A/N: I did a limited study on the animals and geography of the middle east for the first section, specifically focusing on Israel given that it takes place around the time of the Crusades.

Please correct me if I got animal distribution or my geography incorrect.

Also, I'm not going to be following the show's dialogue word for word. Let's just call it the butterfly effect.

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"But father-!"

"No buts, Vitae." Steel chided gently with a chuckle, kneeling down to his daughters level. Vitae, the young heterochromatic Nephilim, was holding a fully grown golden jackal in her arms that she had found in the wilds and healed from wounds sustained in a fight with a larger predator. She had been begging to keep it, and having inherited her father's stubbornness, wasn't budging. The Jackal, for his part, was just panting happily in the arms of the youthful angel. "You have to release the jackal."

"For what purpose!?" She whined, squeezing the canine. "I saved him! If we release him, he could get hurt! Or worse!"

"Vitae." Came the soft, caring voice of Lux, Steel's wife and her mother. The beautiful blonde angel came and knelt next to Steel with her wings spread wide, smoothing her robe and looking at her daughter with a firm stare. "Do not argue with your father. It is an animal in the wild. It must return."

"I do not understand why, though!" Vitae huffed.

Steel chuckled and gently bumped Lux with his elbow. "It is alright, dear. I shall teach her." Giving his wife a kiss on the cheek, he stood and moved to the door of their cliff carved dwelling and bid for Vitae to follow.

"Do not let her wander off." Lux reminded him. "That is how we got into this mess to begin with." The last part was half serious and half playful as she looked after her two Nephilim with a smile. Steel waved in return before she went back to her duties.

Once outside, Steel knelt next to Vitae. He sniffed the air and listened before his ears caught what he was looking for. "There. See?" He asked, pointing up at an outcropping, too far away to see for a mortal but nothing to the eyes of the divine. At the top was an Arabian leopard that was lounging and catching the midmorning sun as it shown down the walls of Black Canyon. Around him were three of his cubs, also lounging and trotting about as cubs do. "That is the male of their leap. The father of the cubs. The mother is out hunting. Do you know why?"

"The females hunt in the morning and the males at night." She answered simply, not understanding the point of this particular mental exercise.

"Yes. They are solo hunters, and they only catch something a third of the time. And if both parents went out hunting, something could happen to the cubs or they could both die. That is why one stays behind. That is the nature of their existence. Jackals are not that way, Vitae. Jackals mate for life. And when the mother and father both hunt, they are three times more likely than hunting alone to catch prey for their young. And this one has a mate. Do you know, therefore, what it means if the father disappears? Or the mother?"

"The remaining parent is less effective." She said, putting two and two together.

"Which means?"

"That if the cubs require milk, the mother will be less likely to have any, or the father will be unable to provide. And if they require meat, their chances of receiving it are lowered."

"And therefore…"

Vitae sighed. She was young, by both human standards and especially by divine standards. But she was much smarter than any mortal child. "That by my keeping the jackal, I am depriving his children and mate of sustenance he would otherwise obtain or assist in obtaining, and therefore putting them in jeopardy or causing them harm. And the mother is reduced in her ability to protect her young." Despite this admission, she huffed once more as her father's rebellious nature shone through yet again. "Then why do I not simply bring the family here to live with the father!?"

"Vitae…" He sighed, shaking his head as he smiled. "I understand your care and love for animals both great and small. It speaks to the Creator's glory that He has imbued you to have so much concern for their well-being. But that comes with knowing that nature has a balance. We are stewards of humanity, and they of this world. We do not bypass them and do as we wish with the Creator's beloved creatures. It is a wild animal. And while we may befriend it, we cannot tame it and dominate it as a human would. It is not our place. They must live and die in their own time. Be it the father, the mother, or the cubs. And we must let events take their course. You did well by healing it of its wounds, but only because it would have survive anyway. You merely sped things along. Otherwise, we cannot disrupt the balance."

Vitae was silent for a moment as she held the fully grown animal like it was her own child, the large canine simply panting and staring at the two of them from its back. Finally, with a groan, she set the jackal down on its paws. "Go, creature." She sighed, petting it. "Return to your young and to your mate. Survive as well as you possibly can."

The jackal understood the instruction and sentiment of the divine being and gave her face a lick of thanks before turning and trotting off towards the canyon exit. Steel gave Vitae a reassuring pat on the head and a ruffle of her hair. "Again, you did the right thing, daughter. I understand you took a liking to the creature. But it belongs where it has placed by the Creator."

"You are correct, father. Both in that it is where it belongs, and that I did take a liking to it. The latter because it reminded me of you." She admitted.

He raised a brow at that. "Of myself? How so?"

"A father that is mated for life to a mother, both of whom raise a child that they do everything together to ensure has the best life possible. Is that not an apt description?"

If Steel could blush, he would've. Instead he just smiled. "Accurate, albeit simplistic." Lux said from the doorway as she stepped outside to join them, her wings dazzlingly catching the light. "The jackal doesn't share anywhere near your fathers history or penchant for combat." She smiled as she knelt on the other side of Vitae. "But he is our protector."

"Indeed." Steel agreed with a laugh, spreading his own black wings. Lux wrapped her wings around Vitae while Steel wrapped his around Lux and Vitae both. "You are my most precious treasures. And I would do anything to protect you. Because that is the nature of my existence."

Charlie yawned and sat up, rubbing her tired eyes. Last night hadn't been a good one after the announcement of the shortened time between Exterminations. Screaming, yelling, begging, crying—it was a mess. Vaggie hadn't even come to bed, and Steel… she couldn't even find him at first. He had disappeared and then after a while she'd seen him before she went to bed, zipping around the place like a fly on crack. She wasn't able to get his attention or stop him, so she just said 'goodnight' and left.

Peeling out of her pajamas, she got her red suit on and went downstairs. As soon as she hit the bottom step, she had to hold her hair as Steel whizzed by at literally lightning speed, rushing around the room like an actual bolt of electricity. The room had changed: he'd turned it from purely aesthetic to equal part aesthetic and functional. Tactical positions, cameras, and reinforcements on the weaker parts of the walls and windows. Charlie moved through the chaos to join a very tired-looking Vaggie who was sipping on a cup of coffee and had a second one waiting, which she handed to Charlie as she sat down.

"Has he been going all night?" Charlie whispered, watching the frantic Nephilim streak around the room as she sipped her bean broth.

"Yep." Vaggie sighed, eye twitching. "Hasn't stopped. Doesn't need sleep, doesn't need food, doesn't need to smoke or drink or… whatever. I've stayed up all night trying to keep an eye on him in case he drops but I don't think he'd drop even after a month of this."

"What is he even doing?" Charlie groaned. "We don't need all this! This is just going to turn people away!"

Vaggie looked at her and raised her brow. "Armored windows, automated security, and the idea of a 4,000 year old tactical mind fortifying the shit out of the building is going to dissuade people from joining after last night?"

Charlie went to say something, realized what she had just said, and stopped. "Y-yeah… good point. It's just… they cut the time in half once. What if they do it again? And again? What if there's exterminations every day? What if all this isn't enough? If Steel does find a way home… we're—"

"Fucked." Angel Dust interjected, surprising the two. He was leaned against the back of the couch over them, watching Steel with an amused expression as he flicked through his phone. "Let's face it: you were already stretching it with this idea of 'salvation.' And now there ain't no silver linin', period." He leaned in and whispered to Vaggie, "Think he has that kind of stamina in bed…?"

"Ugh." Vaggie groaned and shoved Angel back, setting her cup down and taking Charlie's hand in hers. "Charlie. I get you're freaking out right now. A lot of us are. And right now we need to find a way to handle things. But your number one option FOR handling things is whipping around like he's just injected crack, amphetamines, and pure caffeine all at once. You're the Princess. You're a leader." She gently took Charlie's face in her hands and turned her to look at Steel. "And right now there's a soldier who needs his leader. One who chose to follow you. Show him it's the right choice."

Charlie sighed, handed her mug to Vaggie, and stood up, walking into the middle of the lightning bolts that were Steel's movement paths. "Everyone's losing their shit over this." Angel noted to Vaggie as he hopped over the back of the couch and slid down next to her. "You really think the spaz and the goody two shoes can fix things?"

"Not sure." Vaggie admitted. "But now that you mention it…" She said, placing her hand on her chin in thought. "You've given me an idea, Angel."

While her girlfriend hatched a plan, Charlie tried to nail down Steel to talk to him, but even being Lucifer's daughter didn't help her track this dizzying speed. "Steel, hey—If you could—Can you stop a—" Every time she tried to speak, he would fly right by, whipping her hair all around. Finally, with a deep breath, she lunged forward into the path of one of the lightning bolts and yelled, "STOP!" while holding out her hands and closing her eyes, bracing for impact.

But it never came. Feeling the wind rush stop in front of her and hearing the electricity dying, she opened one eye to look up at Steel. She found the olive-skinned Nephilim with an intense look on his face, his eyes wide and frantic. If he needed to breath, she was sure he'd be panting. Turning and looking at him fully, she let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding and stood up straight. "What?" He asked with a growl.

"It's just… you've been going all night, Steel." She started gently. "You should take a rest."

"I don't need rest." He pointed out. "And there's plenty to be done. I still have the front wall to reinforce, motion detectors to install, and weapons to hide."

"How did you even—where did—" She stopped and held her hands up, taking another deep breath. "Never mind. Steel. I order you to rest."

"You can't." He replied simply.

"What do you mean, I can't?!" She asked, taken aback. "We have a contract!"

"That gives you the right to dictate what is and isn't a threat, and that compels me to tell the truth, or at least not lie." He reminded her, moving past her. "Between that and no killing, you can't order me around beyond what we agreed to."

She whipped around and grabbed his shoulder before he could begin flying about again. "Just—Stop!" She yelled, turning him around. "Steel, please! Look, Vaggie told me about your fight when you got here and how you probably blame yourself, but this is an overreaction! You don't need to turn the hotel into fucking—Fort Sumpter, or something!" She let out an exasperated sigh. "Why, why is it so important to you? First of all, you HATE Demons, and second of all, you're obviously more powerful than an entire group of Exorcists! Why is this such a concern for you?! Why are you running around like your wings are on fire!?"

Now Steel was forced to answer. The contract chain glowed on his wrist and he looked at it before looking away. "… Because it wasn't just the fight. I blame myself, Charlie, because I threatened them with that fight. Used it as evidence they weren't invincible. I was arrogant, foolish, and hardheaded. As far as I know, I'm the reason they cut the time."

"Even if that was the case—" Charlie began but she was cut off as he held up a hand.

"Please. Let me finish." He said quietly. There was a bit of silence before he spoke in a low tone. "I'm frantic… because I care about you, Charlie. You look a lot like my first wife, Lux. Tall. Blonde. Powerful. Passionate. And you remind me a lot of my daughter, Vitae, when she was your age. Young. Hopeful. Kind. And a bit naïve. For some reason, who you are strikes a chord with me. One I can't ignore. And I have caused events to occur that would bring you heartache and strife. I may hate demons, and I have every right to, but you care about them. And I care about you." He tapped his head. "My mind has been racing since the announcement. I'm in my defensive mindset. All I can think of is how to prevent casualties. How to dig this place in. How to prevent my actions from affecting those I care for again."

"Again?" She repeated. Steel froze, cursing inwardly at his failure to catch himself. "What do you mean again?"

Steel turned around fully this time, refusing to look at her. At first she was worried he wouldn't answer, but then he spoke. "My first wife. My daughter. They suffered because of actions I took. I lost Lux. I nearly lost Vitae. And I don't want to lose you, who reminds me of both. Call it selfish. But that's the way it is."

She frowned at that, a bit sorrowful. "Can I ask—"

Before she could finish, he held up his hand. "No." He said curtly, before turning to look at her with a soft expression. "Miss Charlie. Please. Don't ask. I… do not think I am ready to reveal everything to you, yet. Not right now."

She nodded, disappointed but understanding. "Okay. I won't pry… but please. For my sake, don't run yourself into the ground."

"This hotel is important to you." He reminded her. "And I promised to guard it. And you."

"I know." She said, a sad smile on her face. "And I know you don't agree with what I'm doing. But I'm still thankful for your help. But that doesn't mean I want you to push yourself too hard, especially with your condition."

He was about to reply but he froze, his eyes scanning the area as he sniffed the air and his ears flexed as if searching for a sound. Suddenly, he grabbed her by the arm and pulled her close. "Get down!" He shouted, covering her with an incubus wing as the wall blew open.

"Show yourssself, Alastor!" Came the shout of one Sir Pentious from his reconstructed airship. He stopped as he looked from the hole in the wall that he had blasted haphazardly up to the balcony where Alastor actually sat. "Oh, there you are! Face my wrath!"

Alastor took a sip of his drink. "Now, now, friend, let's not be too hasty, here!"

"I am not your friend, you red sssuited freak!" Sir Pentious shot back, almost offended. "I am the Great—"

"I wasn't speaking to you." Alastor chided, never losing his smile. "I was speaking to our very irate security officer!"

Sir Pentious looked down to see Charlie, Vaggie, and Angel standing and staring behind an exceptionally angry Steel, his entire body crackling with red lightning as he resisted the urge to tear through the ship and rip Sir Pentious' hood off his head. Alastor quickly did his shadow slide down to join them, standing slight in front of Steel like one would do to hold back an angry dog. "Ah! Good, you're here too! BOTH of my rivals in one location is a sweet fortune!"

"Rival?" Alastor repeated. "Funny. I don't remember that. Or you for that matter."

"W-We've done battle over 20 times!" Pentious fumed. Alastor cocked his head to the side as he released some confused static. "We fought literally last week!"

"Oh, right! You were undone in 10 seconds by my olive-skinned friend here! You were really bad at it."

"Silence!" He shouted indignantly. "Cower, you fools! For when I once and for all slay YOU, the Vee's will finally acknowledge me as their equal!"

"Vee's?" Steel inquired, holding back Nifty who kept trying to lunge forward for a better view.

"No one important." Alastor shrugged. He sighed and looked to Steel, nodding. Upon receiving the go ahead, Steel once more shot force like a bolt from the blue towards the airship.

"Ha, not this ti—IIIIME!" Sir Pentious was thrown off balance as two giant black tentacles grabbed the ship, holding it in place. Alastor began laughing as the Nephilim shot right through it like a cannon ball, spinning around before charging again and again, creating gaping holes all over the place. Alastor decided to help further, spinning the ship to and fro so the angel had new, undamaged real estate to strike repeatedly. The egg boys splattered all over the place and Steel tore the entire vessel to ribbons before coming up through the bottom of the ship and grabbing Sir Pentious by the throat. He wasted no time slamming him through the front window and into the ground in front of the waiting crowd below.

Steel stood over Sir Pentious, holding his arms back with his foot to the snakes back, threatening to rip the limbs off if he applied any more pressure. "Ow, ow, ow! Uncle, Uncleeee!" Sir Pentious shouted.

"Uh, Steel?" Charlie objected softly, leaning around the cackling Alastor. "I think he's had enough…?"

Steel disagreed. But he was compelled to obey, so he released the snake sinner and stepped back. "Aw, c'mon, he had a few more in him." Angel scoffed, crossing both sets of arms in disappointment.

"Thank you for another forgettable experience!" Alastor said mockingly as he stepped closer and stood over the defeated snake.

"Thank… YOU… for letting your guard down!" Sir Pentious shouted, lunging forward and grabbing the tail of Alastor's jacket with his tail. He managed to tear off a piece of it, which caused him to 'aha!' in victory before the Sinner above him grew antlers and got much taller. "Oh shi—" He barely had time to exclaim before an explosion threw him into the air and sent him sailing away from the hotel.

Steel stepped back over to Charlie and the others. "Are you alright?" He inquired, looking the group over.

"I'm fine." Charlie nodded.

"Same with us." Vaggie added, indicating to her, Angel and Nifty.

"I require a trip to my tailor!" Alastor said, straightening his jacket. "I best be off! The best of luck to you, chums!"

"W-Wait, you're leaving?" Vaggie shouted, stepping forward. "Alastor, at least do your job!"

"We do kinda need a wall." Angel said, indicating to the hole.

"I'll take care of it." Steel insisted. "I need to reinforce it anyway… obviously."

"Ah, but they are correct." Alastor said with a chuckle. "Wouldn't want my newest project to fall into disrepair! The papers would scandalize it!" He snapped his fingers and a group of shadowy looking demons appeared with tools in hand. "I leave my crew to you, killer!" With that, he waved and was gone.

"Well, hello!" Angel said, standing straight and attempting to approach the demons seductively. Steel grabbed him before he made it two steps and pulled him back. "Hey!" The spider snapped indignantly.

"No distracting the workers, Angel. We have a job to do." Steel said sharply, stepping past him. "Alright, you five." He snapped his fingers to summon a scroll and quickly drew out a plan, handing it to the bigger one. "We're redoing this entire section of the building. Here's the plan. Follow it to the letter. You'll find that Alastor has provided the materials, so don't worry about that." As the demons shrugged and went to do as he asked, he sighed when he saw Angel walk over and flirt anyway. But another sound caught his ear: a whirring, like a drone. Looking up, he saw one above armed with a camera. He didn't recognize the design or the markings. But he knew it wasn't his.

With a bored expression, he withdrew Lux (the pistol) from his jacket and fired a .50 AE right through the drones camera, the silver hollow point ripping through the delicate drone electronics and destroying it immediately. He swore he felt a wave of anger ripple through the air as the drone fell to the ground, but he ignored it, sliding his pistol back into it's shoulder holster and approaching Charlie (who looked excited), Angel (who apparently admitted defeat after the cold shoulder), and Vaggie (who was looking confident) once more. "Whose drone was that?" He inquired.

"Not sure." Angel shrugged. "It's one of Voxtech's new 'voyeur' drones so it could be anybody's."

"We can worry about it later, then." Steel sighed, rubbing his eyes.

"Well, good news!" Charlie said, smiling. "Vaggie had a wonderful idea!"

"Between Alastor's protection, your diligence and upgrades, and our promise of salvation, I think now is the perfect time to try and recruit sinners." Vaggie explained, indicating around them. "I mean, think about it: either they get redeemed, if the project works, or when the Extermination comes they're in the most secure building in the Pride Ring. Probably all of Hell. It's the best hook we could've asked for."

Steel crossed his arms and leaned back on one foot, looking at Charlie. "You—YOU, Miss Goody Two Shoes every demon has a rainbow—want to fearmonger and manipulate people into joining your hotel. By using the fact that they're about to be slaughtered."

Charlie's face fell and Vaggie looked both offended and defensive. "W-well, when you put it that way—"

"Charlie, I don't like it when the Christians do it, or the Muslims do it, and I especially didn't like it when the fucking hippies did it with their 'no more nukes' nonsense. Why should we do it?"

"Because we actually mean it?" Vaggie interjected with a one armed shrug as if it were obvious. "Look, whether or not any of those groups had a point, this is different. This time the danger is clear and present. We know that the Exorcists will be back and the Extermination will happen. It's not fear mongering if it's a real threat. And we're not whipping anyone into a frenzy over it, so it's not manipulation either. It's telling the truth, and offering a potential solution. The only reason YOU don't like it is because you think we're selling false hope."

Steel sighed once more and pinched the bridge of his nose. He wanted to argue. But Vaggie was right. If he believed in the project like they did, he'd think it was a good idea. He looked up at Charlie and saw the hope in her eyes. I'd be a monster if I tried to crush that. With groan, he nodded. "Well, if that's your plan, that's your plan. But I'm running checks on anyone who comes in. I'm not just letting any stray inside."

"Deal!" Charlie agreed, brightening instantly. "I wanted you to come with anyway. It's chaotic out there."

"Wait.. you want to go now?" He asked, raising a brow. "Not even going to give it some time to calm down?"

"Have to strike while the iron's hot!" She said cheerily. "C'mon, it'll be fun!"

He sighed again. He wanted to stay and observe the labor. But he knew if they were Alastor's servants, they'd do a fine enough job. And he could always redo anything they got wrong. "Alright, just let me go get into a more appropriate outfit…" No way I'm going out without my armor, powered or not.

Semira. Was. Pissed. This place sucked. Dark, dreary, and corpse filled with drug addicts and hookers on every corner and down every alley. And almost no fire whatsoever. Absolutely nothing like the Hell she was from: it was dark, sure, but not oppressive. It wasn't dreary to her since she liked the torture and screams. There weren't corpses—those who died were only demons and they got eaten fairly quickly. And the succubi were much more controlled in their lusts than begging for coin on the corners to get their rocks off.

The worst part was she didn't have her poisons. She'd used most of them in the fight, having packed light due to having her four-ace hand of Gravis, the void orb, the Hydra acid, and the Angel's bane. As much as she bitched out Steel for being arrogant, she'd come to realize her own arrogance had bit her in the ass and she ended up here as a result.

The only good thing was that she was much more powerful than these pitiful demons, meaning she could bully and push them around like nothing. She'd encountered a dino looking demon the other day who tried to get pushy, apparently some sort of 'overlord' in this place, and promptly knocked her on her ass. A little threat and she'd made it clear she wasn't one to be trifled with. But she drew attention to herself, and that wasn't good for someone in her line of work.

So she hid instead. Found an abandoned home (there were plenty of those, if you got rid of the bodies), set up a small safe house, and began scouring for any sort of supplies she could find. The available weapons she found were of low quality, but since she was unarmed otherwise she made do. The poison was what truly lacked in this place. No hydra blood, no basilisk eye squeezings, and none of the plants she knew. But she took heart in this: that also meant Steel couldn't find a cure either.

Steel. The one that got away. The very thought made her furious: she was Semira Auros, the Whispering Blade! No one escaped. But she knew he'd die here. Whether from the poison that now infected his body or the Wrath that would burn him from the inside out. It didn't bother her that she wouldn't see it. She never planned to. What bothered her… is that she underestimated him. She promised not to let that happen again if she ever made it out of here.

But unfortunately, she had no idea how she would go about doing that. And she couldn't ask Strife for help: he'd be more likely to string her up and bleed her out to try and get a cure. But that didn't mean she couldn't piggyback on whatever progress he would make on the subject, since she knew for a fact he'd be looking, too. He couldn't abandon his precious wife and his darling daughter.

The very thought of it made her sick: an assassin like him, one of the best, even for a Nephilim, settling down. First with an angel, where he had an even further diluted Nephilim daughter. And then, a few decades ago, with a mortal that he ensured wouldn't remain mortal, where he had another abominable Nephilim son. Granted, both of his children were powerful and not even she would deny that. His daughter was a powerful guardian angel with near mastery of hard light and healing, and his son was a dedicated scholar and magician with absolute mastery over spatial and temporal manipulation.

But neither of them could help their father or her from where they were. This was the Void: only The Creator or high-level angels and demons could reach here but they'd have to know it even existed. Another void orb could get her out, but someone on the other side would have to use it and find a way to keep it open. So for the moment, Steel was absolutely her best bet… provided he didn't up and die. If anyone can find a way to tear through dimensions, it's that stubborn bastard. She thought to herself. He just has to not be a moron.

Of course when all was said and done, she still had one major hurdle to her little plan involving the Nephilim: she couldn't fucking find him!

For a week, a damn week! She had searched for the damn Nephilim and still had yet to locate him. She could feel him near but was never able to actively track him. She found his blood and an obvious battle ground after a day but she lost the trail. His scent was different now that he didn't have his angel blood, and the blood trail ended at a pile of broken eggs and shell casings. A vehicle took him, but it wasn't powered by any power source she had seen or could track. So she had no choice but to do some old-fashioned footwork.

Which is how she found herself walking amongst these lowly lifeforms who dared called themselves 'demons'. Vile, disgusting, absolutely horrendous abominations who didn't deserve the title. She'd heard the majority were called 'sinners' and that they were just that. Human 'souls' who were sent to hell when they died. She'd learned they were considered unkillable. She had yet to test this theory but the way the day was going she just might.

The last 24 hours had been a madhouse: ever since their yearly 'extermination', which she had learned meant 'angels' coming down and killing sinner souls (as they were apparently the only ones that could), was moved up to six months from now instead, the streets had been absolutely chaotic and discordant. Fighting, fucking, drugging, all of which were to extents that would make true demons of excess shake their heads in annoyance and disbelief. It was a paradox to her: they were taking advantage of the fact they couldn't die and could do whatever they wanted… because they thought they were going to die.

It was this chaos that she found herself in now, having to shove aside multiple demons just to try and make headway through the crowd to try and find her ride home. Not to confront him, but hopefully to stalk him and track him. Or even work with him if he was amicable to it. She did hold his salvation to his poison problem, after all. If only she could—

She was stopped by a hand on her shoulder, turning to find a much taller demon lady, even paler than she was, smiling down at her. "Hi!" She said cheerily. "Have you ever thought about the idea of Salvation?"

Semira pulled herself from the demon's grip and crossed her arms, looking her up and down. Thin, lithe, young, bubbly… she wasn't a Sinner. And she wasn't any of the other lesser 'demons' she'd seen. She was unique. She possessed a certain glow to her. One she couldn't recognize but neither could she shake it off. Almost like… She shook her head. It was impossible. There was no Light in this Creator forsaken place. "No."

"Well… you should!" She said, smile growing wider but less confident. "At our Hotel, you can pursue Salvation! A chance to be redeemed and go to Heaven! We have top notch security, an amazing staff, and room to spare!"

Semira wanted to laugh. To cackle, to chortle, to lose it at this insipid idea. Redemption? For sinners IN hell? It's foolish! Disgustingly stupid! But she was a master assassin. She kept her calm, as she trained to do. "I'm not a pathetic Sinner, girl." She said, calm yet with more than a little snark. "I do not require your meagre attempts at whatever you consider to be salvation. Begone." With that, she turned and walked away, not willing to entertain this delusional girl any longer.

She heard her sighed and walk a short distance away and begin speaking. The conversation didn't really interest her… until she heard it. Until she heard him. Immediately taking the cover available, she peeked out. And there he was: her quarry. He looked worse for wear: burned out and just burned, the wounds of their battle still present on his armor. But he didn't see or sense her. If he did, it'd be a confrontation and he wasn't making any sort of moves. As they talked, he seemed to show deference to the taller demon girl, looking at her with a sense of… caring, that looked to her eyes to be unbecoming of an assassin like him, and he certainly didn't look at the shorter ashen demon the same way. A weakness to exploit. Semira thought happily to herself. As they moved away, the taller demon girl looking dejected and Steel looking disheartened from it, she moved with them. She'd found her prey. Now to find his lair… and his soft spot.

The door to the hotel flew open and Charlie walked in, flanked by Vaggie and Steel. As Charlie flopped over the side of the couch, Steel observed the progress of the repairs. With it having been six hours, he expected them much further along. As he began cursing in Arabic, Angel looked to the two ladies. "So…? How'd it go?"

"Not a single new recruit." Vaggie said with a sigh.

"Yeah, well, aside from the angry Arab assassin over there, who wouldn't want to use their last days for fuckin' and fightin'?"

Before either Charlie or Vaggie could retort, there was a knock. The fallen angel went to the door and opened it to find the much taller Sir Pentious, hat in hand, looking cheerful. "Why, helloooo, my dear!" He announced quite brightly, smiling wide… until he socked in the face. He barely had time to put his hat on after rubbing his sore nose before Vaggie put a spear in his face. "Wait, wait, wait!" He begged as he fell on his back. With the white haired lady standing over him, he put his hands up. "I come in peace!" He insisted, throwing up dual peace signs.

"What are you doing here?" Vaggie growled, eye narrowing. Before she could do anything and he could answer, Charlie came around the corner.

"Vaggie? What's the problem?" She asked tiredly. Upon seeing Sir Pentious, she brightened up. "Oh! Hello!"

"I-I'm not here to fight!" Sir Pentious said, slithering back a bit and sitting straight. "I heard you were… helping people? People who want to be better?"

The princess' face lit up immediately as she rushed forward to embrace the snake. "You heard right!" She grabbed him and began walking him inside. "Welcome to our house of healing! Our resort of restoration! Our—"

"Our incredibly secure location designed to keep people like HIM out." Steel said, stepping in front of her along with Angel Dust.

"Charlie, did you FORGET he tried to kill us, like, six hours ago!?" Angel Dust objected.

"I strenuously oppose bringing in the man who blew our wall open." Steel grunted, sniffing. "Especially one as violent as him."

"That's the point!" She said happily. "This is a place of second chances! And who deserves one more than him?"

"Hm, how about the good people that were just ignorant? Or the backsliders? Or maybe any Fallen Angels living down here?" Steel suggested, an edge creeping into his tone.

"I mean, maybe? But c'mon, he's just a… slithery, slippery, special little guy?"

As Vaggie joined Steel, Angel stepped in between the two of them and Charlie. "You two are supposed to protect this place! You can't let this just happen."

Vaggie looked to Charlie and, seeing her massive puppy dog eyes, sighed. "I… guess he's not much of a threat without his war machines."

"Damn right." Steel muttered.

"Then it's perfect!" Charlie insisted, stepping up to Steel face to face. "He isn't a threat! You said so yourself! SOOO, that means you let him in!"

The Nephilim's eye twitched but Charlie had a point: he himself had declared it, and with the contract, he couldn't say no now. Doesn't mean I'm just going to let it happen. He stepped past her and up to Sir Pentious, extending his left hand. "Steel Strife. Head of security."

Sir Pentious and straightened up, giving a smile as he shook Steel's hand. "Sir Pentious. Nice to meet—" He was cut off as Steel pulled him close. Uncomfortably close.

"Charlie trusts you. That's enough for me." He whispered. "But you break that trust… I can't kill you. But I can do a lot of damage." He gave his own smile and gave Sir Pentious' chest a few friendly pats. "Okay, pumpkin~?" He released the snakes hand and turned around, walking back inside. "I'm going to go focus on the revamps. Let me know if you need me."

As the assassin walked away, he heard them conversating. Charlie was giving him a tour, Angel was bitching like normal, and Vaggie was doing her job of keeping everyone in order. But as soon as he was up the stairs, walking past Alastor who exchanged a nod with him, Steel pulled out what he had managed to sleight of hand off the snake during their close encounter. He found a video watch, a rather bulky on at that rate, and some 'hidden' cameras, also bulky.

With a growl, he crushed the electronics in his grip before using a bit of fire to burn the evidence, dusting the ashes off. Espionage, hm? Well… fitting for a snake. Too bad for you, I authored the damn book on the subject. Steel didn't let it distract him, focusing on his work of renovating the building to be siege proof. All the while, however, he was planning a contingency for Charlie's new pet project. Or three. Or five.

And all the while, he was observed through the windows at a distance by one very interested demoness. Who couldn't help but chuckle at how pathetic she found the whole ordeal.