Part 9

Angel looked at his phone and opened the audio file, a little excited for what Alex had prepared for him this time. "Hey, Angel." He smiled and closed his eyes. "Sorry I sound like this but I'm eating. I wanted to get you a recording of the park just...like I promised. I'm sorry I didn't send you this yesterday but I wanted to get it right. It's nice out here. Quiet. It's hard to get quiet anymore. I'm gonna be quiet for the next few minutes so you can enjoy the ambience."

Angel looked out his window at the city, the lights were bright. He could hear the wind blowing in the recording, the faint sound of birds. Angel closed his eyes, his fists clenching on the windowsill. It was as close to Zen as he could get.

"Hey Angie?" His eyes opened, glancing to the phone on the sill. "I know you don't want to hear this and you've been enjoying this recording, at least I hope you have. But by the time you get this I'll probably be closer than you think. And I..." Angel could hear his voice break, "I want you to know it's not your fault. Truth be told up here...kinda sucks. Given the nature of the world, I can't imagine anyone will be here in the next thirty years. So I need you to understand that I do this of my own accord. Ok. I love you. Keep an ear out for me."

Angel stared at his phone, his stomach dropping into his legs. He replayed the recording and listened to it over again. His hand shaking, his knees felt weak. "What did you do..." he whispered. "Keep an ear out for me"

He called Alex's phone.

Ringing...

Ringing...

Ringing...

"We're sorry, but the number you have dialed is out of service."

Angel stared down at his phone. He couldn't breathe. "No..." he whispered. "No..."

He grabbed his jacket and ran out of his room, running down the stairs. Charlie and Vaggie were sitting in the lobby when Angel ran through.

"Angel? What's wrong?" She asked.

"I gotta go!" He yelled and threw open the doors, running out past the edge of the property and down into the streets. Where would he even start looking? Should he even start looking?

The streets were busy, the noise was deafening. Angel looked around frantically, demons were everywhere. "Alex?! ALEX?!" He ran down the street. "ALEX!" He screamed. "Where are you?!" He didn't even know why he was screaming. What form would he even take? He didn't even know who he was really looking for.

He stopped, looking around at all the people, all the demons looking at him as he ran around in his pink jacket. He dropped to his knees and covered his face with his hands, screaming. "NO! NO! NO! ALEX, PLEASE!" He begged. "DON'T DO THIS TO ME! Don't be here. Please," he scrambled in small circles, "don't he here."" He fell forward onto his hands, sobbing, shaking his head. "Please...please..."not here. Anywhere but here."

A demon approached him, kneeling down beside him. "Hey, are you ok?" He asked.

Angel looked up at him, "A-Alex? Is...is that you?" He asked. The demon smirked at him. "Hey, ain't you Angel Dust? I've got a few of your films!" He laughed.

Angel snarled and shoved the boar back, knocking the demon onto the ground . "GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME!" He screamed and ran down the street, shoving past anyone who was in his way. "ALEX!"

His running got slower and slower as he ran, eventually falling against a building and falling to his knees. He held his head in his hands, sobbing. He had lost.

There was no way. Who the fuck would do something like that? Especially for him?

"Oh my poor boy..." a voice said. "I'm so sorry."

Angel looked up into the smiling face of Alastor. "I can only imagine your silly friend has decided to join us down here." He glanced around. "No accounting for taste, and over love. Ha-ha. Ah to be mortal again."

Angel sobbed, "he...he's gone..."

Alastor nodded his head. "Yes...and it would appear Valentino has gotten his wish." He extended his hand. "Now...if your boy is as smart as you think he is, where is the place he would seek out first upon arrival in hell?"

Angel sniffed, "the hotel..." he said.

Alastor's smile widened, "exactly. So why are you running around on the streets screaming and sniveling if you know exactly where he would go first?" He lifted angels chin up with his cane. "It's unbecoming of you, dear boy."

Angel rubbed his eyes and looked up at him, "what?"

"I'm saying you should get off your knees and get back to the hotel. I believe that is where he will be, and if he's not, then he will get there eventually. In other words, shoo." He turned his back to Angel and walked down the sidewalk. "Go back." He called over his shoulder, humming as he walked towards the studio.

Angel watched him go, looking back down at the sidewalk. The tears had stopped but he still felt like crying. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, holding it for a second before exhaling slowly. "Ok...ok." He said softly to himself, standing up. He started walking back to the hotel, his mind racing, wondering if Alastor was right.

He opened the door to the hotel and walked inside, the lobby was empty. It was quiet. "Charlie?" He looked around, "Vaggie?" He dragged his feet. "Anyone...?" He heard a noise in the kitchen and made his way over, peeking around the corner. Charlie was sitting at the table and she stood up when she saw him. "Angel! What happened?" She asked.

Angel blinked and wiped his eyes with the back of his hands. "I don't know." He said. "I...I don't know." He wrapped his arms around himself, feeling small and weak. "I think..." he grit his teeth, "I think he did it."

Charlie approached him, reaching out to touch his arm. "Angel...what are you talking about?" She asked.

He looked down at her, his eyes red, his makeup smeared from crying. "I think Alex is here. In hell." He looked down at the floor. "I don't know but…I think he might have done it."

Charlie stared up at him, her eyes wide, "oh my god." She said.

"I...I don't know what to do." He said softly.

She took his hand, "come here. Come sit down." She led him over to the table and they sat down, Charlie holding his hand. "Now...how do you know Alex is down here?"

Angel took out his phone, sitting it down on the table. "He sent this to me about an hour ago." He hit play. "Hey, Angel." He said.

"Sorry I sound like this but I'm eating. I wanted to get you a recording of the park just...like I promised. I'm sorry I didn't send you this yesterday but I wanted to get it right." He skipped to the end. The last few sentences Alex had said. "Hey Angie?" He paused the recording. "I know you don't want to hear this and you've been enjoying this recording, at least I hope you have. But by the time you get this I'll probably be closer than you think." Angel choked on a sob. "And I...I want you to know it's not your fault. Truth be told up here...kinda sucks. Given the nature of the world, I can't imagine anyone will be here in the next thirty years." He pressed his palms against his eyes, trying desperately to press down the feelings trying to break through the mask he did his best to wear.

"So I need you to understand that I do this of my own accord. Ok." He looked up at Charlie. "I love you. Keep an ear out for me." He stopped the recording and set the phone down. "He...the stupid fuck actually did it."

Charlie squeezed his hand, "Angel...I'm so sorry."

He looked up at her, "Charlie...if he's here...if he's down here...I need to find him. He's doesn't understand this place. The people. He's probably scared and alone and so...God damn confused just like we all were."

"You really think he will come here? That he would know where you live?"

Angel nodded, "I do." He stood up. "If he's comin' here then I can't leave. I have to just sit here and wait. I need to be here when he gets here.

It was hours before anything happened, and even then it was just mail. Angel sat on the couch, facing the door, waiting for something, anything to happen. The lump in his throat never went away and he kept trying to call Alex. Maybe he didn't do it. Maybe he was just out of range. Or service. Maybe his phone died.

Then the door of the hotel opened and a tall and thin demon walked through the door. His skin was blue and yellow, spotted, scaled and shiny. He was almost entirely naked save for a long ripped up grey shirt he wore that barely hid his privates. His clawed feet clacked on the broken hardwood under him and he looked around, sad blue eyes looking into at the faces of those that stared back at him. Hanging off his wrists were silver strands of ribbon like bandages that dragged on the ground behind him. His black hair was messy and dirty.

Angel stared at him from where he sat on the couch and slowly stood up. "Alex...?" He asked softly.

The demon turned to look at him, staring with those blue eyes. "Hello?" He asked. He looked around. "Is this the...Hazbin Hotel?"

Angel nodded, walking towards him, his hand reaching out. "Yeah...yeah this is it. Alex...is that you?" He asked.

The demon nodded, "yeah...yeah I'm Alex." He smiled a little, shy. "I was told...a friend of mine is staying here." He looked around again and then back to Angel. "I was...told to come here..."

Angel walked up to him, reaching up to touch his cheek, the lizard flinching a little. He looked at him. "Alex..." he felt his heart ache at the sight of him.

Alex stared down at him, his eyes wide. The lizard's eyes began to water, his hands shook. "A-angie?" The ribbons that dragged on the ground behind him seemed to twitch and they retracted, curling around his forearms and wrists tightly.

Angel nodded, smiling. "Yeah..." he laughed, "Yeah, it's me."

Alex let out a choked sob, "Angie!" He fell forward and hugged him, Angel holding him close and tight. "I found you!" He said.

Angel closed his eyes, "yeah...yeah you found me." He pulled the lizard's head into his neck, stunned he was holding him right now. Angry. Disappointed. So very, very relieved.

"I'm sorry...I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry. This was all my fault! I shouldn't have said anything to him. I'm sorry he-" he looked over Angel for the first time, the bruised, the burns, and makeup and he started to shake in anger, "touched you." His voice was low.

"No. No, Alex, no. It's ok. Its ok, babe. It's ok." He cupped his cheek and pulled him down into a deep kiss, tears in his eyes. The lizards wrapped his arms around him tightly, pulling Angel into him like he was trying to pull the spider into his body. He needed to be close to him, he needed to feel him, to touch him, to hold him, to never let him go. He was never going to leave him alone now. He was never going to lose him again.

"I can't believe you were such a fucking moron to do this, Alex." Angel said, their lips brushing against one another as they spoke. "You could have been safe. You could have been free."

Alex nodded his head, "I know...I know...but I could not live in good conscience knowing what he was doing to you. Because of me."

"Alex, it's not your fault."

"But it is! If I hadn't said anything to him, he wouldn't have known. You would still be at the studio. If I just hung up the phone instead of running my fucking mouth!" He started to sob. "If I had just kept my mouth shut none of this would have happened!"

Angel touched his face, "Alex, look at me." He looked into his eyes. "This...is not your fault." Alex kept crying and then Angel started to cry. "This is not your fault." He repeated.

He hugged him again, holding him tightly. "I'm never letting you go." He said softly, "never. I'll kill anyone who tries to take you from me." He hugged Angel tighter. "FUCK! ...Fuck..." he hugged tighter. "Fuck you're soft."

"Ha-ha...yeah. I missed you."

"I missed you too."

He stepped back, wiping his eyes and Angel looked him up and down. "Oh my god...you look...like a lizard now." He laughed, touching his arm. "That's so fucking cool. Oh my god, you are so fuckin' cute."

Alex looked down at himself, "I don't even know what I am. And you...the fuck are you supposed to be?"

Angel smiled, "I'm a spider. How else did you expect me to look?"

"I don't know. A normal looking person." He looked around the lobby, "this place looks so different in person. Everything looks different. And it feels so...odd."

Angel nodded, "yeah, it does. But you get used to it."

Alex looked down at himself again, "I look like a lizard."

"Yeah, you do." Angel said, smiling.

"I look like a fucking Lizard."

"You do."

"I look like a fucking lizard!"

Angel laughed, "Are you ok? It's gonna be alright, Alex." He said. "You're with me now." Angel was shocked as Alex picked him up, spinning him around a few times. He laughed, "What's gotten into you?"

Alex smiled and set him down. "I'm just...happy. I'm so happy!" He hugged him again and Angel hugged him back. "I finally..." he ran his claws across Angel's cheek, "I finally get to meet you and..." he was tearing up again, "it feels amazing."

"Yeah...yeah it does." Angel leaned into his touch, smiling up at him. "I can't believe you're here. And you're ok."

Alex smiled, "I'm just glad you're ok. I was worried sick. When he called...he...he made me listen." He pulled Angel into his chest, holding him close. "I thought I had lost you forever."

"Yeah...well I'm a lot harder to get rid of than that." Angel said, looking up at him. Alex kissed him, wrapping his warm scaled arms around him. "I will...never let you go, Angie." He said, "I won't."

Angel nodded, "I know." He pressed his lips to Alex's again, kissing him deeply.

Charlie watched from the staircase, a small smile on her face. Angel noticed her and patted Alex on the arm. "Alex, I want to introduce you to a few people." He said.

The lizard demon looked over at the princess. "Oh...hi. Are you Charlie?" He asked.

Charlie nodded, "yeah, that's me." She walked down the steps. Alex let Angel go and approached her, smiling wide. "Princess of Hell, huh?"

"That's me." She said, smiling at him.

Alex extended his hand to her, "it's nice to meet you, your highness."

Charlie smiled and took his hand, "you can just call me Charlie." He smiled sweetly at her. Alex squeezed her hands harder. "Thank you. I cannot imagine how hard this whole project has been for you."

"It's been...interesting, to say the least, but I believe in what we are trying to do and I'm excited to be a part of it."

"A part of it? You're running the show from what Angel tells me."

"I'm sure Angel exaggerates my role in the hotel."

"Maybe...but I want to thank you. I want you to know that I'm very proud of you and your work. Not that the princess...shit, a princess, of hell needs me to be proud of her. But Angel talks about you a lot. He's very appreciative."

Charlie smiled, "well, I'm happy to hear that. Thank you."

Alex released her hand. "So...when do I get my key?" He asked, "and when do I get to start working?"

Angel smiled, "eager to start so soon there, Alex? You just got here and already you're thinking of redemption? You haven't even shot anyone yet."

Letting go of Charlie's hands, Alex turned towards his spider and Angel could swear something lit up in his eye like a spark of fire that had just been lit. His smile got a little sheepish after that observation, "hey you."

"Hey."

He leaned down and kissed him again.

Charlie smiled and walked past them. "I'll leave you two alone. It was nice to finally meet you, Alex."

"You too, Charlie. I'm looking forward to helping in any way I can."

"Me too, Alex."

Angel wrapped his arms around Alex, kissing him again. "I love you." He said.

Alex smiled, "I love you too, Angie."

"So..."

"So...you wanna show me your room?" He asked.

Angel smiled and took his hand, "come on." They ran up the stairs to Angel's room, at least one of them giggling like they knew a secret mom and dad couldn't know about.

Alex looked around at the room, the large pink bed and the large window that overlooked the city."Man this place is fucking surreal?" Alex said, "I don't think I'm ever going to get over how fucked up this place looks."

Angel walked over to the window. "Yeah...it's pretty wild, huh?" He turned around. Alex was looking down at his hands. "I have scales, dude." He clenched and relaxed his hands several times looking at his new claws, "and sharp fucking claws." He looked back at his new tail, "I need pants."

Angel laughed, "Yeah, you do."

Alex walked over to the bed and sat down, "this feels...different." He looked up at Angel. "You look different."

Angel nodded, "yeah...we never saw one another before. It was just a voice." He smiled and walked over to Alex. "And you're like...hot as fuck."

Alex laughed, "I don't think I could compare to you. And, man, are you tall."

Angel cupped his face in his hands, "oh no, babe. No one compares to me. But you are...something special." He kissed him, straddling his hips and Alex held him close, smiling into the kiss. Angel ran his hands down Alex's chest, "oh fuck, you're warm." He said. Alex chuckled, "yeah, I know. I can't stop touching my face." Angel leaned in and kissed him, "so what do you wanna do now?"

He smiled you at Angel, shuddering then all of Angel's arms wrapped around him. "Hang on, hang on. Let me try something." Alex's tail lifted up slowly and coiled around Angel's leg. "Hey, I got it to work!" He said. He then proceeded to squeeze Angel's leg.

Angel laughed, "What the fuck are you doing?"

"I don't know. I'm a lizard now. I don't know how to use this thing. But I'll figure it out."

Angel kissed him, "we have time." He said.

"We do, don't we?" Alex asked, smiling up at him.

Angel smiled back at him, "yeah..."

Alex ran his claws up and down Angel's sides, caressing him. "Fuck, you're so soft."

Angel leaned in and kissed him again, "you're so warm." He said. "God I've been waiting for this. I've been dreaming of this for months" He leaned in and kissed him again, "fuck you're hot." Alex smiled at him, his cute little smile that Angel had heard for months over the phone.

He looked into his eyes and felt himself getting lost in them. They were beautiful. And they were so blue, and that spark behind them was almost hypnotic."Hey..." Alex said.

"What?" Angel asked.

"You're crying." He reached up, cupping his cheek, wiping away a few tears. "You sure you're ok?" He asked.

Angel sniffed and nodded, "I'm...I'm just happy." He said, "I'm really happy." He leaned in and kissed him again, Alex kissing him back. "That's all I want, Angie."

Angel took a deep breath, "I just...I thought I lost you forever." He looked down at him. "I didn't want to lose you. I...I still don't."

Alex touched his face, "Angie...I...may have acted rashly or quickly but... made my choice. I'm here now." He linked his hands with Angel's.

Angel looked down at their hands, "but you don't understand what you did, Alex. You're not gonna get the same chance to go back. You...you gave up everything to be here." Alex nodded. "I made a decision. It may have been hasty, it may have been stupid, but it was my decision."

"But you didn't know what you were getting into!" Angel said, his voice rising. "You don't know what you signed up for! You have no idea what you're doing here or what this place is like!"

Alex nodded and wrapped his arms around Angel. "And Charlie will help with the rest." He kissed Angel on the cheek. "It'll be ok. I promise."

Angel sighed, "Ok...I believe you."

Alex smiled at him, "good. Cause I don't wanna let you go."

"Good, cause I don't want you to."

Alex lay down on the bed, Angel lying on top of him. Angel held him, "so...you ready to tell me what happened?" Alex asked.

Angel nodded, "yeah...I'm ready." He said.

Angel began to tell his story. Every little detail he could remember. Alex listened patiently, holding Angel, and touching him gently as the spider spoke. He never interrupted him or showed any kind of emotion as Angel spoke. When he was done the lizard pulled him backward so they were both laying down, running his claws up and down on his back and shoulders, caressing him. It had been a long time since Angel felt a caress. It was alien, uncomfortable…lovely.

Alex hugged him, holding him close. "I'm so sorry, Angie," he whispered, "I'm so sorry."

Angel fists curled into the scaly shoulders they held onto, "I didn't know what to do. I couldn't fight back. I tried so hard but he just kept coming and...he wouldn't stop." He was shaking. Alex held him tight. "It's ok, Angie. I'm here. Let go."

After sobbing, crying, sniffling, and holding Alex as tight as he could, Angel fell asleep on top of him, his arms wrapped tightly around the warm reptile. He didn't dream.

Alex watched him, holding him. He stroked Angel's hair, listening to the soft sounds of his breathing. He loved the feeling of Angel on top of him. Hell. He was in hell. And this creature lying on top of him was the thing he had given it all up for.

He breathed in Angel's hair, focused entirely on the softness of his fur, and took slow deep breaths. Again. Again. Again. If he didn't, he might have broken down with the sheer weight of what he had done to get this. He didn't want that reality to set in. He wouldn't have been able to bare it.

He ran his hand down Angel's back. He had never seen someone so beautiful. He looked so peaceful, like nothing in the world could hurt him. Angel shifted slightly, his arms wrapping around Alex's chest tighter. Alex smiled and laid his head back, closing his eyes. If he was smart, he could make it.