shook his head in frustration. "Look, the redemption thing doesn't matter right now, quit focusing on that for a second, alright? I don't have the patience to keep trying to make you feel better." He admitted bluntly as he took another swig from his bottle, before setting in on the counter with a satisfied sigh and turning back to face the Princess. "You keep acting like you're a failure, but I think everyone here would disagree."

"Except Alastor." Charlie mumbled quietly, but the cat's sensitive ears obviously picked it up.

"Alastor doesn't count, he'll agree and disagree with anything as long as it's 'entertaining'" The cat had a scornful scowl on his face at the mention of the Radio Demon, before shaking his head. "Point is… you're helping sinners. Not John. You're making our lives better in the long run. Not John. You're Charlie Morningstar, not John Gallagher. You're trying to do some real good, while most of what John has done can honestly be considered temporary at best."

"I wouldn't go that far." Charlie once again mumbled, but Husk ignored her words completely this time as he continued speaking.

"Because of you, people know they're safe when they come here. Because of you, the people in this Hotel have gotten better." He pointed out, finally managing another small smile. "So quit whining because it's not happening as fast as you'd like. Trial and error, all that stuff, and besides, like John said… people are bettering themselves while they're here."

"I think he was just talking about Angel." When Husk raised another eyebrow and looked to be on the verge of throwing his bottle in frustration, Charlie actually sweatdropped. "But point taken."

"Well, point taken needs to become point staying." Husk remarked with an amused shake of his head as he finally found himself satisfied with Charlie's answer. "Look, as much as you'd wish, no one really knows if redemption is even possible. But you're fighting for it either way, so I'll give you this; that determination works well with your bleeding heart. Only thing is-"

"Oh jesus, my neck is killing me." The familiar and somewhat unwanted voice of Angel interrupted whatever else Husk was going to say, as both sets of eyes turned to see the spider trudging his way into the lobby from the hall. "John got breakfast ready?" He asked as he turned to the two of them.

Husk let an amused chuckle escape him as his and Charlie's conversation was forgotten. "You're out of luck. John's sleeping in today." Husk answered, causing Angel to perk up as his eyes widened in surprise.

"Really? Shit, yesterday must've really fucked him up." Angel guessed as he walked over to the bar, moving next to Charlie and taking a seat. "But I was really hoping for some biscuits and gravy."

"John does make some good biscuits and gravy." Having lived an admittedly sheltered and cushy life in royalty, that was actually some high praise when one really thought about it.

"John makes good everything." Husk pointed out with a chuckle. "I might be a cat, but I'll tell you, I never fishsticks until Vanessa asked him to make some that day."

"To be fair, I'm pretty sure that's because he coated it in chocolate." Charlie pointed out, foaming at the mouth as she remembered the very tasty treat that John had managed to make out of fishsticks of all things.

"Well, I'm surprised he knows how to even make them." Angel admitted with a slight chuckle. "I was sitting here in the lobby once, watching him and Vanessa playing a game. He don't like peanuts or fish cause he spent most of his life avoiding him. He was allergic to them."

"Damn, I'd have never guessed." Husk admitted with an amused laugh at the image that conjured itself in his head. He didn't know what John looked like while he was alive, so he imagined the very behemoth he'd met freaking out and backing away from a wall of peanuts and fish like they were the embodiment of death itself.

All in all, it was a very amusing thought, and Husk actually found himself falling into laughter at the image.

"What's so funny?" Charlie asked the cat with a curious head tilt.

"Can you imagine John trying to avoid peanuts and fish?" Husk managed to ask Charlie, before falling into another bout of laughter. "I mean, a guy with literal superhuman strength, and he's gotta be afraid of food?"

Now that it had been pointed out so bluntly…

Both Charlie and Angel looked at each other, struggling not to laugh, let alone smile. Understandably, they failed miserably, falling into laughter as the two of them collapsed over the bar top.

Angel ended up holding his sides while banging a hand on the countertop, an action of which only made Charlie laugh even harder as she shared a glance with Husk at Angel's actions.

"I didn't think it'd be that funny!" Husk commented between laughter as he struggled to keep himself upright, while Charlie freely let herself fall against the bartop, her legs kicking against the wood as she laughed to her heart's content.

The happy mood, along with everyone else's sleep, was unfortunately ruined quickly and harshly. By a fearful scream of a child.

"DAD?!"

The laughter disappeared as quickly as it came, all three of them sharing looks of concern for only a second, before Charlie immediately jumped off her seat and sprinted towards the stairs.

Angel and Husk weren't far behind, the cat even hopping over the bar and spilling his bottle of booze without a care in the world as the two of them tailed Charlie.

Their feet pounded against the floor as the sprinted up the steps and down the hall as fast as their feet could carry them. All the way up three flights of stairs.

They found themselves approaching John's room quite quickly, before the door was flung open and Leo came sprinting out, tears in his eyes and a fearful look on his face.

"Leo, what's wrong?!" Charlie immediately focused on the boy, catching him by the shoulders and stopping him in his tracks as she crouched down to one knee in front of him.

Leo was hiccuping, absolutely terrified about something as both tears and snot ran down in his face. He tried to speak, but all that came out was incoherent gibberish as he frantically waved a finger towards the room he'd just exited.

"D-D-Da-Dad i-i-is-"

"Shh…" Charlie shushed the boy, realizing they were getting nowhere, and gently pulled him into a hug. The boy's surprisingly strong arms wrapped themselves around her, and he tucked his head into her shoulder as he sobbed his terrified eyes out loudly without a care in the world.

"Come on." Husk gave Angel a tap on the arm as he moved forward, gesturing towards the bedroom. Angel nodded despite Husk not looking, and moved behind him as the two sinners approached the room cautiously.

They weren't sure what they were expecting… but what they saw wasn't it.

The room was empty. Completely and utterly empty. The only indication that anyone had been there was the fact that some of the covers disheveled, sprawled randomly on the bed.

Husk and Angel shared a glance, before stepping into the room one after another.

"Check the bed, I got the closet." Husk instructed, gesturing to the furniture. He didn't even look to see or hear a response as he made his way over to the closet, pulling the door open and stepping inside of the massive space.

John seemed to have a rather limited wardrobe. A few extra matching shirts that Husk assumed were spares, a bunch of blue jeans, extra pairs of boots… There was a plain white T-Shirt and a red flannel hanging from the coat rack in pristine condition, and a bunch of stuff around the closet that Husk assumed were either John's belongings or Leo's.

But… he found no signs of life.

"Find anything?!" Husk called out to Angel from within the closet.

"No! You?!"

"No."

Deeming the room safe, Husk turned and left the closet, closing the door behind him as he turned his gaze to Angel as the spider stood to his feet.

Now that they knew the room was safe, the two simply stood in confusion, their gazes sweeping the room to see what they might've missed.

When they saw nothing, they shared a confused glance once more, before proceeding to leave the room.

As they returned to the hallway, they saw that everyone had indeed been awoken as expected, Vaggie currently crouched down and helping Charlie calm Leo down while everyone else stood behind them.

Upon catching sight of the two, Vaggie turned her concerned gaze to the two of them. "Find anything?"

"No." Angel answered with a shake of his head as he shot another glance towards the room. "No one's in there."

"Then why did he scream?" Vanessa questioned, glancing around in slight panic at the idea that somebody else was present in the Hotel.

However… Husk noticed the amused expression on Alastor's face.

"Getting a real kick out of this, aren't you?" Husk growled, glaring at the Radio Demon. In response, Alastor simply shrugged.

"Of course!" He answered with his usual irritating smile. "I find it hilarious that no one has asked the obvious question!" He admitted gleefully, his typical confident smile on his face.

"And that question is…"

"Why, where's the boy's father of course!"

"Easy, he's… asleep…" Husk trailed off as he realized exactly what Alastor meant. Angel seemed to catch on as well, as the cat shared a glance with the spider.

Slowly, everyone else but Leo came to the same realization Husk and Angel just had. The boy, however, was too caught up in his fear to really focus on anything but Charlie and Vaggie's soothing voices.

John had enhanced senses. He could smell everyone in the Hotel and hear them too. And one thing they all knew was that his son was the most important person in his world.

If John wasn't here, then he definitely hadn't heard the scream.

Which meant that he wasn't at the Hotel.

At all.

Understandably, everyone had gathered in the Hotel lobby after realizing that John wasn't still asleep, but was gone completely from the Hotel.

Niffty sat with Leo once again, keeping the boy company as she agreed to watch cartoons with him over her usual habit of cleaning frantically and slaughtering any bugs she could find.

Considering John and Nea were trying to raise Leo as normal a child as possible, it wasn't exactly a surprise that the woman had packed a few DVDs of cartoons from the living world that John had made clear were the only things the boy was allowed to watch.

Vanessa and Angel sat on the other sofa, nervous and antsy considering John's disappearance and yesterday's events, as they severely doubted it was a coincidence. However, they didn't have it in them to voice those concerns to anyone else quite yet.

Alastor simply sat in one of the recliners, watching everything play out with his usual smile on his face, looking far too amused for anyone's liking.

Husk sat over at the bar, having opted to take a seat as a hand rested atop his head.

Pentious sat in the other recliner, watching it all with a contemplative look on his face. The music box he intended to give to Vanessa had been forgotten entirely at the moment, as the only thing he could focus on is the… genuine concern he felt for everyone. Including the missing behemoth whom had once tied the snake with his own tail.

Charlie and Vaggie stood in the middle of the lobby, furiously discussing everything and trying to decipher where John could've gone. Admittedly, they felt the answer was obvious.

Vanessa had admitted that she wasn't allowed the right to clothing at Valentino's studio. And he'd also learned much more that he either never got the chance or never intended to discuss.

Mix that with the fact that Leo fell asleep with John in the bed and woke up to his dad missing the next morning…

Now, they were mainly just discussing how to handle it.

However, any and all conversation and thoughts were immediately interrupted when the doors to the Hotel swung open loudly, banging against the wall as everyone jumped in surprise and snapped their gazes towards the door.

And then… all of them froze. Even Leo.

Entering the Hotel was the very topic of concern, as John entered the Hotel with a grunt and a look of annoyance on his face.

And he was soaked in blood.

The red substance stained a majority of his shirt, stains which were likely never coming out, and his pants and boots were utterly drenched in the fluid.

Not to speak of his arms. They were honestly unable to distinguish the blood from the gashes that were a part of his biology, it was caked on so thick, and it definitely didn't help his appearance or anyone else's nerves in the slightest that there was also blood splashed upon his face.

And the particularly dark splotch of blood around his mouth didn't paint a pretty picture either.

"Leo, upstairs, now!" The tone in which he spoke left no room for debate. "Niffty, head up with him, keep him calm. I'll be up in a minute." He was back for three seconds and he already took control of the situation.

Something Vaggie took issue with.

"Hold on a second." Vaggie moved in the behemoth's path, causing him to come to a stop as she looked at him with a wary gaze. "What the hell did you do? You're soaked in blood."

"Yeah, no shit." John replied with an annoyed gaze, before immediately moving around the moth as Niffty did as instructed, grabbing Leo's hand and dragging the boy towards the steps. Leo met his dad's gaze, and John simply nodded towards the steps.

With a reluctant gaze, Leo obeyed, and followed Niffty as the two made their way up the steps.

Once John was sure that Leo wasn't going to be present for the conversation that followed, he leaned down and picked up the TV remote.

"John!" Vaggie shouted at him as he marched up to him, while everyone else watched with concerned gazes. Except Alastor, who still looked more than amused. "What did you do?! You're scaring everyone."

"Everyone should know they ain't got a reason to be scared." John replied bluntly, keeping his eyes on the TV as he switched it away from the DVD player, and back to the actual cable.

"Just because they don't need to be scared of you doesn't mean they aren't scared at-" Vaggie found herself interrupted as she realized that John had switched the TV to 666 News, and her brow furrowed as she along with everyone else paid attention.

"-don't know what the fuck he did, but he pissed off the wrong guy, that's for sure!" Came the unfortunately familiar and very grating voice of Katie Killjoy. "Just hours ago, Hell's most degenerate Overlord was reported dead, and all I got to say is that someone fucked him up!"

"Literally, figuratively, or both?" The voice of the dunderhead that was Tom Trench asked as footage played over it.

And everyone, even Alastor, went wide eyed at the carnage that was freely displayed upon the screen.

It was Porn Studios, there wasn't a single doubt about that. And it was a bloodbath, pure and simple.

Blood painted the usually finely designed walls and usually illustrious carpet, and the bed was torn in half. Broken furniture was sprawled all around the room, and there were various blood filled cracks on the walls and even in the ceiling and floor. The carpet torn in places, and accompanying the blood were various pieces of viscera, chunks of bloody body parts thrown everywhere in the room.

"I'd say both!" Katie replied to Tom's question on the TV as everyone continued to watch in shock, horror, and fascination in Alastor's case. Whoever was shooting the footage proceeded to hold up… half of Val's severed head.

"Jesus Christ!"

"My word!"

"What the fuck?!"

"I think I'm gonna be sick."

Various sounds of alarm and disgust echoed through the lobby as everyone continued to watch, though Vanessa turned her gaze away from the TV and put a hand on Angel's shoulder as another covered her mouth, trying to resist the urge to vomit.

"One third of the Vees has been taken out, and quite a show was made! Now, the infamous Overlords have quite the enemy on their hands!"

"And possibly in them, too!"

"Of fucking course, Tom."

"Yeah, he didn't taste too good." John commented, catching wide-eyed looks of disbelief as he turned the TV off, tossing the remote down while bringing a hand up and dragging it down his face, wiping a good portion of the blood away onto his hand, before reaching into his pocket as he turned to Vanessa and Angel. "Got you two a little gift."

What he pulled out… well, the entire situation managed to completely change from horrific to downright shocking.

John pulled his hand from his pocket, and both Angel and Vanessa went utterly wide-eyed as they found themselves looking at a pair of familiar papers. Hanging from his hand, shimmering in gold and emitting an ethereal glow… were their contracts.

The contracts they'd signed and agreed to be bound by. The contracts that showed that Val ever had owned their very souls. The contracts that had chained them down, took what control they had of their very lives and bodies away from them.

And they were sitting right in front of them.

And everyone watched as a familiar crimson colored flame materialized, encompassing John's hand as the fire danced its way over his fist and down to the contracts… and they all watched as the contracts burned before their very eyes.

Vanessa's hand wandered up to her neck in disbelief… and she felt a sense of immense weight disappear.

John had… John had saved her. John had saved them both.

She was free.

Her gaze shifted over to meet Angel's own, and found the same stunned look of disbelief on his face as he too felt his own neck… and realized that he too was now free.

"I-I'm free…" Angel whispered, so quiet that it may as well have been inaudible, before actually focusing his gaze on Vanessa. "W-We're free… we're free…"

"No shit." John commented with an amused grin on his face, before bringing his gaze down to his shirt. Upon actually inspecting it's condition, another look of annoyance took over his expression. "God dammit, that's another shirt out the- oof!" The behemoth found himself interrupted as an unexpected mass crashed against him… and he found himself staring down at the shaking form of Vanessa. "Ness?"

Despite being caked in blood… Vanessa couldn't help herself. She'd swung her arms around John, and pressed herself against him as she found tears flowing down her eyes, her body shuddering as she struggled to suppress another sobbing fit… but she had a smile on her face, despite that.

"Thank you…" Vanessa whispered under her breath, before rubbing her head against him despite his current state as she hugged him even tighter. "Thank you, thank you, th-thank you!" That seemed to be the extent of Vanessa vocabulary at the moment as her emotions ran high.

"Vanessa, it's fine-"

"Don't you fucking dare write this off!" Angel interrupted the behemoth with an almost angry finger as he jumped up off the couch with a tearful smile of his own. "Don't you fucking dare! You don't get to do that, not this time!"

"But-"

"You have no idea what you've just done for us!" Angel continued, speaking over the behemoth as he approached the two people- no. The two friends that he'd come to care greatly for. "You don't get to pretend that this is some little thing!" He was actually panting by the time he'd finished speaking, leaving everyone staring in silence as his gaze shifted away, and the tears began to fall even more. "W-We're… W-We're f-free…"

The spider collapsed to his knees, and began to openly sob, not caring for once about his reputation, or who saw him, or who mocked him. He'd suffered for literal decades under Valentino's rule, and unlike Vanessa, he had decades of trauma to back that up.

And John thought he was… he was going to play it off as just another thing?

"W-W-We were b-bound f-f-for eternity…" Vanessa said between her struggles to stay composed, releasing John and backing away to stand next to Angel as she brought her gaze up to the behemoth while trying to wipe away the tears that would not stop. "W-We… W-We didn't control our lives, it wasn't our choice, it-"

"-is over." John interrupted, offering that same comforting smile that still worked as intended despite his less than savory appearance at the moment. "I'm not stupid, I know this is important to you too." He assured as he stepped forward, resting a just-as-assuring hand upon Vanessa's shoulder while simultaneously crouching down and gently pulling Angel to his feet. "But to me… hell, it's nothing more than a duty. My job is to protect you."

"To th-that extent?" Angel asked as he rubbed his admittedly snotting nose. John simply chuckled as he rested a hand upon the spider's shoulder as well once he was on his feet.

"Can't really redeem yourself if you sold your soul, can you?" John cracked a joke, raising an eyebrow with an amused expression on his face. "Look, even if it wasn't my job, you're both good friends of mine. And if I'm being honest…" He took a moment to glance towards the TV where they'd seen the broadcast, before shaking his head with an amused chuckle. "Believe it or not, I've done a lot worse. That was quick and easy, and I'm still kind of disappointed about that. But the fact is, I'd have done that sooner if I'd have known, or even been sure."

Both of them could only stare after him in shock, a sentiment mirrored by everyone else in the room as they all looked in absolute disbelief.

They all knew what kind of person John was. He was an open book by his own choice, after all.

But… even if they knew he could do it, none of them would have ever expected him to act on his own on such an important matter on anyone's behalf.

"You… you really think it's just your duty?" Angel asked in disbelief, an awed smile on his face as he saw the behemoth in a new light. It it… really was that simple to him…

…why was he in Hell?!

Then again, Angel supposed the bloodbath they'd just seen on the TV answered that question well enough.

"As a friend, and as security." John answered with a confident grin as he brought his bloody hands from their shoulders and ruffled their hair, causing them to swipe at his hands as they both tried to fix their hair. "Besides, it ain't cost free. You're washing out blood right with me." He joked as he turned away and began making his way towards the steps as everyone watched.

However, he paused as he rested his foot on the first step, before turning back to face them.

"I meant what I said. As long as ya'll are here, you're safe. And nothing will change that." And with those final words of farewell, John made his way up the steps and disappeared down the hall.

Leaving a lobby full of shocked residents, and a particularly emotional spider and succubus whom could only turn and hug each other as they cried their relief for all of Hell to hear.