Chapter Text
Sent back to Hell, all while Emily pleaded with her not to give up.
Those pleas fell on deaf ears. Charlie couldn't focus on anything else. Adam just dropped a bomb on top of her entire world.
Vaggie was a fallen angel. The girl she had been dating, the girl she had kissed, the girl she had slept beside, the girl she had confided in, the only person who truly… truly believed in her ability to rehabilitate her people used to be someone who flew down once a year to slaughter them.
Was it all a ploy this whole time? Was Vaggie only helping out with the hotel so she could make her way back to heaven?
Charlie wanted to believe that wasn't true but she couldn't be certain now. Could she trust Vaggie?
The fallen angel clearly hadn't trusted her enough to tell her who she really was.
That realization broke her. Even if Vaggie believed in the hotel, even if she really did care for Charlie, she didn't care enough… not enough to be honest with her.
Charlie was devastated. She didn't know Vaggie at all. To her, Vaggie was a sinner who didn't deserve to be there. In reality, Vaggie was an angel who actually wasn't supposed to be in Hell.
By this point they had landed back in Hell, in the lobby of the hotel, right where they had left.
Everyone else; Angel, Husk, Niffty, Pentious, and Cherri were all out at a club still. She had seen as such while in heaven.
Alastor… well, truth be told, she had no idea where the Radio Demon was.
And then there was…
"Vaggie" Charlie whispered.
The ex-angel in question was next to her. As soon as Vaggie gathered herself she looked to her left to see Charlie on her knees leaning forward almost like she was about to fall forward, slamming her face into the ground.
The far off look in Charlie's eyes, the distraught expression on her face, made Vaggie worried that she had fucked up.
"Charlie?" She asked, quietly.
Meanwhile, Charlie was still in her head.
Why wouldn't Vaggie tell her? Why would Vaggie lie like that?
Her father was a fallen angel. She was technically half fallen-angel. Vaggie had to know that Charlie would accept her.
She had to know that Charlie wouldn't see her the same way she saw Adam or the other angels.
Oh… fuck. All of a sudden, Charlie remembered exactly what Adam had told her.
"Charlie?" Vaggie tried again, gently putting her hand on the Princess's shoulder.
Adam was going to come for the hotel. The first target of Heaven's genocide would be the Hazbin Hotel.
They were coming for the hotel.
She would be spared thanks to the deal her father made with the exterminators.
But everyone else. Then, she thought back to everyone else.
Angel; the first sinner she had recruited for the hotel. The same one who, despite having stood up to Valentino, relapsed tonight.
Sir Pentious; her second patron who despite staying at the hotel for a little while, hadn't made much real progress.
Niffty; the hotel's maid who Charlie couldn't even comprehend how to begin to redeem.
Husk; their resident bartender who didn't even want to be a part of her redemption plan. He was only here because Alastor was forcing him.
Alastor; her sadistic Radio Demon business partner who only happened to be here to watch her fail.
She thought of even more people she knew.
Katie Killjoy; the news anchor who humiliated her on live television.
Cherri Bomb; a sinner who had aided in Angel's relapse tonight.
Vox; Alastor's rival who seemed to be plotting against her.
Valentino; Angel's boss who she was unable to help him stand up to.
Lucifer; her father who helped get the meeting in heaven set up in the first place. Despite this, it was clear he still didn't believe in her redemption plan.
Lillith; her mother. The very same one who hadn't spoken to her in seven years.
"Charlie?" Vaggie tried again with more concern this time. She shook her girlfriend's shoulder, clearly very worried.
There was one person she would've trusted to help her protect them all from heaven's assault; Vaggie. But, now she wasn't confident she could trust Vaggie.
She was an angel, something that didn't bother Charlie. More importantly, Vaggie was someone that didn't trust her.
How could she trust Vaggie to help her? How could she protect the hotel? How could she save her friends?
The answer Charlie came up with was… that she couldn't. She couldn't protect the hotel. She couldn't save her friends… not anymore.
Her dream failed. There was no saving her people.
"Charlie… come on!" Vaggie was shedding a few tears as she worried for Charlie and their relationship.
Charlie remained where she was. Her knees digging into the lobby's carpet.
Vaggie moved in to hug her. Her arms wrapped around Charlie. "I'm so sorry Charlie. I-I didn't want you to know and… I think maybe that sounds horrible but I just… I'm so sorry."
Charlie didn't react to the hug; something she normally loved. Vaggie realized this and pulled away just as quickly as she had initiated the contact.
"Charlie! Charlie, please! I… I still believe in your dream. You can save these people. I… I still care about you!" Vaggie pleaded.
Charlie slowly stood up from her position on the ground. Vaggie scrambled up from the floor at a much faster pace. "Charlie? Are you okay?"
The Princess of Hell was barely able to speak. "I… I just want to go to bed." It was a whisper, one that revealed to Vaggie just how broken Charlie currently was.
"Come on… Charlie we have to… to talk about this!" Vaggie insisted.
Charlie stayed quiet for a second.
"Please, let's talk." The ex-angel insisted.
"What's there to talk about Vaggie?" Charlie asked, her voice quiet and damaged. Tears were threatening to spill.
"I… I would understand if you were mad at me. I-I should have told you. I just…" Vaggie couldn't find the words.
"I don't know if I'm mad. I don't… I don't know what I feel. The only thing I do feel is… like a failure." Charlie replied, still quiet.
Vaggie choked back a sob. "You're not a failure."
"Really? Because… no one is going to be redeemed in time for the next extermination. It's only… it's only one month away and… I haven't saved a single soul!" Charlie exclaimed.
"But you still can!" Vaggie wiped away a few of her tears. "I believe in you."
"How can I trust that!?" Charlie exclaimed, her own tears spilling now. "You didn't trust me! You couldn't tell me that you were an angel!" Charlie exclaimed.
"That doesn't change who I am!" Vaggie argued.
"I know it doesn't!" Charlie argued back. "I don't care that you're an angel or that you were an… exterminator! I'm upset that you didn't tell me!"
The former exterminator remained silent.
"The only person who has truly believed in my ability to rehabilitate these sinners is someone who has only been able to do the opposite!"
Vaggie fell from Heaven for her refusal to take part in further extermination. Charlie wanted to save people from it by removing them from Hell.
Vaggie was still quiet, she looked to the ground in shame. She may have just ruined one of the best things about her life; her relationship with Charlie.
"The only person who believed in me has proved to me that even if I somehow redeem my friends… they could just as easily fall back down here!" Charlie continued.
"The person I love lied to me and has shown me that my dream is impossible!" Charlie was crying hysterically now.
Vaggie looked like she wanted to say something but… she couldn't. The words died on the tip of her tongue.
Charlie turned around, tears still pouring from her eyes, rolling down her rosy cheeks.
She was intent on running up to one of the guest rooms to sleep. She would allow Vaggie to stay in their shared room.
On her way out of the room however, she bumped into Alastor as he entered the lobby. She mumbled a quick apology before continuing to sprint for the hotel stairs.
"Uh oh! Something seems to be troubling our darling Princess." Alastor observed with his usual creepy smile plastered on his face.
He continued to walk into the hotel lobby with his microphone cane in hand.
Vaggie quickly made sure to wipe all her tears away. The Radio Demon wouldn't see her crying. She wouldn't let him.
"You don't think I noticed that, shit fucker!" Vaggie replied.
The Radio Demon stopped next to her and bent forward at the waist to get a closer look at Vaggie's features.
"Of course you noticed!" Alastor exclaimed in all-too-happy tone. "I was just curious if you knew what the cause of her emotional distress might be!"
Being entirely honest was not on the table. Alastor was the Radio Demon. Whatever he found out about her was something he could use.
However, Vaggie also thought it unwise to lie and blame Charlie's pain on someone else.
Vaggie hesitated before replying. "I… I've done something terrible." Was the answer Vaggie decided on.
"Ha ha ha ha ha!" Alastor chuckled.
Vaggie growled. "What's so funny about that?" Normally the ex-angel would point her spear at Alastor to get her point across but… something about wielding that Spear didn't feel right. It was the same one she promised to use to protect Charlie but things were different now that Charlie knew that she used to kill demons with it.
She didn't feel comfortable wielding it at that moment.
"Well, of course you've done something terrible. That comes with being a lowly sinner. That's why we're in hell after all!" Alastor answered.
Vaggie's frown only grew. 'If only he knew.' She thought.
"It has nothing to do with being a sinner." It was Vaggie's way of deflecting but oddly… it was a true statement.
"Well I do hope you and Charlie are able to sort things out. The success of this very hotel depends on your dynamic as owner and manager." Alastor stated. "As partners." He continued.
Vaggie deflated like a balloon. Alastor was right.
That was why Charlie was so upset. If she and Charlie don't work well together, if she doesn't support Charlie's dream, if she doesn't allow herself to be fully honest with Charlie, then… the hotel won't succeed.
It's exactly why Charlie believed herself to be a failure.
Vaggie was the only thing holding Charlie's dream together.
Vaggie could only say one thing. "Fuck!"