Chapter Text
“MY BABY LOONIE TOONIE!!”
Blitzo was like a bolt of lightning, propelling into the room at supersonic speed and clinging to Loona’s shoulders as tightly as he could while being cautious over hurting her. In most circumstances, Loona would’ve pushed the imp away with a string of four-letter profanities aimed in his direction, but this time she leaned into his embrace. Bandaged paws holding onto her adoptive father as she burrowed her face into his chest, a silent fear that he’d vanish into thin air at any moment and she’d wake up back in that awful basement cell…
Millie’s herd of brothers and sisters filed into the room along with Lin and Joe, Sallie May was gushing over Verosika Mayday standing a few feet away from them while the female assassin stepped forward, placing each palm of her hand onto Loona and Blitzo respectfully.
“We’re glad y’all are safe,” Millie’s eyes reflected anything but happiness but she tried to blink it away. She swallowed hard, sucking in air sharply through her nostrils as she looked around the small room. “Was… Moxxie brought here too?”
Loona froze at the mention of the imp’s name while her father’s eyes were solely fixed on the dried blood staining the bed sheet and pillows.
“No.”
Vortex saved Loona from having to tell Millie about her husband. Blitzo still hadn’t moved.
“We don’t know where he is.”
“He just… Vanished?” Millie’s legs wobbled, Joe caught his daughter before she could fall backwards. “That can’t be true, Moxxie wouldn’t-”
“I found Loona wandering around Greed. Alone .”
“Greed?” Millie felt as if she’d been punched in the gut. Loona was found alone and wandering wounded around the Greed Ring. If Loona, the one person who hadn’t even met Moxxie’s psychotic father, had been wounded to the point where the majority of her body was covered in thick, heavy bandages, did that mean that Moxxie may have been…
She suddenly couldn't think straight, her emotions releasing into one, long and feral howl as red mist swirled around her vision. She was like a charging bull, grabbing anything she could get her hands on and giving zero fucks about the background noises screaming her name. Verosika took a step back, her Hellhound bodyguard following suit as several voices blended into one, demanding and pleading for her to stop.
“MILDRED!”
“Mils, stop!”
“We need to go there now!” Millie became unconsolable, ripping herself free from her father’s supportive arms as she backed up against one of the walls, eyes thin slits and fangs bared. That fucking snake. She was going to tear him to shreds and would make it as slow as possible so the asskissing fucker could beg her for mercy. Then she’d turn her sights on that fucking lunatic who dared to call himself Moxxie’s father. She’d finish what she’d started after that shitshow wedding the prick had organised and tried to force her husband through.
“Millie, calm the fuck down!” Blitzo snarled and the woman turned on him, all her rage directed at her boss who was still holding Loona in both arms.
“I should have killed that fucker when I was standin’ right in front of his fuckin’ face,” the shedevil spat, right into her boss’ features as she silently dared him to try and stop the rampage she was ready to inflict on every single bastard who had wronged them. All that anger seemed to quell when Blitzo didn’t even respond or shout back at her. He just gave her a look, nothing more than a blank expression as he held Loona's vulnerable form in his arms. Taking in that sight alone was enough to make her shoulders drop in defeat, which earned a collective sigh across the entire room.
“Don’t let her go to Greed.”
Everybody was shocked to hear Loona be the one to speak up after Millie’s outburst. The Hellhound gripped her father’s hand, Blitzo noticing how she tried not to wince upon clasping her paw around his palm as she stared into his eyes.
“Blitz, don’t let her go there. If they outnumber you or catch you off guard again… They’ll do the same to you.”
“Loonie, what-”
“ Please, Dad . They don't play games there and it... It hurt so much,” scarlet eyes began to well up and Blitzo could feel his heart shatter to pieces in his chest. “Moxxie was screaming for them to stop while they just laughed at him. At both of us.”
Laughing and ignoring the fact they were literally pulling off pieces of skin while she was still alive. Moxxie was the only one who cared, trying to get her to focus on him as she endured the most agonising thing she’d ever gone through in her life.
“They had the both of you?” It was now Blitzo’s turn to go frantic. “They hurt you? Did they hurt Moxxie?”
‘Hurt’ was a major understatement.
“I think maybe we should take a few moments to let everybody breathe…” Lin tried to suggest in an attempt to calm the room as it was obvious there was about to be a second outburst incoming. A murmur of agreement rang out between her children, husband and even Verosika and her Hellhound companion.
“To hell with that!” Blitzo thundered, cupping his adoptive-daughter’s fluffy face and cringing when he felt her flinch slightly under his touch. “Loonie, baby. Talk to us. What did they do ?”
Loona gripped her sheets tighter, her mouth feeling as if it were being stuffed with balls of thick cotton. Oh how she wanted to talk; to tell them exactly what those monsters had done…
How they'd ripped the nails of her claws out while letting Moxxie listen to it over the phone, how they'd ridiculed and humiliated her for being adopted by an imp. Throwing her in a damp room overnight before forcing a muzzle over her snout which cut off any attempt she had at fighting back.
“Everybody has a mother, you stupid fucking beast.”
“Ya hear what the dumb creature just said, boys?”
“You’re gonna die soon. You’re gonna die a long and painful death. Just like those other two. Just like that failure of an imp you call a fucking father.”
She shook her head, trying to blink the tears out of her eyes. Trying so hard to stop herself from quivering on the spot; fighting the sheer instinct to pull the bed sheet over her head as if that would protect her. Like a shield to provide cover under the fire of memories that would forever be burned into her brain.
“Loona, look at me! C’mon Loona!”
Oh Moxxie… I’m so sorry.
She felt her throat catch, barely even being able to let out a whimper, let alone speak at this point. Her jaw hung open, tears now rolling down her face as Blitzo’s hold on her softened and he began trying desperately to comfort her with soothing words. The same words he’d use whenever she’d flown into a temper or broken down in tears whenever he’d caught her on a bad day…
“Loona. Look at me.”
Soft. Caring. Not frantic or laced with utter terror…
Scarlet eyes flashed, ears tilted back as her father pushed his head against hers. “Breathe, sweetie. Just breathe with me. You’re going to be fine and I’ll die before I let any of them even think of trying to hurt you again.”
“B-But I…”
“-will never amount to anything much.”
“I couldn’t…”
“Good riddance, if you ask me.”
“You did amazing.”
Loona froze.
Blitzo finally looked her in the eye, repeating himself once more: “You did amazing. Holding out the way you did? Loonie, you’re incredible . You kicked those dickhead’s asses without even knowing it and do you know how?”
The Hellhound swallowed, shrugging her shoulders as her father briefly turned to glance over his shoulder and shoot Millie and the rest of the occupants inside the ward with a look that they all understood:
Game. The. Fuck. On.
Oh, they were going to regret fucking with their loved ones. That was a damned promise.
Blitzo then turned back to his daughter and smiled down at her, giving her the answer that he knew she needed to hear come from his mouth.
“You survived.”