Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Chapter 1: The Choice

“Wow! That took way longer to get back here than expected…” said Moxxie walking through their apartment doors.

Millie smiled down at the ground as they walked into the apartment after the Sinsmas party.

She was nervous as she had not told Moxxie yet the news that could potentially change their lives.

As Millie walked through the apartment she looked around at their living room. From the size to the neighbors they could hear screaming upstairs…could this be a good place to raise a kid? Should it?

“I am beat…let’s go to bed babe.” said Moxxie as he began to walk over to the bedroom.

Before Millie could follow, she suddenly felt a similar wave of nausea she felt hours ago when they were in the human world.

Millie rushed to the toilet and just made it to the bowl as she began to puke for the second time today.

Moxxie followed right behind his wife and gently rubbed her back as she continued vomiting for another few seconds.

“Sweetie…maybe we should call a doctor. You’ve been sick all day and I just think-”

“Mox!” Millie exclaimed as she shot her head straight up from the toilet bowl and turned to look directly in her husband's eyes. “I need to tell you something…”

Stolas handed the last of the newly cleaned dishes over to Blitz. It had taken hours, but the pair had finally cleaned up the last of the dirty dishes. Loona was fast asleep in her room and the night was finally slowing down now that all the party guests had left.

“So…what did you think of your first Sinsmas?” Blitz asked Stolas with a smile.

The former royal grinned and chuckled at Blitz’s cheeky way of asking him such a simple question.

“I must say, it was quite an experience like today,” said Stolas. “I can’t help but wonder what will be in store next year.”

Blitz chuckled.

“Hopefully it will involve less of your crazy fucking ex relatives turning into giant ice monsters who try to kill us.”

Stolas smiled.

Stolas thought for a moment. Should he bring up the kiss from earlier? What about the hug on the outside balcony that Stolas had regrettably failed to reciprocate? He wasn’t even sure where to start.

“Blitz I-” Stolas began, but Blitz was headed towards the bathroom.

“Be right back Stols, I just need to empty out the trash….”

Stolas sighed and began to put away a few glasses and plates they’d just finished drying.

“Holy Shit!”

Stolas nearly dropped one of Blitz’s horse mugs as he was surprised by Blitz’s sudden exclamation.

Stolas turned around to see Blitz standing at the door with a small plastic trash bag in one hand and a pregnancy test box in the other.

“Oh my…” were the only words that Stolas could muster as he saw the box.

“Sooooo…you’re pregnant…” Moxxie said lying next to his wife on their bed.

They were lying flat on their backs with their teeth clenched and eyes glued to the ceiling. Neither of the pair looked at one another, but that also didn’t stop M&M from holding hands with one another.

“Yupppp…” Millie answered with a voice that was a mixture of fake enthusiasm, fear, and pure shock.

The two sat in silence for what felt like hours though in reality could not have been more than 30 seconds.

Moxxie took a deep breath and prepared to be the first of the two to break the awkward silence.

“Millie, I love you and I will support whatever you wanna do.”

Millie took a similar deep breath and replied.

“I just don’t know what to do Mox…I mean look at our lives. Can we really support a kid right now?”

“I don’t know.” Moxxie replied “Would you want to get an abortion then? It’s up to you.”

Millie sighed again for what had to be the umpteenth time today.

“I don’t know. It feels like some kind of crazy ass game of volleyball in my brain when I think of our options. Like one minute I am thinking we can do this and then the other minute…I just don’t know what to do.”

Moxxie held Millie close to her as he felt tears from his wife begin to soak their sweater.

Moxxie softly hummed the tune of the first song he ever wrote for her as he rubbed his wife’s back.

“I don’t know either…” he whispered.

“Blitz, you need to calm down.” Stolas said as he watched his friend…boyfriend perhaps…no friend…pace back and forth in the living room.

“Who could the father be? My poor baby. When did she find out? Is she scared to tell me? How are we gonna afford this? Oh Satan, did I make her think she could not come to me? What do we-”

“Blitz!” Stolas exclaimed, stopping Blitz in his tracks.

Stolas walked over to Blitz and put a hand on his shoulder.

“I am sorry for yelling darling, but you need to breathe. In…and out….”

Blitz followed Stolas’ lead in terms of the breathing exercise and felt a tiny bit less anxious than he had a minute ago.

“It could have been negative, you know?” Stolas said. “It is only the box…”

Blitz nodded.

“You’re right…it’s just. Things have been so good with us lately. She’s been calling me dad, taking more of an interest in the family business, and just even today alone…I’m just worried. Worried for her and my potential grandchildren and just that I can’t give her the support she needs or that I think things are better than they are and she’s keeping something like this from me and that I made her feel she needed to and…ughh I just don’t know Stolas.”

Before Stolas could answer, Blitz and Stolas turned their heads to see Loona looking tired and walking out of her bedroom.

“Hey, Can you keep it the fuck down please? Some of us are trying to sleep?” Loona said.

Before Loona could talk more, Blitz rushed over to hug his daughter.

“Ohh Loonie my baby girl. It’s ok. I know all about it and you won’t go through this all alone?”

Loona's ears shot up in shock and concern.

“Wait, you know about it?”

Blitz looked up with a mixture of shock and fear.

“Yes honey. I know about the baby and I promise-”

“WAIT WHAT?” Loona yelled. “I AM NOT FUCKING PREGNANT!”

“You’re…you’re not?” Blitz asked.

Loona raised her eyebrows and shook her head.

“Nope. Why the hell did you think that?”

Stolas took this moment of silence to speak up.

“Blitz found a box for a test in the bathroom and thought that it was yours.’

Loona looked at Blitz and Stolas confused and shrugged.
“Nope. Maybe it was Gigi and it was negative or maybe it was positive? I don’t know, but I know it wasn’t mine.” Loona exclaimed.

The Next Morning, Millie and Moxxie were awoken by a knock at the front door.

The pair got up and began to walk towards the unexpected disturbance coming from their apartment’s hallway.

Millie opened it and looked at who was on the other side in shock.

“Ma…Sallie May…what are you doing here?” Millie asked with confusion and tiredness in her voice.

Before Millie and Moxxie stood Millie’s mother and sister. Millie’s mom, Lin, looked at her with a worried grin and crossed arms while Sallie May looked nervous and was trying to avoid her sister’s glare at all cost.

“We were just in the neighborhood baby and thought we’d take ya out to breakfast.” Lin said after giving her daughter a hug that felt a little more tight than her mom’s usual hugs.

Out of her Mom’s sight, Millie and Sallie May began to have a silent conversation at Millie mouthed to her sister: “Did you blab?”

Sallie May quickly mouthed back “I’m sorry.” before her mother ended the hug and gestured Millie out the door with barely a hello and goodbye to her son in law.

“I guess I’m going out honey…see you soon.” Millie called quickly before the door was shut.

Moxxie stood alone in the apartment with just his thoughts and feelings as he contemplated the last few moments of his life and then the last 24 hours.

He and Millie still had not come to a decision and the clock was ticking.

Back at Blitz’s apartment, Stolas and Loona were seated in the living room along with Blitz.

Before them sat three different pregnancy tests.

All negative.
“Well that was a fucking complete waste of time.” Loona said deadpanned.

She did not know what was worse.

The fact that Blitz made her take a test just in case or the fact that he made Stolas and himself take one as well…even though it was impossible.

“Well now we know for sure that no one here is pregnant.” Blitz said satisfied with himself.

Loona rolled her eyes.

“Look Dad it was probably Gigi or something. I’ll even text her. Can I please just go back to sleep? It’s the weekend and I wanna sleep in.”

Blitz nodded in defeat.

“Yeah sure. Sorry Loonie. I’m just glad everything is ok. You’d tell me if there was something going on right?”

Loona gave her dad a smile.

“Yes. I promise. Now I am going back to bed. I’ll see you all at dinner.”

Loona rushed off to her room as Blitz grabbed the tests and threw them all away.

He then went over to Stolas on the couch and sat next to him.

“Well this has been a surprising morning…” Stolas said, breaking the tension.

Blitz sat for a moment in silence and then spoke up.

“Yeah. I’m just glad we now know that everyone here is not pregnant and we can go back to our lives.”

Stolas smiled a sad grin.

“Yeah…back to our lives.”

Blitz looked up sadly.

“Oh I’m sorry. Everything that happened. I guess this kind of derailed us from talking more about…”

Blitz trailed off not sure how to or if he should bring up Octavia again. Was it the right time? Would it ever be the right time?

They’d talked a little on the balcony the night before, but should he bring Stolas’ daughter up again and so soon? Would talking even help in this scenario.

Stolas changed the subject.

“Umm what if we watched a movie. Wasn’t there something with a horse you wanted to show me?” Stolas asked, gesturing towards the TV in front of them.

Blitz suddenly lit up.

“Ohh yeah. Oh trust me birdie, you’re gonna love this one. So there's this one horse who is kind of a loner and…”

As Blitz trailed off and began to get everything for the movie ready, Stolas looked down at Blitz’s phone to see a message from an unknown number.

Blitz had said that Stolas could use his phone until he got Stolas his own, but did not think it was right for him to snoop. However, Stolas saw that the first line of the text said his name and he got curious.

Stolas opened up the message and began to read:

Hey Stolas,
This is Vassago. I am sorry about what happened at the palace yesterday. I heard your ex brother-in-law talking about it and I’m here for you as a friend if you need it. Got this number from Oz btw. Said I could probably use it for the time being.
I know that you at least need your meds and while I can’t do too much for you in terms of money and status at the moment, I can at least try to help with getting you your prescription again. Below is your new pharmacy address. Your healthcare is gonna take a little longer compared to before, but at least now you can get your meds again.
Don’t be a stranger.
-Vassago

Stolas read the email a few more times and sighed in relief.

He was glad he could at least be back on his medication now.

“What are you looking at Stolas?” Blitz asked curiously as he held a DVD and a bowl of freshly popped popcorn.

It did not matter that it was still morning, a movie like this deserves a special movie themed treat like popcorn in Blitz’s eyes.

“Oh Vassago texted me. He was able to help get my meds back. To be honest he is one of the few Goetia that knew about my medications. Isn’t it nice that he offered to help?” Stolas said with a smile.

“That’s fucking awesome!” Blitz said, though Stolas could have sworn he heard hints of guilt and maybe a little…jealousy…in the imp’s voice.

That thought was swiftly disregarded though as Blitz began the movie and animatedly discussed everything he knew about the lore before the opening credits could even begin.

Stolas smiled at Blitz as they cuddled up with one another and began to watch the flick.

“I can’t believe you Sal!” Millie exclaimed once they were seated alone together at the outdoor cafe down the street.

Lin was over at the food cart grabbing the girls some breakfast and beverages while Sallie May and Millie were seated at a colorful picnic table just out of ear shot of Lin.

“How many times can I say I am sorry until you forgive me? She cornered me after the call and just started guessing and the closer she got to the truth the more anxious I got and ughhh I don’t know..it just slipped out.” Sallie May said apologetically.

Millie sighed.

She knew how Lin could be when she could sense one of her children were in danger.

Danger…just another thing to worry about regarding the life growing inside her.

Before Millie could respond, Lin walked over with a tray of food and drinks.

“Alright girls.” Lin said passing around different plates with food on them. “Sallie I got you the bbq bacon breakfast burger and some orange energy juice, I got a coffee and a breakfast burrito, and Millie for you I got some water and a nice fruit salad with whole wheat waffles on the side.”

Mille frowned as she looked at the differences in culinary choices between her and her mom and sister.

She knew her mom was looking out for her and potential future grandkid, but in all honesty Millie could really go for a breakfast burrito or a burger or anything with meat on it.
The girls all nibbled on their food and sat in awkward silence.

The elephant in the room was obvious, but no one seemed to want to say anything…especially Millie.

Finally after a few minutes of munching on their individual breakfast platters, Lin looked over at Sallie.

“Sal hon, do you mind giving your sister and I a moment alone?” Lin asked pleadingly.

Sallie quickly nodded and rushed off with her orange juice as she’d already had finished her burger.

Lin and Millie looked at one another for another moment of silence until Millie finally spoke up.

“I know you know about the baby Ma.” she said.

Lin nodded to her daughter.

“Yeah. I’m sorry honey. I was just worried about you and maybe I should have let you just come to me, but your sister told me you were so unsure about everything and I just wanted to help…”

Millie smiled at her mother.

“I know Ma. I just…I don’t know what I want to do and everything…everything with you know who came rushing back…”

Lin nodded.

It felt like yesterday Millie mom had picked up her daughter from the hospital after she’d miscarried a baby. A child Lin had no idea Millie was pregnant with and whose father was Chaz, Millie’s ex boyfriend who’d caused this horrible accident. Or at least how she saw it.

Millie had told her mother that if she had not tried to run after Chaz after he freaked out and broke up with her immediately after Millie told him she was pregnant and she did not know what to do, then maybe she wouldn’t of fallen down the staircase and had to have an ambulance called on her. Chaz was already off on a bus off to Satan knows where in whatever ring he decided to go off to. But Lin always resented Chaz for that and ever since then had side eyed all of Millie’s boyfriends including Moxxie.

Though as much as Lin did not wanna admit it, Moxxie was one of Millie’s better partners and she knew at the very least he cared for her daughter so much.

It seemed Millie was reading her mind because she continued with.

“I know Moxxie isn’t Chaz and that is just the thing. I remember how I felt after what happened and I know when you have a miscarriage you’re supposed to be sad, but in all honesty…I felt some relief. I was not ready to be a mom then.”

“And what about now? Is this something you want?” Lin asked Millie.

Millie sighed again and looked up at Lin.

“It’s just so unexpected and I thought when Mox and I would have kids someday we’d be ready. We do want kids, but is this the right time for that…”

Lin nodded.

“Sweetie, no one can tell you when the right time or wrong time is to have a family. That is something you can only know for yourself and your life. But if you ask me I think having a child with your husband would be astronomically better than having a child with Chaz. But that choice is yours and I know whatever you choose your husband will support you. I may not always think as highly of Moxxie as I know you want me to be and sometimes I do worry about you and if he is the right man for you, but I do think that he will support you and love you no matter what. Something I never saw in Chaz. “ Lin said.

Millie nodded.

“Do you think if I wanted to keep the baby that I’d be a good mama?” Millie asked.

Lin chuckled and smiled a thousand watt smile at her daughter.

“Honey, I would not worry for a second about your parenting skills. You are hard working, caring, resourceful, and ready to defend those you love without a moment's notice. Those are all things that make up not only my beautiful eldest daughter, but a good parent. It ain't always easy and it ain’t always gonna be sunshine and happiness, but if this is something you want then I want you to know your family has your full support.” Lin said, holding her daughter's hands.

Millie smiled a teary smile.

“Thank you mama.”

“You are welcome baby.”

Millie and Lin continued to discuss some of the logistics of childcare in Hell as well as what Millie should and should not eat. Sallie May eventually came back over and then continued their conversation until Millie decided she needed to go home.

She had to talk to Moxxie.

Millie and her family members parted ways at the bus stop as Millie walked upstairs to her apartment.

Once she got inside, she was greeted with a breakfast neatly placed on a picnic blanket in the middle of the living room along with a jug of water and what had to be all the pillows in their apartment.

Moxxie was standing in the middle of the room with a small tray of snacks that he had placed down along with some eggs and turkey bacon.

“I…I looked up what was good for you to eat, but I also knew you’d probably be craving meat unless the baby doesn’t like meat or should we not…I mean…I…” Moxxie began stuttering nervously.

Millie walked up to Moxxie and was about to speak when Moxxie helped her sit down among the pillows on top of the blanket and began what she knew had to be a speech he must have practiced a billion times since she’d left hours ago.

“Millie, again I love you and support whatever decision you make. I just want to take care of you and I will be here for you no matter what. I just need to emphasize that.”

Millie smiled and looked at her husband with adoration.

“I’m so glad to hear you say that…do you remember when I told you about how Chaz and I broke up and I fell down the steps chasing him to the bus stop and hurt myself and that was what made me hate him so much…well that was only half true.”

Millie then continued to explain the full story of what happened. She watched as her husband’s expressions changed from curious to worried to pissed on her behalf to just sad. Sad that his wife had to go through something like that and sad & sorry that he could not think of anything to really help make her feel better. Well all except.

“Thank you for telling me honey. I know that couldn't have been easy and I want you to know I’d never ever do anything remotely like Chaz did to you.”

Millie nodded and smiled as she began to hold her husband’s hands.

“I know that Mox. I also know that after the miscarriage I remember feeling emotions of relief and then guilt for that relief. It got me thinking today of how I would feel if that happened with our baby and it didn’t make me feel those feelings at all. In fact, I’d be pretty sad if we lost our baby…I don’t want to lose our baby Moxxie…”

Moxxie looked up with a look of cautious hopefulness.

“Are you saying what I think you’re saying Millie?” Moxxie asked, trying to hold back tears in case he was jumping the gun.

Millie beat him to the punch though and began to cry as she rushed into her husband’s arms.

“Yes…I wanna keep the baby.”

Moxxie and Millie began to both cry and hold each other, neither wanting to let go.

The rest of the day was spent brainstorming everything from baby names to if they should get a bigger place.

There were a lot of big decisions to make and changes that would be occurring over the next several months.

This was going to impact the couple for the rest of their lives.

But together, Millie and Moxxie could handle anything life threw at them.

Or at least they hoped.

Across town in Blitz’s apartment sat a sleeping former royal bird and a recently famous Imp who was napping along next to his friend as the credits rolled on the horse film.

Inside the bedroom of that apartment sat a hell hound who was typing furiously on her laptop.

FindMyFam.com was the name of the site and as Loona pushed submit on the application she felt a sense of both fear and excitement.

She was finally going to be able to learn about where she came from.

She just needed to make sure that Blitz never found out.

Chapter Text

The Sinsmas calm had died down and now all the publicity Blitz had gained from the trial was suddenly coming to a head.

He realized this the next day when (for the first time ever) the office of I.M.P. had a line.

At first Blitz thought it was a mistake as he, Stolas and Loona made their way past the crowds of people and into the office.

But as they walked into the office they were met with Moxxie and Millie frantically going through papers and typing up client information on the computer.

“Oh thank Satan, sir!” Moxxie exclaimed as he saw his boss and fellow employees walk inside the office.

“Blitz it has been like this all morning. The phones are ringing off the hook.” exclaimed Millie. She sounded just as exhausted as Moxxie which Blitz thought was odd.

Usually Mills was bouncing off the walls this time of day…or well all hours of the day.

But he had to admit the influx of potential clients had to be overwhelming to anyone.

So they got to work immediately.

Blitz split everyone up into different teams. Millie and Blitz handled interviewing the clients, Moxxie and Stolas helped take down information/scheduling, and Loona helped with crowd control in case the lines got rowdy…which they did multiple times.

Finally, it was lunch time and it seemed most of the clients were gone.

They had a job booked for almost every day for the next month and none of the IMP crew had ever been this tired.

As the group settled into the conference room, Blitz looked proudly at his team.

This was one of the busiest mornings they’d ever had and Blitz just had a good feeling about this.

“Great job gang. I know that was really hard, but you all stuck through it and I could not be any more proud of you.” Blitz looked around at his team members, but his eyes landed on Stolas.

Stolas was the newest to all of this and Blitz could not have been more pleased with how he had handled himself. From going to weeping while taking his first call at Sinsmas to being able to handle tens and tens of clients in the span of a few hours, Stolas was really starting to get his footing at the company after a day.

“Now I was able to get us at least one job here 1-2 days over the next few months.” Blitz said as he flipped through one of the most recent files Blitz had placed on the conference table when coming in.

“Now this client wants us to kill-”

Before Blitz could finish Millie suddenly put her hand to her mouth and rushed off to the bathroom with Mox following right behind her.

Blitz worriedly looked around at Stolas and Loona who all shared similar looks of confusion and concern (though Loona was trying her best to act like she wasn’t).

Blitz decided to continue on with the meeting and would fill M&M in once they got back.

They did not have time to wait sadly.

“I think we should tell Blitz.” Moxxie said handing his wife a rolled up piece of toilet paper to wipe her mouth off once she was finally done puking for the third time today.

Millie finished wiping off her mouth and looked back at her husband who was leaning up against the bathroom wall next to the paper towel dispenser.

“Ummmmm….maybe we could wait?” Millie contemplated with a cheeky smile.

She’d hoped that Moxxie would not press her for any further questions, but the look of curiosity her spouse was giving her told a different story.

“It’s just…” Millie began as she paced the bathroom. “I just know once we tell Blitz he isn’t gonna look at me the same you know. I know I’m pregnant and I’m really excited about this, but I need to keep being me you know? I need this to not change everything.”

“But it is gonna change everything Mills.” said Moxxie as he took both her hands in his.

Millie nodded.

“Ok, like I know this is gonna change our lives forever. But I’m the one everyone is gonna be extra worried about and who they are gonna judge for getting a little rough once in a while and I know I need to be careful but…I’m still me you know?”

Moxxie brought Millie in for a hug that she happily accepted.

“You’re right honey. I am sorry, I should’ve taken that into consideration. But just know that you will always be the most bad ass woman in all the rings of hell to me and I know Blitz thinks so too. I don’t think revealing this will change his mind on that and I am sure we can all come to some type of compromise to keep you and our baby safe as well as let you still do field work.” Moxxie said reassuringly.

Millie smiled.

“Thanks Mox, but just can you give me this one more mission? Just one more mission with Blitz and then I will tell him and we can work something out.”

Moxxie hesitantly agreed. He was trying so hard not to be overprotective, but the urge to wrap his wife up in bubble wrap till the baby was born and then wrap them all up together in bubble wrap was constantly peeking into his brain like a defective jack-in-the-box.

However, he also knew he needed to be supportive of his wife right now and that she could handle anything anyone in Hell or on Earth threw her way.

It was who or what was doing the throwing though that concerned him.

Once Millie was cleaned up and felt ready, she and Moxxie went back to the conference table and quickly made an excuse to Blitz that Millie had just eaten something bad at breakfast and that their boss should just continue the day as planned.

Blitz seemed to accept this answer graciously as he went right back into business.

“So as I was saying, our client was in some fucking hippy dippy cult it sounds like and wants revenge on the leader who killed him. Turns out that he found out the truth about it all being BS and was secretly executed by the leader. So we get to go kill a murderous dip shit cult leader and even free some people from his reigns. Look at us, assassins and heroes all in one go.” Blitz said satisfied with himself.

Blitz then pointed to Moxxie and Stolas.

“Alright! Mox and Stolas, we still have a ton of paperwork to do with all the new clients. So I am gonna need you to take over that while me, Loona and Mills head to earth to off this SOB.”

Moxxie suddenly looked terrified at Blitz and Millie.

He’d hoped that this next job would maybe be killing some cheating ex in the suburbs or a terrible boss who unlawfully fired a sinner when they were alive or something like that.

Instead his pregnant wife was about to go after a murderous cult leader and he was biting his tongue and digging his hooves into the floor to stop himself from grabbing Millie and taking her home this instant.

He told her he’d support her though and ever since their incident at the camp months ago…well he just did not want to repeat that.

He needed to be supportive and he trusted his wife and he trusted the team to keep her safe…but everything and everyone else that could cause this mission to go south…that was what was really worrying him.

As Loona, Blitz and Millie began to get ready to leave, Millie walked over and gave Moxxie a silent hand squeeze and a kiss on the cheek.

She knew what he was thinking and to be honest she couldn’t say she was not worried either.

However, this was maybe the last mission she could go on before the team discovered her and Moxxie’s secret.

She just needed this one more time and then she’d promise to take it easier for herself and her unborn child.

Blitz opened a portal and off she, Loona and Blitz went to the middle of nowhere USA to kill Emanuel Carpenter, cult leader of the Beyond A Doubt Family aka a lying con man who preached peace and harmony in the afterlife as long as they gave him all their worldly possessions (including bank information), did everything he said and didn’t pry into his life when he wasn’t doing a sermon.

When the team got to earth, they were met with a large tent that seemed to be where members were gathering for a sermon.

“So what's the plan B?” Millie asked excitedly.

Blitz looked around and noticed a few extra white cloaks that the other cult members all seemed to be wearing had been left aside in a small hut to the right of the three hellborns.

“Bingo!” Blitz said. “This is gonna be easy.”

Back in Hell, Stolas and Moxxie silently worked side by side at the front desk.

It was a tight squeeze for the two and there was still a lot of influx paperwork that needed to be completed before the work day ended.

However, at least with the two of them working on it rather than just Moxxie being overwhelmed by himself as usual…this might go a bit differently today.

Or at least Moxxie needed it to be.
And to be honest Stolas did too.

It seemed to be a hard adjustment for everyone dealing with the clients they had today. This allowed them to be a little more selective and the first order of business was sorting the paperwork into two groups.

Clients who they wanted to take the cases of ASAP and clients who had jobs that were maybe not as high of a priority.

While they’d given some of the latest batch of clientele definite dates for their revenge killings and had put a sign on the door of the office to let sinners know that they were booked for pretty much the rest of the month and to try to call later in the week to see about getting on a wait list (Moxxie honestly never thought he would see the day when IMP had a wait list), there was still the matter of sorting the clients by who was willing to pay the most and/or whose hit was more time sensitive compared to others. Plus putting them into two piles: definite hits and hits they could consider later on or willingly wanted to do the least.

They finally had enough clients to actually be selective…something Moxxie had only ever dreamed of for this business.

As the two began to sort through the paper proposals, Moxxie heard Stolas humming a familiar tune under his breath.

“Is that…” Moxxie asked shockingly. “Music of the Night from Phantom of the Opera?”

Stolas looked over at his co-worker sheepishly.

“Oh I apologize Moxxie, I didn’t realize the volume of my humming. I will try to keep it down.”

“No!” Moxxie exclaimed. “I love Phantom!”

Stolas looked at Moxxie surprisingly.

“Really? As do I. Who is your favorite actor to originate the Phantom? Mine is Michael Crawford though I do have to say I adored Peter Karrie’s portrayal.”

Soon Moxxie and Stolas were talking about everything from who their favorite actors were to portrays characters in Phantom of the Opera to other musicals they loved as well as shows they both wanted to see.

Moxxie never expected to have such a riveting conversation with a co-worker at work (outside of his wife who while she indulged his rants about musicals, was never as invested in the art the same way he was).

He was having so much fun in fact, that he did not hear his phone buzz with text messages just a few inches away.

Meanwhile back on earth, Loona was hiding from Emanuel and trying to figure out the best time to strike while Blitz and Millie were well…currently tied with their hands above their heads to tree branches.

“Now if I could just get my phone…crap….” Blitz exclaimed as his phone dropped to the ground about 10 feet from where they were hanging.

“What happened?” Millie asked.

“I dropped my phone. I think I was able to send something to Moxxie before it fell…though it might just be gibberish.”

Millie sighed in defeat and groaned a little. She felt a little nauseous again.

“Are you feeling alright Mills?” Blitz asked. “You were not running as fast as you usually do today.”

Millie groaned.

She knew he was right and it was partially why they’d gotten into this situation in the first place.

While the service had been happening, the three demons had decided to find Emmanuel’s dressing room and wait to strike him there.

However, after the con man cult leader had barged into the room once he’d finished his sermon the three were all ready to go.

However, they had not been expecting the trip wire. Blitz's tail accidentally set it off near the door alerting the man of the intruders.

Millie and Blitz made a run for it, but unfortunately Millie wasn’t as fast as she usually was or maybe she had just been more cautious now (not to mention she had forgotten her ax at the office and was not even sure if using the weapon in her condition was all that safe right now). She knew she had this life growing inside her that she wanted to protect, but she also had a job to do that she loved and wanted to continue pursuing for as long as possible.

She wanted both and she knew she could do it…or at least she hoped.

Right now though was not a prime example of being able to do both.

Loona had gotten away and was hopefully taking care of their latest target, but Blitz and Millie needed to get out of these ropes pronto.

“I’m sorry about earlier.” Millie said to Blitz. “I don’t know why I wasn’t as fast as I usually was, but I promise it won’t happen again.”

This was a lie. Millie did not know if it would not happen again and she definitely knew the reason why she had not run fast enough.

“Millie…you know you can tell me anything right?” Blitz asked.

Millie’s mind flashed back to when she said those similar words to Moxxie months ago at his father’s home in Greed.

She wanted Moxxie to know in that moment she would not judge him or care about whatever thing he was holding back from her in that moment.

Moxie and Blitz may be very different demons, but they did have a few things in common.

One of those being their love for Millie.

It was a different type of love between Millie and Blitz and Millie and Moxxie, but the sentiment was still the same.

And she knew she had to tell him eventually…so why not know. At least then she’d know where they stood with her pregnancy and work.

“Blitz…” Millie began.

Blitz looked over at his employee and best friend thoughtfully.

“Yeah Millie?”

Millie took a deep breath and closed her eyes as she got ready to say what she needed to say.

“I’m pregnant. That is why I wasn’t 100% on my game today. I know that things are gonna need to change now and everything, but I just needed to tell you and-”

Before Millie could finish she heard her boss cut her off with a cry and she opened her eyes to reveal an emotional Blitz in front of her trying to hold back tears.

“You’re having a baby? Really? I’m…I’m gonna be an uncle. Oh my satan Millie. I’d hug you right now if I could. Just wow…Congratulations…” Blitz said with a tiny sniffle.

Millie smiled and felt herself begin to tear up too.

“You’re not gonna bench me right away right?”

“Are you kidding Mills?” Blitz said. “You are and will always be a badass Millie. And now you’re gonna be a badass Mom and me the badass favorite uncle of your kiddo. Yeah we will have to figure stuff out, but if you feel safe and comfortable with doing things how you are then that is what’s important.”

Millie wished more than anything she could rush into her best friend’s arms and hug him.

“Thank you Blitz. I love you and I know my kid is gonna love you too.”

“You are damn right.”

Millie paused for a second and contemplated something.

“You know…I had pretty fun with the firearms when we fought Stolas’ evil ex brother-in-law on Sinsmas. Maybe I could practice a bit more with the guns so I wouldn’t have to do as much direct physical activity for the time being…”

Blitz nodded.

“That could work. I’ve been wanting to maybe take Stolas out to gun range to help him learn some self defense skills. If he is gonna be working in the office I feel like she should at least know how to handle a weapon in case something happens at the office and we are not there to help. Make it a double date with you and Mox and me and Stolas?”

Now it was Millie's turn to grin and tease.

“Ohh a double date you say? I didn’t know you and the birdie were like that now?” Millie said jokingly.

Blitz got quiet though pretty fast and began to stutter.

“I mean…I don’t know if we…we have not discussed…ughh I don’t know…what we are Mills.”

“Maybe then you should talk to Stolas about it.”

Blitz nodded.

He knew Mille was right. Ever since Sinsmas there had just been distraction after distraction keeping the two from really figuring out if they were an item. Stolas and Blitz seemed to talk about everything under the sun…except their relationship status.

Blitz was about to say something else when he heard a scream in the distance and suddenly out from the woods came the headless body of Emanuel and a very pissed off Loona.

“Ughh it took so fucking long to find you two and kill that dumb ass, but at least it’s over.” Loona said, exhausted.

Blitz looked over at his daughter with pride.

“Fantastic job Loonie! Now help your dear old dad and Mills down please!”

Loona climbed up the tree and was able to use her claw to cut both Millie and Blitz down.

“Great work gang! Now let’s head home and I can tell Moxxie’s dick congrats in person for somehow knocking you up Millie.” Blitz said as he grabbed his phone and began to rub the crystal to open up the portal home.

“Wait what?” Loona asked as she walked through the portal just behind Millie and her father.

Meanwhile back at IMP HQ, Moxxie and Stolas were getting along swimmingly.

After debating touring casts vs. the OBC of different shows and then moving on eventually to playing the latest cast recording for Little Shop of Horrors, the time had flown by and all the client’s latest paperwork seemed to be sorted.

“Umm Moxxie…” Stolas asked, looking over at Moxxie’s pile.

He noticed that compared to Stolas’ pretty evenly sorted piles that featured clients that they definitely wanted to take immediately and the other pile being clients they could maybe debate whether to take, Moxxie’s pile was pretty barren in terms of jobs that should be more selective on vs. what he wanted to take…which seemed to be most if not all of the jobs they’d been offered.

Stolas did not know Moxxie much at all, but he did get the sense that he was the type of person who wanted to be more selective with his targets and to be able to debate the ethics of killing someone who lied and stole money or items from their clients vs. something like taking out a kid (a job that Stolas had put into his no pile and had thought Moxxie would do the same).

Moxxie looked down at his pile and sighed.

He knew exactly what the former prince was thinking.

“Stolas…can I ask you a question?” Moxxie asked.

Stolas nodded.

“How did you feel when your daughter was born? Were you scared?”
Stolas’ eyebrows shot up and he contemplated his answer for a few moments.

“Well it was part of Goetic tradition that I sire an heir. So while getting married to Stella and having Via was something I was told to do rather than something I got the choice to make, she was the best thing in my life and still is. When she was born I was both amazed and terrified. I was a young father, barely an adult, but when I saw her egg and then later when she hatched…I knew that I would do everything in my power to make sure she was happy and safe. I’m afraid I have failed, possibly with the happiness portion…but at least she is safe.” Stolas said trailing off as he looked out the window and into the distance of IMP City.

Stolas broke out of his trance when Moxxie said the following:

“Millie’s pregnant.”

Stolas shook his head and smiled at Moxxie with admiration and joy.

“Oh that is wonderful! Congratulations. I apologize if my ramblings were not as comforting as I hoped, but you need to know that whether planned or not…parenthood can be quite a joyous thing that I am sure you and Mildred will be excellent at.”

Moxxie blushed.

“That is really sweet of you to say your high…I mean Stolas.” Moxxie said still getting used to a former Goetic prince being his co-worker. “But you really think that I can be a good parent. I mean my father is a mob boss who tried to marry me off to my gross ex boyfriend just to get some money. What if I…I don’t know inherited some of his tendencies? What if we can’t make the money to support them like I thought we could? That is why I haven’t been as picky with today’s job proposals. Every case seems to be another opportunity to get more money for our child and I just worry even with this sudden popularity it won’t be enough…”

Stolas rubbed Moxxie’s back affectionately.

“You know Moxxie I may not know what it is like to struggle with finances as a new parent. But I’ve seen what it is like to have a father who barely cares for you except for when you are fulfilling some kind of duty that has been predetermined for you. And what I took from my father was all the ways not to be a parent and I was able to apply those lessons to raising Via. I think if you do that in your own parenting…then that child will know nothing but love from their family.”

“You really think so?”

“I know so,” said Stolas.

Stolas felt like he was holding back and not really admitting his true feelings regarding his parenting. But Stolas’ doubts and insecurities and regrets regarding not being as open with Via…and now possibly losing her forever…well those were not things Moxxie needed to hear right now.

“I do still worry about money though.” Moxxie said sheepishly looking down at the pile of proposals again.

Stolas grabbed the pile and began to help Moxxie sort the paperwork in a way that more represented Moxxie’s feelings regarding their assassinations and job compared to being too liberal with his options.

“You know, I do have experience raising a child from infancy. I could help watch your baby when you and Millie are out on the job once Millie and your leaves are up. That way you can still stay close to your baby while also being able to do your job.”

Moxxie smiled at his new friend in awe.

“Really? You’d do that? That would be a great help. Thank you Stolas.”

Stolas nodded.

“Of course. I am sure childcare is expensive and while goetic demons and imps are different species, I’d be happy to read some books on caring for implings to help be the best babysitter/secretary I could be.”

“That would be wonderful. Thank you Stolas.”

Before Stolas and Moxxie could continue their conversation Blitz, Millie and Loona walked through the portal and into the office.

All three of the team members looked a bit tired and dirty (Loona being the biggest culprit of the trio), but that was soon forgotten as Blitz was suddenly rushing over to Moxxie to hug him, congratulate him and start rambling about all the things he was going to teach the new baby once they arrived.

Moxxie gave Millie a silent look as if to ask if she’d told Blitz (though he already knew the answer) and Millie responded with a sly shrug.

Moxxie laughed and just thanked Blitz, but also mentioned that he would be vetoing most of the activities he’d listed he wanted to do with Moxxie and Millie’s newborn baby in the future.

“All right gang! Job well done. Let’s celebrate. Millie I know you can’t drink, but I am sure there is some place we can go to get some grub and celebrate the fact that Moxxie miraculously impregnated you with his baby wiener.”

Moxxie rolled his eyes and was about to rebuttal Blitz’s statement when Stolas had an idea.

“Oh there is a dinner theater production of Sweeney Todd up the road I am sure we can still get tickets for.” Stolas said excitedly checking the computer in front of him as he began looking for the link to purchase tickets.

Moxxie suddenly was grinning ear to ear as he began to discuss the show details with Stolas and help him to secure the tickets.

Millie and Blitz shrugged.

From Moxxie and Stolas’ vague descriptions sewn into the current conversation between the two new friends, Millie and Blitz concluded that Stolas and Moxxie had really bonded when the rest of the IMP team were out on the job and that the musical that they were being roped in to seeing did not sound as bad compared to the previous ones that Millie and Blitz had been forced to attend with Moxxie.

“At least it has some murder in it.” Millie whispered to Blitz with a chuckle.

Blitz smiled as he walked over to Stolas to help teach him how to use the company card to buy the tickets he wanted.

Moxxie walked over to his wife and held her close.

“Sorry I told Stolas. We just got to talking and…well he just gave me some good advice and I think we even got some free child care after our talk.” Moxxie said to Millie.

Millie shrugged and grinned.

“No worries. Hope you don’t mind that Blitz and Loona know about the baby now. I just needed to work out some feelings regarding my pregnancy and I think we found a good compromise.”

“That’s great honey, I’m glad to hear it.” Moxxie said, kissing Millie on her forehead.

Once the tickets were purchased, the three imps, the hellhound and the goetic demon all gathered their belongings and headed out the door to bid this work day adieu.

Millie may have been worried about everything changing with the baby coming, but at least she knew she could count on the people closest to her to help her and Moxxie through it all.

Chapter Text

“I’m sorry Mrs. Knowlastname. But you are just gonna have to wait. Someone with a higher priority came in ahead of you.” said the nurse dressed in pink scrubs at the front desk.

“What do you mean? I’m not even late for my appointment or nothing. I’m early.” Millie said frustrated. It was bad enough Moxxie was tied up with a job Blitz promised her they’d be done by the time she had to go to the doctor and now was apparently running late. Now she had to deal with all this.

She guessed it did not matter though if her appointment was pushed back.

The woman at the front desk did not answer her query though and instead seemed to move on to the succubus woman that was standing behind her.

Millie sat down defeated and confused.

She would have understood having her appointment delayed or hell maybe even canceled had she been late without an excuse or maybe even with an excuse.

However, having her appointment delayed when she was early did not make sense.

This wasn't the ER where priority took place over order of someone coming in.

“First time Mom? Yeah…they must have had a succubus needing maternity care or a sinner wanting a gynecological exam…though it could be for any number of reasons when it comes to our kind.” said a voice next to Millie.

Millie turned her head so she could put a face to the mysterious stranger.

Next to her sat a short imp woman with black hair in a high ponytail that had been curled, she wore a dark green maternity dress that covered her stomach. She looked to be around the same size as Millie in terms of a baby bump as her belly seemed to still be just as flat as Millie's (though Millie did start to check in every day to see if she was showing).

“They can’t do that can they?” Millie asked, confused.

She had experienced the run of the mill issues that a lot of imps went through regarding having trouble getting doctor’s appointments. The classist society they called Hell had been responsible for delays with her birth control or the occasional flu shot that Moxxie and her tried to get when they could.

However, she’d never experienced anything like this.

Maybe that was why her Ma asked her via multiple texts about coming back to Wrath for the birth as well as to use their local family doctor.
Millie knew that her mother was pushing for a home birth for her, but she had figured that it was because of something involving many of the women in her family traditionally having home births at the family ranch.

In fact, her mother had given birth to her and all her siblings in their childhood home.

Millie though had insisted she and Moxxie would be using the best and well…only hospital in the seven rings of Hell to get the best care they could for their baby.

Now Millie saw that maybe her Ma was doing this more to protect her rather than to push her into something she was not entirely sure of.

The woman next to her gave her a defeated look and offered out her hand.

“I’m Lucie. Is this your first baby?” Lucie asked, looking down at Millie’s midsection.

Millie smiled shyly and placed hands on her stomach.

“Yeah…I am about a month along I think…this is our first appointment. My husband is coming, he is just running a bit late is all.”

Lucie smiled.

“Aww I’m about 2 months along. I’m doing this on my own. I used a donor and this is kind of my last shot at IVF. I’ve been pregnant before but…well this time I got lucky.” Lucie said obviously hiding something, but not wanting to delve into it.

Millie nodded, wanting to respect Lucie’s privacy and not pry into something that was most likely very sensitive.

“This baby was a surprise, but I’m honestly really excited about this pregnancy. Or at least I am trying to allow myself to be.” Millie said.

Lucie nodded.

“I get that. And my parents were not exactly thrilled I was going the donor route so I’m not really talking to them at the moment. But I’ve got my own support team and a pretty successful bake shop up on Main Street…so I’m feeling pretty confident if I do say so myself.” Lucie said with a chuckle.

Millie’s eyes went wide.

“Wait, you own Bloody Bloody Baked Goods? I love your red velvet cupcakes. I made my husband get me like a dozen the other day after work. I was craving them like crazy.”

“Oh well in that case…” Lucie said as she pulled out a tin.

Millie’s mouth began to water as Lucie opened up the tin and presented Millie with a gorgeous red velvet cupcake with cream cheese frosting.

“Oh my satan. Thank you so much.” Millie said as she began to munch on the delicious treat.

“No biggie.” Lucie said. “Us new moms have to stick together.”

Millie nodded along as she finished the last bit of the dessert in front of her.

“So Millie…what do you do?”

Millie began to tell Lucie all about IMP. At first she thought she saw something that she could have sworn was a mixture of judgment and worry in her new friend’s face, though Millie decided it could not be that.

“She is just curious.” Millie thought to herself as she described in detail the type of work she did day to day at IMP.

“Sir. I need to get back to Hell. Millie and I’s first appointment-” Moxxie exclaimed as he peeked over a barricade that consisted of an old worn couch plus a pile of garbage dressing the furniture.

“Ughhh Moxxie. Don’t get your fucking panties in a twist. I’ll get you to Sloth as soon as we finish killing these fuckers.” Blitz said nonchalantly, cutting Moxxie off.

Moxxie nodded furiously as he tried to focus on the task at hand.

It seemed like a simple hit.

The owner of this junk yard had fired their client unfairly which resulted in the sinner running his car off a bridge after driving drunk into the water. The client claimed if they had not been fired, then they would not have drank.

It was a little morally grey as both Moxxie and Blitz hated drunk drivers, but they were assassins after all, had killed for worse people in the past and they needed the money especially with Millie and Moxxie expecting a baby and Blitz thinking about expanding his living situation.

And besides, this was a fairly easy hit.

Or at least they thought it would be until the owner and his employees decided to charge the demon assassins with their own pistols.

Now they were trying to take cover from an all out fire fight.

Moxxie looked sheepishly at his cell phone the moment he had a chance.

There were a few missed calls from Millie and alerts reminding him of the appointment.

Like he needed those alerts.

He was excited as he could possibly be for this appointment.

They were gonna get to see their baby for the first time.

Moxxie still couldn’t believe he was gonna be a dad…though a part of him was still worried.

“Hey Blitz?” Moxxie asked.

Blitz looked down at Moxxie from where they were hiding. Blitz was up against some old barrels and doing his best to try not to be seen.

“What Mox?” Blitz asked exasperated.

“Do you think I’m gonna be a good dad…that I’ll be able to protect my kid?” Moxxie asked.

Blitz sighed.

“Ughh Moxxie not this self doubt bullcrap again. I thought you got this all out of your system when you talked with Stolas last week?”

Moxxie took another peek behind the barricade to make sure that there was no one there before continuing.

“I did and I think me and Millie will be able to do this…or at least I hope we can. I just can’t help, but think something is coming, you know? Like something I can’t protect my child from and something I might cause. Or what if I really am like my dad and I just don’t know it. I mean can I really do this with the way my upbringing was?”

Blitz looked at Moxxie and carefully thought out what he was gonna say next.

“Look Mox. I had a shit dad and a shitty childhood. The circus may sound like fun, but it was tough and not all cotton candy and horses. But I got through it, adopted Loona and did everything I could to keep her safe and still do to this day. And that is exactly what you’re gonna do with your kid ok. That child has a whole group of people who love them already and they aren’t gonna know the sucky circus childhood or sucky mafia childhood, ok? They are gonna know the totally safe and never dull life of being in a family of awesome assassins that will do anything to protect them…ok?”

Moxxie nodded.

“Thanks sir. I know you all are gonna be amazing help to me and Mills. And I also know you’ll do anything for our kid. I think I just needed that reminder.”

Blitz nodded and began to jump out from where he was hiding.

“And besides…” Blitz said as he shot off a few bullets and while the screams of his victims played in the background as the ammo ricocheted off pieces of scrap metal and landed directly into the heads of their targets.

“I don’t think your dad was spending the month’s your Ma was cooking you in her baby oven trying to get to any doctor’s appointments, right? I mean that already makes you ten times better than both our shitty fathers combined.”

Moxxie smiled as he got up from where he was hiding and dusted himself off.

“You're right. Sorry sir. I was just anxious.” Moxxie said.

Blitz put his hand on Moxxie’s shoulder.

“It’s alright. Now let’s get you to Sloth.”

“So I’ve got the guy in a headlock and guess what?” Millie said with a laugh as she bit down on another cupcake Lucie had provided to her.

“What?” Lucie asked, completely captivated by the story Millie was telling about one of the funniest hits she ever had been on.

“He pisses himself and cries for his mommy.” Millie says with a giant chuckle.

Lucie starts to almost cry laughing as she listens to Millie’s story.

“You mean this 6ft football player who cheated on his girlfriend and had just body slammed ten guys earlier in a pick up game was actually crying for his mama?” Lucie asked with a snort.

Millie nodded.

“Exactly. I took pity on him for about 5 seconds and then chopped off his head in one slice.” Millie said with a grin as mimicked drawing her axe back and slicing off an imaginary head in front of her.

Lucie laughed.

“Wow. That is one of the funniest stories I’ve ever heard.” Lucie said.

Before Millie could answer, a nurse in pink scrubs walked out into the waiting area.

“Lucie Nichols you can go to room 4 and Millie Knowlastname, your doctor will see you in room 7.”

Lucie and Millie began to get up, both extremely excited to finally be seen by the doctor.

Although there was still someone missing, at least on Millie’s end.

She looked down at her phone and began to frantically text her husband and Blitz.

She needed Moxxie at this appointment with her.

They’d both regret it if he missed their first doctor’s appointment as expecting parents.

“You know…” Lucie said. “Me and some other expecting Imp moms are doing a get together at the baby store on 4th avenue. Just to browse and then get some treats at my bakery. We kind of have our own little new expecting moms group. You should come. We are meeting in a few weeks.”

Lucie handed Millie her card that included her phone number so Millie could text Lucie for the details.

“Really. That’d be fucking awesome. Thank you.”

“Hey us new mammas gotta stick together.” Lucie said.

Millie nodded in agreement.

‘Hey Millie.” Lucie said before walking off towards her assigned exam room.

“Yes Lucie?’”

Lucie grinned.

“Welcome to Club Knocked-Up.”

A few minutes later, Millie was lying on an exam table while wearing a hospital gown.

She nervously played with her hands as she stared at the wooden door hoping that the doctor would not arrive to begin the appointment before her husband got there.

Suddenly someone walked through the door very tired and slightly irritated obviously by his employer making him late to begin with.

But that did no matter because before Millie stood her darling husband.

“Hi Honey.” Moxxie said, rushing over to Millie and kissing her quickly before taking her one hand in his. “I am so sorry I’m late.”

“Actually you are right on time.” a voice said from behind Moxxie.

A tall sloth woman walked into the office wearing a white coat and carrying a clipboard.

“I’m Doctor Asher and you must be Millie and Moxxie.”

The couple nodded as they shook the doctor’s hand.

“Sorry for the delay…shall we get started…” the doctor said setting up the machine.

Millie and Moxxie nodded. Moxxie held Millie’s hand and bent down so his head was at the same level as his wife’s.

The doctor pulled up Millie's gown slightly and placed the gel-covered device onto the imp’s belly.

Millie and Moxxie studied the screen in front of them in amazement and curiosity.

“Hmmm…” said the doctor.

It wasn’t as much of a hum in concern as it was in wonder, but Millie and Moxxie couldn’t tell the difference in that moment.

Millie began to freeze as she dared to ask.

“Is something wrong?”

Moxxie just squeezed Millie’s hand extra tight as he had a similar look of distress on his face.

The doctor did not seem to notice or if she did she did not care as she just quickly excused herself and told the couple to hang on for a moment.

Thus began the longest minutes of Millie and Moxxie’s life.

“What if I did something? I’ve been so careful, Mox. I promise…I’ve been careful. What if…” Millie said trailing off with tears beginning to form in her eyes.

Moxxie got even closer to his wife’s face and dried away her tears with his hands.

He was just as worried as Millie was, but was doing everything in his power to keep it together for his anxious spouse.

“Don’t worry sweetie. I am sure everything is fine.” Moxxie said, pulling Millie closely into his shoulder.

Before either could speak again the doctor came back with a fellow medical professional in similar attire. Although this time the new staff member in question was a succubus wearing green scrubs and doctor’s coat.

“Hi I’m Dy. Layton. I apologize as Dr. Asher is new and we just like to get some clarification before announcing this sort of thing…”

Moxxie’s eyebrows shot up and he looked worriedly after the medical professionals in front of them.

“What…is something wrong with the baby?” Moxxie hesitantly asked as Millie squeezed his hand even harder than before.

She shared a similar worried look as her husband.

Doctor Layton began to laugh.

“Oh no not at all…your babies are actually doing quite fine.”

The couple sighed in relief.

“Oh that’s good I was worried…” Millie began and then froze.

“Wait?” Millie asked. “Did you say babies?”

“As in more than one baby?” Moxxie asked with a parallel wonder and hesitancy in his voice.

The doctors nodded.

“Congratulations. You’re having twins.”

Chapter Text

Right now was the perfect time.

Millie, Moxxie, Stolas and Blitz had gone to the shooting range to practice, leaving Loona by herself at the office.

They did not have any clients currently as the job’s on the calendar for today had been completed hours ago.

So Loona offered to stay and wait in case any new potential customers came by while everyone else went to do some target practice.

In reality though, she had put an out of office sign on the door and was staring at the notification on her phone.

It had been hours since she’d seen the notification on her email that said there was a match on the DNA website she’d submitted a few weeks ago after Sinsmas.

The funny thing about all of this was her reasoning had been so random.

While waiting for Millie and Moxxie to arrive at the Sinsmas party, Gigi and Russ were telling her about how they’d talked to their parents earlier in the day and that Russ was going to his dad’s house tomorrow for a belated holiday celebration.

“Hey Loona. Can I ask you something?” Gigi said while drinking a bottle of beer.

Loona nodded interestingly as she sat back against the railing of the apartment’s balcony.

“Have you ever considered looking for your parents…like your bio parents?” Gigi asked.

Russ perked up at this question.

“Yeah. No O is great and all, but we were kind of curious…”

Loona looked slightly uncomfortable as she suddenly became very interested in the bottle cap of her beer bottle she was holding. She did not dare look at her friends when she said what she was about to say.

“Nah guys…I’m good. Things are pretty good now since my dad, you know, risked his life and all for me and all I know is my mother left me at the pound the second she had me and ditched. Don’t know anything about her and don’t need to.”

“But aren’t you a little curious girl?” Gigi asked.

Loona still did not dare look at her friends.

“I’m good. Seriously. Now did you see that ugly top Vicky was wearing in her post from last night?”

The conversation then shifted quickly to gossip and soon Gigi and Russ had forgotten they’d even mentioned Loona’s parents.

But Loona didn’t forget as the thought peeked into her mind throughout the night. Even though she did not act like it, she could not help but think about what Gigi and Russ had said.

Where did she come from?

Did they want to know her bio mom?

Did her bio mom want to know Loona?

That is why later she decided to look into submitting her information to that website to help see if she could actually find her biological mom and/or maybe some other relatives.

Loona did not have many great experiences growing up in foster care.

The families always ended up sending her back.

They’d say she was rude or ungrateful or stubborn.

When most of the time the people she was sent to live with couldn't care less about her and only were in it for the easy paychecks.

She did have one family that was nice to her and she really thought she’d finally found a home…but that was very long ago.

After that Loona learned to keep to herself, but never not be abrasive when she needed to. It was literally a dog eat dog world out there and she’d do everything in her power to make sure she wasn’t anyone’s meal.

Then Blitz adopted her and though it took a while, she started to open up. She became more interested in the business once Blitz let her go on more missions, she hadn’t called Moxxie fat in week’s (though she’d bitten her tongue a few times after he’d said something Loona viewed as pompous or judgmental), and Stolas living in the small apartment actually was kind of nice. She liked having an even bigger family than expected.

She did not want to hurt Blitz’s feelings, but this also wasn’t really about him.

It was about Loona and what she wanted.

And what Loona wanted was to know about her life and past.

She wanted to squash this curiosity bug so she could move forward.

If she just learned where she came from it could be over and done.

Then she’d get back to normal…right.

Loona was so confused.

She continued to stare at the little red notification for hours as she tried to decide.

What if her mom was awful and it made Loona fear that the worst parts of herself were due to genetics?

What if she was great and they met, but Blitz hated her mom or Loona for meeting one another?

What if there was some secret reason she gave Loona up and it makes everything Loona felt about herself even worse?

There were so many possibilities running through Loona’s mind and they all seemed to play out in the end with Loona getting hurt.

But even so, Loona couldn’t help but admit she still wanted to know…she needed to know.

Loona was about to click on the email when she suddenly heard the door to the office click open and in walked her father, Stolas, Moxxie and Millie.

“That was fucking awesome. I was a little nervous about changing up my fighting style, but you know I think I like using the fire power just as much as my axe, " Millie said happily.

“You did so great today honey.” Moxxie said, wrapping his arms from behind and resting his hands on Millie’s stomach.

Millie had not begun to show yet, but that did not stop Moxxie from seemingly taking any chance he could to place his hands over her belly (which Millie had given him permission to do beforehand of course).

“You were great Mills.” said Blitz, putting the guns he was carrying back into the designated storage areas. “And so were you Stols. I know you were a little nervous at first, but you really came around in the end.”

“Oh you really think so Blitz?” Stolas said. “I know I didn’t hit the targets perfectly, but…”

“No. You were great.” Blitz said.

Blitz then turned to Loona.

“Hey Loonie. Was everything ok here?”

Loona looked up from her phone and sneakily pushed the device into her back pocket and smiled at Blitz as if she hadn’t been fretting about a certain email all day.

“Yup. It was pretty quiet.” Loona said quickly.

Blitz then raised his eyebrows.

“Come on Loona…you think I don’t know…”

Loona suddenly got very quiet and stiff.

“What…what are you talking about?”

He could not have known…could he?

Blitz laughed and pointed to the door.

“The fact that you left that sign on the door. I know the office can be boring sometimes, but we still want to at least hear out as many clients as possible.”

Loona chuckled nervously as she tried to hide her obvious relief.

He did not suspect anything.

Later on Loona was seated at the kitchen table.

Stolas and Blitz were expected to come any second, but she still was not sure what to do with the notification.

She knew she wanted to look at it…she had to look at it.

But what was stopping her?

Loona was not able to ponder this any longer as a few seconds later Blitz and Stolas walked in with groceries.

“I can’t believe the price of some of this food? And you have to buy it for yourself?” Stolas said.

Blitz gave a chuckle and put the items down on the kitchen counter and threw some of his belongings onto the table Loona was seated at.

“Yup…you’ll get used to all of this. I promise. And hey…we got you your pills today right.”

“I mean after waiting for hours…I can’t believe you threatened the pharmacist the way you did.”

Blitz laughed.

“Oh yeah that was fucking hilarious.” Blitz said.

“Well I may as well take a bath now.” Stolas said.

“Oh wait.” Loona interrupted. “Can I just go to the bathroom first and then the shower is all yours.”

Stolas nodded and Loona headed for the bathroom.

When Loona finished up and left the bathroom she was shocked to see Blitz was holding her phone and looking confused.

“What are you doing with my cell?” Loona exclaimed angrily as she snatched the phone from Blitz.

Blitz began to stutter.

“I didn’t mean…I…I…put my phone down next to yours and heard what I thought was mine and I read the notification by accident…”

Loona was about to continue yelling when she realized what Blitz had just said.

“What notification?” Loona asked quietly.

She prayed to Lucifer that it wasn’t what she thought it was.

Blitz sighed.

“About the DNA test…”

Stolas suddenly got up and excused himself to the bathroom so that he could wash up. Something told him that he’d be trying to take a very long time in the bath tonight.

Blitz and Loona were suddenly alone in the room.

Seconds passed like hours until finally Blitz spoke up.

“Look Loonie I understand being curious about your past…but I would have liked it if you had come to me. I could check this all out and make sure you’re safe and these people you are looking for aren’t…” Blitz began.

Loona’s eyebrows raised.

“Aren’t what? What are you implying? Are you saying that anyone who comes from my bio family would be messed up or something?” Loona yelled.

Blitz held his hands up in confusion with an apologetic expression on his face.

“No Loona…I did not mean that…I just…you don’t really know these people and…I mean…”

“No, you are right.” Loona said. “I don’t know these people and I guess I don’t know you either cause I thought you were treating me like an actual adult now. Guess I was pretty stupid to think that would last.”

Loona rushed to her room and was soon running on autopilot.

She packed her bags up as Blitz began to beg her not to leave.

Part of Loona didn’t know why she was doing this.

Why was she so upset and offended by what Blitz was saying?

Because it was all the same.

They all secretly judged her and felt like this.

The last time she’d let someone in this had happened too.

“Loona…Loonie…where are you going?” Blitz yelled as she left the apartment without even saying a word.

Blitz rushed out after her, but she’d gotten purposely lost in a crowd of tourists outside Blitz’s apartment.

“Hey aren’t you-” began one of the imps before Blitz punched him in the face.

He did not have time for this.

He needed to find his baby girl.

Blitz rushed around the block trying to find the hellhound.

He could see how his comments could have been taken the way they were, but he had not meant it to judge Loona’s genetics or family line or anything like.

He just wanted her safe.

And now she was seemingly gone in a flash with no way of finding her.
Blitz rushed back upstairs and grabbed his phone.

He had to call M&M they could help, but Millie and Moxxie weren’t answering their phones.

“Ughh they said they were going to some stupid play Moxxie wanted to see. Their phones are probably off.” Blitz muttered to himself as he looked through his contacts to try and see if someone could help him locate his daughter.

He was about to knock on the bathroom door to tell Stolas what was going on when Blitz heard a knock at his front door.

“Loona!” Blitz gasped as he rushed over to the door.

Had his daughter come back and they could talk about all of this?

Blitz prayed that he would see his baby girl when he opened up the front door of the apartment.

Instead though stood someone else carrying a small duffel bag and wearing a nervous smile.

Before Blitz was his former best friend who had turned into his rival and then recent friend again…Fizzarolli.

“Hey Blitz. Could I crash here tonight…I just left Ozzie.” Fizz asked nervously.

Blitz let his friend in and thus the longest night of Blitz's life had become even longer.

Chapter Text

Fizz sat down on the living room couch with Blitz’s horse blanket around him and a cup of coffee.

Stolas had excused himself to go help look for Loona after promising Blitz to keep his phone on and text him with any updates. He also gave Stolas some pepper spray as he knew that many of the citizens of IMP City (and all of Hell really) still were not fond of Stolas to say the least.

So that left Blitz and Fizzarolli sitting on the couch in Blitz’s apartment with an awkward silence right between them.

Blitz was worried about his daughter and looking down at his phone every few minutes for updates.

Fizz sighed and suddenly broke the pregnant pause.

“I’m so sorry, Blitz. I would not have come if I knew about your kid and everything…”

Blitz looked up at Fizz.

“No Fizz. It’s…She is probably fine…just tell me what’s going on with you and Oz, huh? Trouble in paradise?”

Blitz looked down at his phone again, but tore his eyes away to stare at Fizz.

Loona was resourceful, street smart, and someone he trusted more than anyone.

Maybe he was babying her like she said?

“Things had been weird with us since after the trial and all through Sinsmas, but today just was the last straw” Fizz began.

Fizz was eating sushi alone again.

Things has been awkward to say the least since the trial.

Ozzie had come home and they'd had a fight that night. Oz had explained that he really could not do anything and Fizz not wanting to fight had just accepted it.

After a night of sleeping on the couch and Ozzie making Fizz breakfast in bed, he thought that things would go back to the way they were.

That was not the case.

Now there was this big dark cloud above Fizz and Ozzie.

Like a reminder that no matter how much they loved each other, there were power dynamics in play that they did not really ever talk about and things about Oz that Fizz really did not know.

They usually spent Sinsmas embracing the spirit of lust in any way they could (which basically meant they'd spend the entire day in the bedroom and only coming out when it was absolutely necessary).

This year though there was none of that.

Ozzie had made an excuse about work and while Fizz a few months ago would have fought Ozzie about working on a holiday, this Sinsmas he just accepted that things were different now.

They were different now, but neither wanted to admit that.

Earlier today though was when things had finally hit a boiling point.

“Where are you heading?” Fizz asked as Ozzie began to walk towards the exit of their home.

Oz turned around to see Fizzarolli sitting at the kitchen table eating some sushi he’d ordered from a place up the street.

Ozzie rubbed the back of his neck as he began to explain.

“I…I have another…another court case to attend.” Oz admitted shamefully.

Fizz’s eyebrows shot up and his expression changed from curiosity to anger in a matter of seconds.

“What type of court case?”

Asmodeous cleared his throat and began to glance at the clock in the living room. In his eyes the seconds somehow were moving slower and slower.

“It’s just a small court case for some low level crime. Nothing to be concerned about…”

This answer did not seem to make Fizz satisfied and actually did just the opposite.

“And who would the criminal happen to be in this court case? Is it another Imp?”

Oz froze and could not look Fizz directly in the eye.

That is all Fizzarolli needed to see.

“I can’t believe you Ozzie.” Fizz said.

Ozzie held up his hands.

“I can explain Fizz…you know it’s…it’s my job. This is just how it goes.”

Fizzarolli suddenly rushed up to his boyfriend and stretched to get inches away from his face.

He wanted Ozzie to have to look him in the eyes when he said what he was about to say.

“So hurting someone like me or Blitz is just you doing your job?”

Ozzie suddenly turned away from Fizz, but wore a defensive look on his face though he dared not stare into the eyes of his love.

“It’s complicated. You know I couldn’t do much else when Blitz was on the stand. I did try.”

“That’s Bullshit and you know it.” said Fizz rushing in front of the door so Ozzie would have to face him. “Bee tried harder to fight for Blitz and when I texted you to do something you said nothing. I wanted to give you the benefit of the doubt after we made up. I thought ‘oh maybe he had learned his lesson and will change,’ but I guess I was wrong.”

Ozzie looked down angrily at Fizz.

“This is not the first time I’ve ever been called to court babe. Why is it so important now?”

Fizz scoffed.

“Well it’s not like you ever really told me what you did or did not do in those court cases before this one was televised. And you really can’t see how I would be upset that someone like you would just stand by and watch while an Imp or anyone of lesser status than a
Sin like yourself would be harmed for something that another being would get a slap on the wrist for?”

Ozzie really did not know what to say in this scenario.

This had been a part of his job since the start of Hell.

The people he judged on the court were people who did bad things…most of the time.

They were people who had stolen or hurt others or even killed.

He’d never really thought of the disparity of punishments based on who was on the stand though.

It was part of his job…right?

Ozzie was brought out of his trance when he suddenly watched Fizz rush off to his room and start to pack a suitcase.

“Fizz…Fizzy…Froggy…what are you doing?” Ozzie said frantically.

As Fizz finished grabbing the last of his stuff he turned to look at Oz.

“Asmodeous I love you. I really do, but I don’t think you get how this impacts me. How seeing what happened to Blitz impacted me. How it makes me see us in a whole new light and until you can see that and change…I’m sorry…I just can’t do this anymore.”

And with that Fizz left and went to the only other person in all of Hell he could think of who might somewhat get what he is going through.

“So I just came here. I’m sorry again about your daughter. I did not know you were dealing with that. If I had-”

“Hey Fizz. No.” Blitz said, putting a comforting hand on Fizz’s shoulder. “I’m always here for you. You have to know that.” Though Blitz did look at his phone again when he said that hoping that it would ring with a message from Stolas about Loona’s safety or even from Loona herself.

“I do Blitz.” Fizzarolli said. “I just needed to take some time away from Oz and figure out what is next.”

Before Blitz could respond he saw a text show up on his phone…it was from Loona.

LOONA: HEY! STAYING WITH GIGI FOR A BIT. IDK WHEN OR IF I’LL BE BACK. NEED SPACE. BUT I'M OK.

Blitz began writing a paragraph about how happy he was to hear she was ok and about how he loved her and how sorry he was and how he wanted her home but then…then he stopped himself.

Not treating Loona like an adult was part of the reason this happened in the first place, right?

So Blitz settled for something simpler.

BLITZ: I AM GLAD UR OK HUNNY. PLZ LUT ME NOW IF U NEED ANY THING. LUV DAD.

Blitz then quickly shot off a text to Stolas to let him know he could come back and that Loona was safe.

“Loona’s okay. She is with a friend and probably won’t be back for some time, but she’s ok…”

“I’m glad to hear that.” Fizz said smiling.

The room suddenly got pretty quiet, but the silence ended just as quickly as it started after Blitz offered the bean bag to Fizz.

“I can take Loona’s room…I think if she is gonna be mad when she gets back eventually about anyone being around her stuff then I should be the one to take the blame. I know it is not much and I’ve been thinking about getting a bigger place anyway so it’s only temporary and I know you probably had some big bed with the King of Lust, but it’s-”

Fizz interrupted Blitz’s ranting by pulling him into a hug Blitz soon reciprocated.

“No, it is perfect. Thank you so much Blitz.”

Blitz and Fizz were so wrapped up in their hug that they had not noticed Stolas had come back to the apartment and was just watching the two embrace as he stood alone in the doorway.

“Mills! Over here!” said a voice in the corner of the store.

Millie had walked into the baby store with excitement, but also a little annoyance.

She’d been having really bad morning sickness all day and had been debating if she could even come.

Moxxie had even offered to stay home with Millie as she was using her day off to meet with Lucie and the other pregnant women in this moms group, but Millie was determined to make a good first impression and she couldn’t do that if she wasn’t there to begin with.

So Millie walked through the aisles and aisles of baby shoes and stuffed animals until she was in front of Lucie. Today, Lucie was wearing a yellow baby doll top with some leggings.

Lucie encompassed Millie into a big hug and smiled at her.

“Oh I am so glad you’re here.”

Lucie gestured over to two other women in the group.

“This is Pamela.” Lucie gestured to an imp woman who wore a flowy red top and blue jeans with a short haircut similar to Millie’s hair do. Her baby bump looked about the same size as Lucie’s bump.

Pamela gave Millie a wave.

“And this is Amber.” Lucie said, gesturing over to the woman to Pamela’s right. She was a Succubus who wore a black tracksuit and bedazzled sneakers. Her hair was pulled into two perfect high pigtails. She was barely showing, though it could also be the track suit hiding her stomach.

Amber gave Millie a look up and down and a tight smile.

Millie wasn’t sure, but there was something about Amber that rubbed her the wrong way.

She dismissed it though in her mind.

“You are just being paranoid. Must be hormones or something.” Millie thought to herself, pushing those thoughts out of her mind and saying whatever she could to excuse the negative feelings.

She’d just met this woman. How could she get a bad vibe from her when there was nothing about her that said anything negative.

After the introductions, the women all began to look at the various plushies on the wall.

Amber and Pamela immediately grabbed two small imp dolls wearing ballerina outfits from the shelves.

“Oh this is so cute.” Pamela squealed.

“I hope I have a girl so I can get her this doll.” Amber said sweetly.

Millie looked over at Amber with a curious look. She was currently holding a small imp shaped doll as well, but hers was holding a fake knife.

“Well you can get that no matter what gender your kid ends up being. I mean I played with dolls with my sister and toy soldiers with my brothers and I am a girl. Toys don’t need to be gendered and all.” Millie said casually.

Pamela looked like she agreed with Millie as did Lucie who was holding a plushie of her own, but this one was a hell hound that wore a chef’s hat (probably due to Lucie’s career).

Amber however just gave Millie a tight smile and just said. “Right…sure….”

Millie again let it go as the women continued shopping.

Millie grabbed a few other things as the day went on including a broadway lullabye vinyl record that she could play in the nursery (Moxxie was gonna love that).

Finally, after a few hours of shopping they all ended up at Lucie’s cupcake shop.

While Lucie was helping to gather the girl’s orders, Pamela asked Millie what she did.

“Oh I’m an assassin.” Millie said, taking a sip of the lemon water Lucie had ordered for all the girls when they came into the shop.

“Really?” Pamela asked genuinely curious. “What’s that like?”

Millie then went into detail about her life at I.M.P. as Lucie came back with their cupcake orders.

Pamela was captivated by Millie’s stories similar to the first time Lucie had been told them, but Amber had a smirk that read as both pompous and fake concern somehow simultaneously.

“I mean you’re not gonna actually continue that once the baby is born right? Like what kind of life is that for a child?” Amber asked with definite judgement in her voice.

Millie had let things go earlier in the day regarding Amber’s judgment of her, but now she was being extremely obvious and Millie did not want to deal with that shit any longer.

“For your information, I have friends who are gonna help me with my children when I am at work and no, I don’t think my babies will need to worry about any type of bad life you think I’m giving them with my career. I work hard for my career and my family and I can have both. I’ve been letting you judge me all day Amber, but I am fucking sick of it. I may work as an assassin and not look the way you want or have different views on things like the type of toys my kids will have, but that doesn’t mean you are better than me or anyone else here. I thought this group was about expecting mothers supporting one another, but I guess I was wrong. Now if you excuse me I have to fucking vomit.”

And with that Millie rushed past Lucie holding a tray of cupcakes and ran to the bathroom.

After Millie threw up the breakfast Moxxie had made for her right before leaving home, she stared at herself in the mirror and sighed.

She did not believe what Amber was thinking.

She could not believe it.

But something in the back of her mind made her wanna scream and cry because while she loved and wanted her children, she was also terrified for them.

Terrified that her job would cause her to get hurt or Moxxie to get hurt or their kids to get hurt.

What if Moxxie and Millie didn’t come home from a mission one day and they orphaned their children?

It was something she and Moxxie had feared, but had not talked much about out loud to one another ever since deciding to keep the babies.

Millie was doing everything in her power to keep her children safe in the womb, but what happened once they were here?

Millie sighed and braced herself for what she would be met with once she got back to the table.

Millie walked out of the bathroom, but quickly hid behind a shelf once she heard Amber fighting with Lucie.

“I don’t get it Lucie. What do you know about this woman? Like look at her job. I thought after everything you went through last time you’d wanna stay away from danger.” Amber said accusingly at Lucie.

Lucie put her hands on her hips as she countered Amber’s comment.

“First of all, you do not get to bring that up. Second of all, Millie is really sweet and funny and I don’t get where this judgmental attitude is coming from.”

Amber gasped.

“I am not being judgemental. All I am saying is maybe that wrathion bitch you brought into this group should get some advice from others before her child ends up in the gutter.”

Pamela stepped in this time.

“Amber, that is too far. Also just because you’re from Pride and a Succubus doesn’t mean you're better than us. And your mommy blog doesn’t make you an expert on childcare you know.”

Amber rolled her eyes.

“Well excuse me for wanting to make sure our little group here is bringing in the best people it can.”

Lucie spoke up this time giving a knowing smile to Pamela.

“You know you are right Amber we are not bringing in the best people to this group…”

Amber gave a righteous smirk that quickly turned into a frown once Pamela finished Lucie’s sentence.

“So that is why we think maybe you shouldn’t be a part of this group any longer.”

Amber suddenly looked like she was short circuiting. Amber wasn’t someone who was often told the word “no” and especially not from a group she created.

But Pamela and Lucie were sticking to their guns and weren’t gonna let Amber be an uppity bitch to their new friend any longer.

Amber gathered her things and headed for the door.

“Fine.” she huffed. “I didn’t need you anyway. I just started this group for content tbh.”

“Well at least you admit it.” exclaimed Lucie as she watched Amber head out the door to her car.

Millie came out from where she was hiding and looked admirably at the two women in front of her.

“Thank you both so much. You did not need to stick up for me like that.” Millie said, looking down at her feet.

“Are you kidding!” Pamela said. “I am just sorry I didn’t do it sooner. I should have seen through her bull the second I met her. Again, I am really sorry I did not stick up for you sooner Millie.”

“Yeah.” Lucie said. “I am sorry I did not realize what a bitch she was and just so you know we don’t think negatively of you at all for your job or being from Wrath. Amber is just a racist bitch and we are sorry for what she said and that it took us so long to see it.”

Millie just smiled and then brought the two girls into a group hug.

Millie, Lucie and Pamela then proceeded to sit down and openly talk about all things motherhood.

They felt free to share their fears and insecurities as well as laugh at things people always said were so great at pregnancy when they personally felt the opposite or strange about it (for instance: Millie loved her babies, but the thought of them kicking inside her eventually kind of freaked her out and Pamela who was just getting to that stage and Lucie who was already at that stage as well admitted that though they agreed it was cool… it was also kind of weird at the same time).

Millie felt free to be able to talk about what she loved and did not love about having her babies and was enjoying getting to know both the girls as well.

For instance, she learned Pamela and her wife co-wrote romance books that she’d have to tell Stolas about when went into work tomorrow. She knew he was a fan of the genre and wondered if he knew about Pamela’s books.

Millie also learned that Lucie used to have a boyfriend named Lucas, but they broke up a long time ago.

Things got a little quiet after that and Millie wondered if Lucas had something to do with the past that Amber had brought up earlier.

Milie could not dwell on that for long though as Pamela started to tease Millie about the fact that she let slip she was having more than one baby.

Millie confirmed the twins and made them both swear to not tell.

The other girls promised and swore they were nothing but happy for her and Moxxie.

When the girls were ready to leave, they made plans to meet again soon and especially without Amber.

As Millie headed back home, she felt an overwhelming sense of comfort and happiness. She not only had two new friends now, but she had friends who knew what she was going through herself.

Things might not always be sunshine and rainbows but the more people Millie had in her and Moxxie’s support system, the better she felt about the twin’s futures.

And then there was one more thing she felt leaving the cafe that day.

That emotion being excitement, as Millie could not wait to show Moxxie all the cute baby items she’d bought.

Chapter Text

Loona woke up and looked around the apartment.

At first she felt a sense of fear and urgency as she glanced at the unfamiliar area she had been resting in for hours.

Then it suddenly dawned on her that she was at Gigi’s apartment.

Loona walked around to the kitchen table to see a note that Gigi had scribbled on the back of an old take out receipt.

HEY! I GOT CALLED INTO WORK EARLY, BUT MARIO’S DOWN THE STREET HAS THE BEST BREAKFAST SANDWICHES.
TEXT YOU LATER.
-GIGI

Loona sighed and looked up the directions to Mario’s on her phone. As she walked down the street she began to think back to the people she’d dreamed of the night before.

The Johnsons.

This had been Loona’s 15th home in the 10 years she had been in the pound and had not thought anything of these new people.

They were a tall HellHound couple, with blonde fur and green eyes. Tara Johnson was a stay at home mom and Barthalmu or “Bart” Johnson owned one of the most popular restaurants in Gluttony.

When Loona first got to their home she figured this would be like most of the other places she’d lived. They would act nice at first and then eventually they’d just give her almost impossible chores to do for a young pup, would barely feed her, and then blame her when she fought with any of the children whether it was her fault or not.

And those were the nicer arrangements.

It had been about 2 weeks after Loona had moved in that she started to let her guard down.

First she allowed Tara to brush her fur after she’d asked Loona several times to do it.

Loona had braced for it to be rough and hard like when Loona herself would have to do it once the matts and tangles in her fur would get too rough and she had no one who was willing to help her.

But surprisingly Tara was as gentle as a lamb when she brushed Loona’s fur.

So Loona allowed her to do it every day since.

Then Loona had one day decided to explore the house.

It was on the nicer ends of homes she’d lived in and even had a library (a place she’d never even had the chance to step foot in before).

Loona was admiring one of the books when she heard a small cough behind her.

Loona suddenly froze and turned around.

She clenched her body & eyes shut, ready for whatever punishment was about to be bestowed upon her.

With any luck it would be either quick or something she could handle better like going to bed with no supper.

But when Loona opened her eyes she was met with an expression of curiosity and bemusement from Bart.

“That is a magic book…would you like to learn?”

Loona hadn’t known many Hellhounds who could do magic or really knew much about it. That seemed to be something that the Sins or royals or anyone really upper class in Hell knew about.

But Bart was an interesting man who knew more than how to make the best blueberry pancakes in all of Hell.

So Loona decided to allow Bart to teach her some spells and tricks.

They did not get far, but she did end up learning about human disguises from Bart and was even able to turn herself into one.

It had been 6 months of Loona living with the Johnsons and she finally was starting to feel she had a home.

Maybe even a family.

That was until one day she came home from school and overheard Tara and Bart in their bedroom.

“We wanted a child of our own for so long and now we finally will have one Bart.”

Loona’s ears perked up.

She knew it was wrong to eavesdrop, but this was it…it had to be.

“But what about Loona?” Bart spoke up.

Suddenly Loona’s ears dropped.

“We can’t afford more than one child and this is what we wanted. I mean we were always worried about Loona anyway right.”

“Her file was concerning…and do we even know anything about her family tree? What if there is something in her past?”

“Exactly,” Tara said. “Loona’s a nice girl and I am sure another couple with no kids will love to have her. We just can’t afford two kids right now and this baby was made with our love. We know all we need to know about them.”

Loona did not want to hear anymore and rushed to her room to cry.

After the tears stopped falling onto Loona’s pillowcase, she became numb.

She did not show any emotion.

Not when Tara and Bart explained they needed her to go back to the pound.

Not when she got back and saw the frustrated and pitying looks of the shelter employees and other hounds.

Not when she was sent to her next home that was just as bad as the ones before the Johnsons’.

From that day on Loona vowed to not let anyone else in.

It was easier that way.

That was until Blitz…but she guessed he thought the same way as the people she really had hoped would be her forever home.

Loona sighed and began to walk into Mario’s when something stopped her.

She felt a strange tug from the back of her body, but when she turned around no one was there.

“What the hell?” Loona said and suddenly she was being pulled off into the alley next door by this invisible force of magic.

Then Loona blacked out.

When Loona awoke she had metal chains on both her wrist and was leaning against a brick wall.

She surveyed her surroundings and came to the conclusion she must be in some type of warehouse.

“Well Loona…I’ve been waiting for this…” said a voice to her right.

Loona turned her head and saw a young hellhound she did not recognize. He had golden fur and was wearing a black and red striped tank top with black pants with a leather jacket over it.

He looked to be about 18 or so.

“Who the fuck are you?” Loona yelled at her captor.

She had no idea who this guy was or why he’d even taken her.

“You don’t know who I am do you?” the man said teasingly.

“Should I know shithead?” Loona snarled at him.

“Well maybe you know my parents…Bart and Tara?”

Loona froze.

This was The Johnsons’ biological son.

The kid they’d actually wanted all along.

“Yeah I knew them…” Loona said quietly, looking away from the hellhound.

The young man laughed.

“Yeah I thought so. Why do you think I altered your dreams last night to remember them? I just wanted you to relive the pain of their abandonment…”

Loona looked up at the young man.

“Why are you doing this? Like did they ask you to come and torture me cause the first time was not bad enough?”

The Hellhound shook his head.

“Fuck no. In fact, you're the reason that those two are currently six feet under…”

Loona froze.

“They…they died?” Loona asked, shaken by the revelation.

The man nodded.

“Yup. On their way to get you actually. You see about a few months after I was born they felt guilty and were on the way to the pound to get you. They were so excited they accidentally ran a red light, hit some oncoming traffic and were announced dead at the scene.”

Loona gulped.

She did not know how to feel about that.

They’d come back for her…but it was too late.

By Loona’s calculation she’d already had been sent to another shitty foster home by that time and she would not have even been at the pound if they’d been able to get her after all.

The young man continued.

“After that day I was sent to abusive and awful environments month after month until I finally aged out. I had a lot of time to think and I realized if you had never come into my parent’s lives I never would have been an orphan to begin with.”

Loona wasn’t sure whether to be sad or angry.

Sad that another kid had to be in the system due to tragedy or angry that he was taking the pain of that tragedy out on her.

She chose the latter.

“Look.” Loona began. “I know what it’s like to be put into homes and pounds and stuff. And to be put before someone else. It wasn’t fun and I hated it. But how is taking your anger out on me gonna solve anything?”

The hellhound sighed and rolled his eyes.

“Maybe it won’t solve anything or maybe it will. But my life could have been great and instead, because they put you before me, I ended up being abused and beaten and treated like garbage. So I learned a little magic to help me out with my revenge. So now you can say all you want you know my pain, but you don’t. But now you will finally know what it is like to-”

BANG!
A shot went right through the hellhounds head and he felt straight to the ground.

Loona could not believe her eyes when she looked up and saw who was standing before her.

“Moxxie?” Loona exclaimed.

Moxxie rushed over and began to take off the chains.

“Blitz saw the news on TV. Someone matching your description was kidnapped and he knew it had to be you. This douchebag left some footprints behind and luckily this place wasn’t too far from where he took you. Blitz and Millie are looking for you at the other end of the warehouse. But thankfully I got here in time.” Moxxie said as he continued to use a small pocket knife he had to cut through the chains.

Loona looked at Moxxie with tears in her eyes.

“Why…why did you all come get me? Why do you care so much?” Loona asked softly.

Moxxie looked up confused.

“What do you mean? Of course we care about you Loona.”

“Well…you shouldn’t….caring too much means you’ll just get hurt in the end.”

Moxxie paused, cutting through the iron to stare questionably at the hellhound.

“Is that why…is that why you're always picking on me…cause I care too much?” Moxxie asked.

Loona rolled her eyes.

“Among other reasons, but it just does not make any fucking sense. You need to have walls or people will just let you down. No matter how much you think they won’t.” Loona said with a sigh.

Moxxie took a deep breath in.

“Look. I don’t know all the details of what happened with you and Blitz or your past, but I do know that Blitz really loves and cares about you. He has been trying so hard to let you be your own person and if he said something wrong I know he is sorry. And yes I do care a lot, but that is what you do for people you love. You care about them. And yes I care alot about this job, but I just want us all to succeed. I grew up in a family where my happiness wasn’t a priority and now I am happier than ever. I have friends, a job I like, a wife and I’m gonna have a baby soon. And that is all in part due to Blitz and how things ended up. So yeah I care, but when I do I think…well I think it just makes things better. Not worse.”

Loona nodded.

“I want to believe that…I do…I just think I need more time…” Loona said as Moxxie finally got the metal cufflinks off of Loona’s paws.

Moxxie helped her up and they began to walk towards the exit when Loona saw an exit the opposite way.

She stopped and glanced at Moxxie who looked back at her with a smile.

“It’s ok…you can come back when you’re ready. But just know we love you Loona…no matter what.”

Loona smiled.

“Thank you Fat-ugh I mean…Thank you Moxxie.” Loona said with a nod.

And with that they ran off in separate directions.

Loona rushed back to Gigi’s apartment where Gigi ordered Pizza as Loona recounted her day.

She truly knew now that she had a home with Blitz, Moxxie, Millie and Stolas.

But her mission still wasn’t complete.

She needed to know more about where she came from.

So before bed Loona opened up the email notification that had been haunting her for days…and began to read so that she could finally learn about her birth mother.

Chapter Text

“Paycheck time everyone!” Blitz cheered as he began to hand out everyone’s checks.

The employees were all huddled together around Blitz’s desk like they normally were at the end of each Friday when Blitz handed them their latest checks.

Each I.M.P. employee was given an envelope which they proceeded to open rather abruptly…well all except one.

Loona’s check sat on Blitz’s desk, taunting him.

Even though Loona had not been to work all week, Blitz had still out of habit written her paycheck out, signed and even put it in an envelope.

He had gotten a few texts from Loona since they’d (well Moxxie) had rescued her from the warehouse and creepy jealous vengeful douche bag kidnapper, but besides some casual updates to let him know she was safe and nothing more…Blitz and Loona were still not on speaking terms.

He knew he had to give her space, but he hoped that the amount of time he would be giving her space for would not be too long.

He missed his baby girl.

Stolas was the first to comment on the increase in their paycheck amounts compared to the previous week.

“My Blitz! This is a bit more than what was on our last paychecks.”

“I’ll say!” Millie exclaimed excitedly “This is no accident, right?”

Blitz smirked and crossed his arms.

“Nope! Money has been good lately, you have all been working hard and so I thought you all deserve a raise. I hope this helps and shows just how grateful I’ve been that you’ve helped my ass out so much recently.”

“Definitely sir!” Moxxie said equally as excited as Millie.

Blitz glared at the clock and grinned.

“Now let’s all get out of here. I have to go home and make Stolas and Fizz dinner tonight.”

Stolas suddenly got a strange feeling in his stomach.

Ever since Fizz had moved into the apartments a week ago it has been not only cramped from the amount of people (though funny enough the amount of people was exactly the same as it has been when Loona was living in the apartment), but Stolas had lately been feeling like the third wheel a lot especially during meals when Fizz and Blitz would recount their circus days.

He’d try to chime in with something witty or helpful, but the moment would pass as quickly as it was open and he’d be back to nodding along to whatever tale Blitz and Fizz were telling via finishing one another sentences.

Suffice to say, he wasn’t looking forward to dinner very much tonight.

“Stolas…you coming?” Blitz said.

Stolas suddenly broke out of his thoughts and realized that Millie and Moxxie had not only left, but Blitz was about to lock up for the night.

“Yes…sorry Blitz…of course.” Stolas said apologetically.

And with that they both headed back to the apartment for dinner.

Millie smiled as she looked down at her paycheck.

This was it.

This was the exact type of money they needed to afford what they’d wanted even before Millie had found out she was pregnant.

A bigger and nicer place to live.

“Mox guess what!” Millie said adorably to her husband.

Moxxie smiled at Millie.

“What sweetie?”

“I think this is enough money for us to get the place we always really wanted. You know the place we could only dream of moving into.”

Moxxie observed his paycheck and hummed to himself.

“It might be…” Moxxie said to himself.

“Great!” said enthusiastically. “And I know exactly where to start.”

Before Moxxie could even process what was going on, Millie was pulling him down the street to one of the many homes for sale she had been secretly storing into her lately.

Moxxie and Millie were in for a long weekend.

“And remember the time we bet Barbie 10 bucks she couldn’t get the sword swallower to teach her and he not only did that, but he tried to teach us too.” Blitz said laughing as he took another bite of his pasta.

“And you almost fucking chocked and died.” Fizz said smirking at Blitz.

Blitz held up his hands.

“In all fairness that guy should not have been allowed near swords in the first place and especially not teaching us…but it was worth giving Barbie our allowance.”

“I’ll drink to that.” Fizz chuckled and clinked his beer bottle with Blitz.

Stolas was sitting on the other side of the cramped table nibbling at his spaghetti as he listened to Blitz and Fizz’s stories from the circus.

It wasn’t that he minded listening to those stories.

In fact, he found them rather enjoyable as he’d only ever experienced the circus that short amount of time on his birthday…the day he met Blitz and his life changed forever even if he had not known it at the time.

However, he did feel still a little left out of the conversation.

And to be honest he was also a little tired as it had been a hard work day.

Another “Karen” type of client had come in and Stolas had ended up spending the most time with her having to deal with her complaints while he had to wait for the assassins to come back to the office.

Millie had a craving for a new restaurant also that hadn’t had anything he was interested in on the menu. He did not want to be rude though so he just ordered one of the salads as his meal. But the small side salad he’d ended up picking just had not been enough to last him till dinner.

Though surprisingly, Stolas was losing his appetite every second he was seated at this table.

Just as Blitz and Fizz were about to go into another story of their circus days, Stolas stood up.

“I think I will head to bed actually. I’m quite tired after the long day.”

Fizz and Blitz gave him a perplexing look.

It was only 6 p.m.

“Don’t let me spoil your fun though. Please feel free to continue your conversation. I’ll just be on the couch…sleeping.” Stolas said with a dramatic yawn to try and really sell his fatigue.

Blitz and Fizz shrugged their shoulders and offered to move their conversation outside.

So as Stolas began to try and sleep he peeked out through the corner of his eye at Fizz and Blitz sitting out on the fire escape and laughing as Blitz handed Fizz a cigarette.

He was happy for Blitz…he really was.

Blitz had his best friend back in his life again and they’d never seemed closer as far as Stolas knew of their story (which was not much to be honest).

However, there was something that was nagging Stolas in his chest as he watched the two friends sit closer and closer together through the glass sliding door.

He tried to ignore that though as his eyes fluttered shut and he drifted off to sleep.

However, the word came to him just moments before he was overtaken by his dreams.

It was jealousy.

“So do you know where your old man is now?” Fizz asked as he took a puff of his cigarette.

“Nah…well sort of. I know Barbie knows where he is.” Blitz said taking a similar puff of his own cigarette “She made some post on Sinstagram after she got out of rehab that she was taking care of him, but Satan knows what that means for her or what he is telling her about me. Between the fire and that…well no wonder she hates me.”

Blitz dared not look at Fizz.

He had not meant to bring up anything even close to the fire.

“Hey…” Fizz said, reaching for Blitz’s hand. “You know that wasn’t your fault. It was an accident like you told me. If I can come around after you almost blew me up…well so can she.”

“Yeah…” Blitz said with a sad grin, looking off into the distance of the city.

“Hey Blitz…” Fizz said.

Blitz turned his head to witness Fizz begin to lean in.

Suddenly Blitz did not feel like an adult business owner who had a kid and his own apartment.

He felt like a teenager who had a crush on his best friend and was about to give him a love letter and a flower for his birthday.

He was about to let those feelings take over too as he leaned in as well.

But he stopped short.

“We…we can’t Fizz.” Blitz said.

Fizzarolli leaned back upright and awkwardly coughed.

“Oh right sorry…”

“It’s not…”

“No..no I get it…Stolas.” Fizz said, sighing.

Now it was Blitz’s turn to stand up straight.

“Stolas…what about Stolas…this isn’t…what?”

Fizz shook his head, smiling and rolling his eyes.

“Really? I mean the guy saved your life in front of all of Hell. Then you saved his life from what you told me and he is sleeping on your couch.” Fizz said, pointing towards the doorway that led back into the apartment.

“It is not like that Fizz…we are just friends and I am helping him out. Like friends do.” Blitz said defensively. “Can you please just let it go…I’m sorry….”

Fizz shrugged.

“No harm, no foul.” Fizz said a little more than unconvincingly.

Blitz nodded and tried to change the conversation to lighten the mood and get back to how things were before.

“So remember that time Barbie and you had that prank war when we were 8?”

Fizz laughed genuinely as his mind flashed back to that childhood memory.

“Do I ever…I don’t think she ever got the mustard stains fully out of all her clothes and I don’t think I fully ever forgave her for putting laxatives in my smoothie right before our performance. I mean where did she even get those?”

As the two friends went back into the same rhythm they’d had for the past several nights, Blitz began to wonder about what Fizz had said.

Was there any truth to the matter?

Sure Stolas and him had kissed at Sinsmas, but their emotions had been running high from all the recent events of not only that day but the past month.

And since then their relationship dynamic had just been strictly professional and one of a platonic friendship.

It wasn’t more at the moment and could not be.

So why had he stopped Fizz from kissing him?

Something he’d wanted to do since he was a preteen and began to have romantic feelings for a variety of different people his age…including his best friend.

Blitz just let the moment sink from his mind.

He’d worry about that maybe later…or never.

Yeah never would work just fine for him.

Or so he thought.

“So this is the last house we have in your price range,” said the realtor late into Sunday afternoon.

She wore a red power suit, but her demeanor and voice sounded as monotone as when they’d called her up on Saturday morning to ask for help looking for houses.

Millie had texted Pamela who’d got her in contact with Joan, a new realtor friend she and her wife had who they knew needed help with getting a house sold.

And Millie and Moxxie wanted a house or at least a bigger apartment.

They’d spent all day Saturday looking at different places, but for some reason they could never agree.

Moxxie would say the kitchen wasn’t big enough for their growing family.

Millie wouldn’t like the neighborhood and felt the other tenants were snobbish and judgy.

Moxxie would say the tiles in the bathroom had mold on them that he was scared to even go near let alone try to clean himself.

Millie would say the amount of bedrooms needed to be bigger.

However, when Millie and Moxxie walked through the door of this new home they gasped.

They’d seen a variety of different places over the weekend, some bigger or smaller or nicer or worse than others.

This one though was the definition of a fixer upper.

While the outside of the house was perfectly fine, the neighborhood looked nice with a decent amount of kids outside riding bikes and walking some quieve puppies down the block and it was even still in the the Pride Ring (be it on the outskirts of the city, but was the same distance from work and Blitz’s apartment…just on the opposite end).

The inside definitely needed some work.

The kitchen was big, but some of the cabinets needed to be screwed back onto their hinges and sanded.

The living room carpet also looked a bit dirty with various stains that Moxxie and Millie couldn’t make out (nor were they sure if they wanted to).

The banister was a little wonky as they walked up the steps to the bedrooms, but the upstairs seemed in a bit better shape as there was one large bedroom and two smaller ones along with a bathroom for everyone to share.

The bedrooms looked a bit dusty and the walls seemed pretty thin too, but these could work.

“This is the last place in our price range, right?” asked Millie as she placed her hand on a crib that had been set up for display in what looked to be a former nursery.

The realtor nodded.

“Yup. If you wanna move your price point I can see what I can do, but this is the last place that just meets the max you gave me.” Joan said as she looked down at her vibrating phone. “Oh excuse me a moment, I’m getting a call.”

Joan stepped out into the hallway and shut the door behind them.

Moxxie walked over to Millie who still was leaning over the crib and looking around.

“So what do you think?” Mox asked his wife.

“Well…” Millie said. “The upstairs is exactly what we want. We can use the smaller bedroom for guests until the babies are older and want their own rooms.”

“The downstairs does need work though…” Moxxie said with a concerning tone.

“I think we could do it though. I mean I don’t know how handy our friends are with tools, but I am sure if we all work together it could be possible to make this place a proper home for our family.” Millie said with awe in her voice as she touched her slightly growing belly.

Millie’s belly had begun to grow a small, but significant bump seemingly overnight. She was still wearing her everyday clothes and had not started shopping for maternity wear just yet, but she had to admit it was both strange and wondrous to watch her stomach begin to protrude knowing that instead of just a big breakfast making her bloated…it was her unborn children.

Moxxie looked around the room that was probably going to be their kids’ nursery and wrapped his arms from behind Millie, placing his hand just atop of her hands where her small bump was just starting to appear.

“You know it’s funny. Do you remember when we first got the apartment?” Moxxie asked.

Millie chuckled to herself.

“Yup. We were willing to live anywhere as long as it fit the price range and was at least semi liveable.”

Moxxie smiled remembering how eager they were to get their first place together shortly after they got engaged. Before that Moxxie and Millie had been living in even smaller studio apartments that they knew wouldn’t work for two people as they barely fit one.

But when they walked into the apartment they were currently renting they jumped to take it as it met their bare minimum qualifications.

And really they didn’t care much as long as they could live there together.

Now there was going to be double the amount of people in the Knowlastname family and their standards had changed, but not exactly for the couple themselves.

“Every con we found in all those places…” Millie began.
“Had to do with the babies’ health and safety more than ours?” he said.

Millie nodded.

“It is like the opposite of the first time we had to find a home. And that terrifies me knowing that we are gonna be bringing new life into Hell.” Millie began. “But it also really excites me too.”

Moxxie nodded in agreement.

“Hey Mox?” Millie asked with a hint of concern in her voice.

Moxxie looked at Millie.

“I am glad we are doing this and trying to make a better life for our kids than we had…but we won’t lose ourselves in all this right. Like I would do anything for these tots, but…I’m still me, right?”

Moxxie backed away from Millie, smiled, and held her hands.

He could tell this was secretly something she’d been holding back admitting in fear of sounding like a bad and selfish parent.

Millie did love her kids and was excited for this new adventure she was taking with the man she loved.

She was glad he was the father of her kid and she was glad that she was going to be a mom.

But she also did not want that to define her.

She wanted to be Millie who was an assassin, wife, mother, sister, friend, daughter, lover of video games and violent movies, collector of plushies from fairs and arcades, an avid fan of roller coasters and a Wrathian who grew up on a farm but moved to the big city and found she could more than that.

And those were just to name a few things about herself.

She wanted to be seen as more than just one thing.

Moxxie knew personally he could not relate to exactly what Millie was going through in terms of carrying the lives she was inside her.

However, he knew what is was like to be told your whole life you are just one type of person and while being a farm girl and a mafia member were very different things, he never wanted Millie or his kids to feel like they were underappreciated for everything that they do or that they were not multifaceted beings.

He’d made that mistake before at the camp months ago and never wanted to make Millie feel that way again.

“Millie, you will always be more than just one thing to me. You are everything to me. You make me feel I can be and do more than I ever could have imagined. I think today showed one of the many reasons we are gonna be great parents, but that is not just what either of us are and especially not simply just what you are. And I don’t think that makes us bad parents or people at all. In fact, I think that will just help set a good example for our kids…” Moxxie said.

“That they can be anything they want.” Millie finished his sentence.

Moxxie nodded and they leaned in to kiss one another.

“It seems like my mamma these days only wants to talk about the babies with me or she sends me some pregnancy related wives tales from my relatives.” Millie said frustratingly. “And I used to talk about movies and the best place to get lunch at the grocery store with that cashier, Connie. And now she only wants to know about how my pregnancy is going. I know it is big news and I get why people want to know updates and all. And it’s not like I don’t mind or wanna talk about those things too. But I still like talking about movies and pizza parlors and how the family farm is going and what my brothers are doing or our latest jobs. I just feel like ever since I announced to everyone I was pregnant, people have been treating me differently and I just wish they’d tone it down a bit.”

Moxxie nodded.

“I am so sorry Millie that you’ve been experiencing that. I know I can’t understand exactly what that is like for you, but if that ever happens in front of me when talking to someone…well you give me a look that says you don’t want to talk pregnancy stuff right now and I promise I will try to steer the conversation back to movies or tacos or work or anything else besides pregnancy and babies. And I promise to try to not exclusively talk about babies with you either.”

Millie gave a teary eyed smile to her husband.

“Thanks Mox. That is exactly what I needed to hear. And I am glad that we’ve grown from just picking whatever place we can afford and are able to ya know ...have the luxury to think about what is best for our whole family. I just want to remind everyone that I am still Millie, not just Millie: the woman who is pregnant or soon to be mom but…Millie.”

Moxxie nodded.

“You will always be Millie to me. No matter what. I love you.” Moxxie said, wrapping his wife in a snug hug.

“Love you too.” Millie said with a smile.

The couple stood in a sweet embrace for what felt like forever though in reality was only a few seconds long.

The two imps then looked around the room that would potentially be the nursery.

“I think this place could use a little work.” Moxxie said. “But I think we can do it together.”

Before Millie could answer Joann walked back in.

“Sorry about that.” Joann said in her usual monotone voice. “So what are you both thinking?”

Millie and Moxxie smiled and nodded at one another before both saying:

“We’ll take it.”

Stolas had awoken the next morning to find Fizz and Blitz making pancakes together in the kitchen.

Stolas stared at the imps and watched as they worked in sync with one another perfectly. Blitz measuring out the flour and Fizz cutting up some fruit he assumed would be going into the batter.

The two looked so perfectly intertwined he almost did not want to intrude.

Though his stomach was telling a different story that overpowered those perplexing feelings Stolas had when watching the two friends.

“The pancakes look like they are coming along quite nicely.” Stolas said, walking over to see Blitz beginning to place the batter on to the pan.

Fizz then stepped in with a spatula to begin getting ready to flip the pancakes.

“Anything I can do to help?” Stolas asked.

“Nah birdie, you just go sit your feathered ass down and the pancakes will be ready in a bit.” Blitz said with a smile and gesture towards the kitchen table.

Stolas nodded and sat down with a sigh.

Even when he offered to help with breakfast, he felt he was getting in the way or being a third wheel.

He was about to say something to Blitz and Fizz, to try and start some type of conversation…but he stopped himself and instead made a different decision.

He took out the phone that Blitz had bought him.

He went directly to Vassago’s contact and then proceeded to text:

HEY DO YOU WANNA GET LUNCH LATER TODAY?

Stolas then excused himself to go to the restroom taking the phone with him.

“Is Stolas ok?” Fizz asked, looking over to his side to find that the man had rushed to the restroom.

Blitz looked up from stirring some more pancake batter.

“Huh oh yeah he will be fine. That actually reminds me of this one with time with Stolas…” Blitz began.

Fizzarolli nodded along, but he could tell this was a story he’d already heard earlier in the week about Stolas.

When they were not talking about their old days in the circus, the conversation seemed to move towards Stolas and what he was doing.

That is how it had been ever since Fizz began living here and is one of the reasons he even realized that Blitz may still have feelings for Stolas even if Blitz didn’t wanna admit it himself.

That was fine with him though.

He was just happy right now to have Blitz in his life again.

Meanwhile, in the bathroom after Stolas was done washing his feathered hands he looked down at a new text from Vassago:

SURE! LET’S MEET AT THE NEW FRENCH RESTAURANT ON OAK ST. IN GLUTTONY AROUND 1. DOES THAT WORK FOR YOU?

Stolas texted back a thumbs up emoji (something Via had taught him one day and then tried to discourage him from doing after he went overboard with the emoticons once he learned about the variety…he now used the emoji options sparingly if at all).

He then went back out to the kitchen to enjoy his breakfast.

Chapter Text

Stolas and Vassago had finished eating their food with little to no conversation.

Something that was pretty unlike them.

Stolas and Vassago weren’t extremely close, but they were always kind to one another in social settings and from what Stolas heard, Vassago had stuck up at least somewhat for him during the trial (or at least fought to allow Stolas’ point of view to be expressed).

But the last half an hour or so since Stolas had arrived at the restaurant was spent eating their food silently as the only times they’d spoken was to ask the waiter about lunch specials or refills on drinks.

The food was delicious Stolas had to admit and it was a nice change of pace in regards to the meals he had been eating lately.

However, he was here to talk to Vassago and not just eat.

Though to be fair Stolas had to admit, he had been the one to ask Vassago to lunch.

So he should probably have started the conversation.

“Vassago, while I appreciate the meal and I do apologize as I should have been a bit more forthcoming regarding my intentions…I did come here to ask you a favor.”

Vassago looked intrigued by Stolas’ statement.

“¿Cómo puedo ayudar, Stolas? I can’t make any promises, but I am here for you, you know.”

Stolas nodded.

“Thank you Vassago. I wanted to ask if you had any room at your home for me? I know this is a tall order especially regarding the Geotia family not exactly being thrilled with me at this time. But I know you have your own separate palace. Though I apologize if this is an intrusion or maybe I should not have-

“No! Stolas!. It’s ok. But may I ask,"Qué pasó?" I thought you were staying with your friend Blitz? The one you sacrificed everything for!” Vassago said with an emphasis on “sacrificed everything for.”

Stolas coughed awkwardly and began to clear his throat a little too long.

After taking a sip of water and looking at Vassago’s face (a face that currently featured raised eyebrows and a knowing smirk), Stolas finally responded.

“It has been getting a little cramped in the apartment with Fizz, Blitz’s friend, staying in the apartment now and I know his daughter will eventually come back home and…well I think it just might be easier and best for everyone if I live away from someone I work with for the time being. I need to make my own path and I think that moving out may be the first step to that. Some distance may be just what I need.”

Vassago felt Stolas was holding back, but he didn’t push him.

So they worked out a plan with one another where Stolas would move in with Vassago as soon as possible.

Now Stolas just needed to tell Blitz.

Stolas had to admit he’d put off coming back to the apartment as long as he could.

He’d stopped for some ice cream (and luckily barely anyone was in the parlor at that time so he did not have to worry about having someone throw their dessert at him or yell profanities), took the long way back to the apartment and even thought of stopping to visit Millie and Moxxie (Moxxie and him had recently begun brainstorming ideas for a lullabye they’d write together as a surprise for Millie when the baby was born and he had been itching to pick his co-worker’s brain about it anyway).

However, Stolas knew those were all just distractions and excuses.

He knew he had to face the music eventually and it would be better to get it over with now compared to later.

Stolas used the key Blitz had given him recently to let himself into the apartment. Once he walked in Stolas knew there was no turning back.

Stolas worried that Fizz would be there as well and he’d have to find a way to get Blitz alone so they could talk about the situation in private.

Luckily, when Stolas walked in he was met with Blitz alone on the couch watching one of those horse shows he liked.

“Hey Stolas! Fizz went out to grab some dinner for us all so I thought you’d wanna relax and…what’s going on” Blitz said slowly as Stolas sat down on the opposite end of the couch.

“Blitz…I…I think it’s time I move out.” Stolas said.

Like ripping off a band aid.

Blitz looked at Stolas for a second trying to process exactly what he heard and make sure Stolas had said what he thought he’d said. He then paused the show he was watching and began to stammer.

“If it’s the living arrangements, I am trying to maybe look for a new place. I just wanted to see how things worked out with Loona first and in the meantime maybe I could afford a pullout couch and some curtains and-”

“Blitz!” Stolas interrupted.

Blitz sat down quietly and looked up at the former royal.

“This doesn’t have to do with that…I mean it does a bit, but in all honestly I think I need this for myself. I am grateful you saved my life and like I said at Sinsmas I do not regret saving yours. However, I think I just need this time to figure out some things for myself. Vassago was nice enough to allow me to stay in the East wing of his home in the meantime. And if you do not want me working at IMP I understand and can try to-”

“No! I’d never fire you. Moxie would have a panic attack. You’ve been so helpful these past few months that I don’t even want to think about going back to the days of IMP when you were not there. You will always have a place at the company Stolas.”

Blitz wanted to add “and a place with me” to that statement, but he did not.

Blitz could fight him.

He at least thought about it anyway.

He could yell or beg or offer a billion ways he could possibly change the situation or reasons why he thought this wasn’t a good idea.

But Blitz did none of those things.

Instead he just asked:

“And you are sure this is what you want? That this will make you happy?”

Stolas gulped and nodded.

“Yes. I think it is for the best.”

What else could Blitz do?

He remembered at Verosika’s Anti-Blitzo party seeing Stolas kissing that succubus and getting extremely angry.

How dare he kiss that random guy he’d barely spoken a few words to and had only danced with for a few minutes.

But then he also remembered what Verosika told him about being happy for Stolas and how that was basically the first step to changing and being a better person.

He wanted to be a better person and he wanted what was best for Stolas.

And if letting him go like this is what he needed to do, then so be it.

So Blitz did the only thing he could do.

He agreed with Stolas.

“Okay then. I can help you pack if you want?”

Over the next hour or so Blitz helped Stolas grab what he needed, gave him a little extra money for the bus fare and some snacks if he got hungry, walked him to the bus stop and came back to an empty apartment.

Blitz could not remember the last time he felt more truly alone.

Suddenly Fizz walked in with bags of take out.

“Hey Blitz! They were out of fortune cookies. Can you believe that? I’ve never-”

Fizz stopped suddenly when he saw Blitz standing in front of him with his back against the back of the couch and staring off into space.

Fizzarolli put the dinner down on the kitchen table quickly and started heading over to his friend.

“Hey…what’s the matter?”

All of a sudden Blitz walked towards Fizz at a fast pace, leaned in just inches from Fizz’s face and soon the two former enemies were kissing in the middle of Blitz’s apartment.

Fizz did not know exactly what was going on and why things had suddenly changed, but he was definitely not complaining.

And Blitz…

Well Blitz thought he deserved some happiness too.

If Stolas got to go off and make his own way in the world …then why couldn’t he do the same?

Fizz had feelings for him that he was displaying very prominently especially in their current situation as he was now holding Blitz close and kissing him like he was in a drought and Blitz’s mouth was the last bit of water in the world.

And Blitz would be lying if he said he was not doing the same exact thing.

Soon the two had moved their make out to the couch.

Screw everything else.

Screw Ozzie and Stolas and the past and the awkwardness and the unknown of what was to come.

All that mattered in this moment was that Blitz and Fizz were tangled in each other’s arms and embracing one another like there was no tomorrow.

If Stolas could choose his own happiness then so could Blitz and Fizz.

And right now that happiness was found with one another.

Chapter Text

Blitz missed Loona more than anything.

But when he woke up the next morning, he had to admit he was very happy she was not there to walk into what was the current state of their apartment’s living room.

Fizz and Blitz’s clothing were currently discarded and scattered on the floor directly next to the couch.

Blitz had woken up entangled in his best friend’s arms with the only piece of fabric covering the duo being the worn horse blanket that had been left on the couch the night before.

Blitz looked down at Fizzarolli who was sleeping soundly on Blitz’s chest.

It went without saying that Blitz had to do everything even remotely possible not to pinch himself.

This was something he’d only dreamed of when he was a teenager and something he certainly never thought could happen after the fire.

Now it was a reality and it was fantastic.

Fizz suddenly stirred and awoke with a yawn.

“So last night…” Fizz said smiling

“I know…” Blitz said.

“That was really really great.”

Blitz smiled back.

“You want to get something to eat?”

Fizz nodded and the two quickly cleaned up the clothes from the night before and slipped on some fresh outfits.

Soon the friends (boyfriends perhaps), were seated across from one another at the breakfast table.

They had quickly made eggs and toast, but they were not talking much.

“So…” Fizz said with a blush.

“So…” Blitz answered with a similar expression.

“Last night was fun.” Fizz said.

“I think we already had this conversation about 15 minutes ago.” Blitz said teasingly as he stuffed his face with another bit of scrambled eggs.

Fizz chuckled.

“Blitz…” Fizz started to say as we reached for Blitz’s hand. “I think we should talk…”

Just then Blitz became suddenly very aware of what was going on right now.

Fizz was about to ask him to be in a relationship or to define what they were.

And though last night had been great and he wanted to be with Fizz…he thought so at least…everything felt like it was moving too fast.

Like a train was crashing into him and he could not stop it.

“Oh wow! Look at the time. I have a big day of work.” Blitz exclaimed as he got up in a hurry.

He walked over to Fizz not sure if he should kiss him on the cheek? Lips?

So he settled for hugging the shocked friend, grabbing his stuff, and quickly rushing out the door calling out to a stunned Fizzarolli that he would text him after work as well as see him later.

Blitz thought that I.M.P. would be a good distraction from what was going on.

Today on their to do list they had to kill a pet store owner who had been treating the animals like crap as well as their staff (a former staff member had recently died due to pet store owner’s negligence regarding a loose shelf falling on top of the sinner that the store owner had “sworn for months he would fix himself instead of calling someone who knew about carpentry to do it” to save a quick buck).

He’d even managed to avoid Stolas as the avian had been in the bathroom when they’d left for the job and he’d been quick to rush M&M through the portal to the job.

Their workday ended up being quick and easy.

Milie had gotten the hit from the corner with her new riffle - something she’d been practicing with in her spare time along with Moxxie and was doing pretty well with to be honest - and they’d even helped feed some of the animals a bit so the pets would at least have something in their bellies by the time someone found the dead man and could deal with the animals hopefully more humanely than the previous owner had.

When they returned though the first thing that was staring back at Blitz was Stolas.

This should have not been surprising or awkward as it was.

Blitz knew Stolas was still working at IMP (he’d told him he still had the job no matter what) and he knew Stolas had already come into work that day.

However, seeing him after the last 24 hours was hard.

Luckily, the awkward silence and staring lasted for only a few moments as Millie and Moxxie followed in behind Blitz.

“I have a dentist appointment honey, but I will see you back at the apartment tonight.” Moxxie said to his wife as he kissed her goodbye and wished everyone a good night as he left for the dental hygienist.

Dental work wasn’t easy to get in hell especially for lower status demons as imps so getting this check up was a big deal for Moxxie and he could not miss it.

“I should be going too. If that is okay with you Blitz?” Stolas asked.

Blitz could have easily asked Stolas to stay for the extra hour or two they would usually be open.

But no new clients had come in today and with Moxxie gone already, he figured they would close up early anyway.

So Blitz dismissed the team and he watched as Stolas walked out the door. Blitz knew he was staying with Vassago, but did not know much else.

Where was Stolas going exactly?

What would he be doing?

Why did he care so much?

Suddenly Blitz’s heart raced when he thought back to Fizz.

Fizz who he had left alone this morning in the kitchen…possibly hurt and confused.

Should he call or text Fizz?

He’d had a great time with him last night, but was that enough?

“Blitz!” Millie said, interrupting his spiral.

Blitz turned around to see Milllie standing up against the wall, her coat on with her hand lying across her baby bump.

“Sorry Mills.” Blitz apologized as he shook himself out of his thoughts. “I just got lost in my own brain I guess.”

Millie chuckled to herself and sighed.

“I get that way too, especially nowadays.” Millie said gently rubbing her stomach.

“Hey, what if we go to a late lunch? Early dinner? Just the two of us. We haven’t hung out one on one in a while. I miss my best friend.” Blitz said.

Millie nodded her head.

“Oh hell yes! There’s a pizza place down the street that just opened up and 've been dying to try their meat lovers supreme.” Millie said.

And with that the two friends headed off to grab a bite to eat and catch up.

Meanwhile, Loona was standing in front of a medium size home on the edge of Gluttony.

It had been a few days since Loona had found the address of the woman who had given birth to her and she’d finally gathered the courage to walk up to her door.

Loona had thought she’d know what to say when she got there.

She’d been practicing it in her head for hours and hours.

But when she finally began to walk to the door she froze.

She did not know what she was going to say at all.

It was as if all that practicing had been for nothing because she could not remember a damn thing she’d wanted to tell this woman.

It was like preparing for a test all week and then on the day of the exam you forget everything you studied the moment your teacher hands you the test booklet.

So Loona stood awkwardly on the pathway between the street and door wringing her paws and not sure of what to do next.

“Are you looking for Cathy?” said a voice to Loona’s left.

Loona turned to see an older hellhound sweeping the porch at the home next door.

Cathy Tanner.

Loona’s birth mother.

The DNA test results had only yielded Loona’s birth mother and hadn’t found any other relatives, but this woman was the key.

The key to knowing about not just her mom, but a whole group of people connected to her by genetics. People she didn’t know, but wanted to know.

Or at least she hoped she wanted to.

Loona’s attention went back to the woman sweeping who stood with one hand on her hip obviously waiting for an answer from Loona.

“Uhh yes…” Loona said awkwardly looking down

“Well she ain’t here. It is after 4 so I’d try the park down the street.” the woman said, going back to sweeping.

And before Loona could ask any follow up questions the neighbor went back into her home and locked the door behind her.

Loona reminded herself to tell her birth mom when she met her about how her neighbors were just nonchalantly giving out her location to strangers.

But Loona was also secretly grateful.

Now she knew where her mom was and just had to find her.

She was a little nervous after what she had read in some of the papers about her mother.

From DUI arrests to breaking and entering, it seemed her mom had gotten quite a wrap sheet for herself over the years.

Loona hadn’t been able to find more recent things about her mother, but she viewed this as an optimistic and good sign.

“This has to all not be nothing. This needs to work.” Loona mumbled to herself as she began walking off towards the park.

“This is really nice.” Millie said as she perused the menu.

Blitz sat across from her reading his own menu and contemplating his meal.

Millie had been sure she was craving the meat lover’s supreme pizza, but then she saw one with pineapple on it and started getting a craving for that too as well as one with anchovies which she’d personally never liked before, but now she was curious.

“You kids have some weird taste…” Millie mumbled to herself and her stomach.

“What was that?” Blitz asked curiously.

Millie shook her head as she did not want to draw any attention to what she had just stated. Her and Moxxie were still keeping the twin thing a secret from the others. They wanted to wait and surprise them when they found out the biological sex of the babies.

Pamela and Lucie were the only ones who knew about it and she wanted to keep it that way for now.

“It is really nice to spend time with you again, Blitz. I know I’ve been distant lately with my new friends and the pregnancy and all but-”

Blitz flipped his hand at her to brush aside any concern.

“Pshh It’s fine Mills. At least now we can talk.”

Millie nodded.

“Exactly and I love being able to talk to you about stuff that is not baby related. Like I have been talking about it with the new friends I have, Pamela and Lucie, I think I mentioned them to you… but it is just nice to talk about other stuff too.”

Blitz nodded.

“Totally. Oh and do I have some news to tell you I-” Blitz began, but was suddenly interrupted.

“Millie! I can’t believe we are running into you here.” called a voice.

Millie looked over and squealed when she saw who the voice belonged to.

“Oh my god Pamela! Lucie!” Millie got up and rushed over (well rushed as fast as she could while pregnant with twins).

Millie hugged the girls and asked what they were doing there.

“We were on our way to meet Cleo when we stopped in for a bite to eat.” Pamela said, referencing her wife. “We also promised to get her some food before we go watch Slaughter Girls 3 tonight. We are sorry we did not invite you, but we didn’t know if you liked those movies.”

Millie gasped.

“Are you kidding? A horror movie about a group of girls killing dumb ass men who wrong them? I love those movies. My sister and I used to watch them growing up all the time.”

Suddenly Millie was invested in a debate with Pamela and Lucie about which one of those films was the best and then soon somehow led into a conversation regarding their latest scans at the doctors office.

Blitz slowly sunk down in his seat as he began to feel left out.

He tried to butt in a few times or make a funny comment he’d hoped everyone would like.

But the moments would be over as quickly as they were presented to him and Blitz felt like a third wheel.

“Was this how Stolas was feeling?” Blitz thought to himself.

“No wonder he left…” Blitz said quietly to himself.

“What was that Blitz?” Millie asked.

Blitz was suddenly very aware of the fact that Millie and her friends were all now staring at him.

Crap! He must have said that last part louder than he had imagined.

“I think I need to go get some damn air. You ladies have a nice time talking about morning sickness or whatever.” Blitz said.

And with that Blitz bid the girls adieu and went to sit down on the curb outside.

He never did remember to order his slice of pizza.

Loona knew the woman the moment she saw her.

She was wearing a tan tank top and black pants. She had her fur partially dyed red which reminded Loona of the time she had dyed her fur pink around when Millie had first joined the team.

“Maybe that will be something we could bond over?” Loona thought to herself.

So Loona began to walk up to the hellhound who was currently checking her phone and standing up against the slides.

“Hi.” Loona said with an awkward tone.

The woman looked up at her curiously.

“Hello. Can I help you with something?” Cathy said curiously at Loona.

Well at least she was polite.

Another good sign.

Loona took a deep breath and began to say the words she needed to get out now or they never will.

“I’m Loona and if you are Cathy Tanner, then you gave up a baby for adoption about 23 years ago and I’m her and I just really wanted to meet you and-”

“I’m sorry.” Cathy put up her paw to stop Loona’s ramblings.

Loona suddenly felt very tiny, like a child being reprimanded for a mistake she did not know she’d committed.

Which was kind of funny seeing as the woman she was currently spilling her guts to was her birth mother.

“Look Loona was it? I am sure you are wonderful and I am glad things worked out for you. But that was part of my life when I was not in a good place. I was around a lot of terrible people and doing a lot of illegal things I just can’t even try to reflect on. You seem to be doing great and I am happy for you. I am. But I am clean now. Have been for some time. I have a new job now and a home and-”

“Mommy!” Just then a small hellhound boy ran up to Cathy and held onto her leg.

“Hey kiddo. I thought you were with daddy?” Cathy said to the young child.

Loona suddenly felt a hint of shock and even some envy.

Cathy had another kid.

One she kept and who called her mom and apparently had a dad who took them on trips to the park.

“Daddy had to run to the bathroom so he asked me to come find you.” the kid said as he looked over and up at Loona who was gawking at the child and her mother in shock.

“Who's that Mommy?” asked the boy pointing up at Loona.

Cathy began to lead the boy away and stated:

“No one sweetie. Just a nice woman asking for directions.” Cathy said heading off in a different direction and holding her son’s hand. “Now let’s go play on the swings or do you wanna play on the the jungle gym?”

Loona could not believe it.

She’d had all these visions of meeting her birth mother over the last few days.

Some of her dreams had been good ones that even included Blitz meeting and getting along with Cathy.

Some were ones where she even got to go on shopping outings with Cathy and learn more about her.

None of them included Cathy wanting nothing to do with her along with having a kid she obviously cared about way more than Loona.

Loona felt it was not fair to judge Cathy too much for her reaction. She had just sprung this on her birth mom randomly and she did not know about Cathy’s past or much about Cathy’s life around the time she was pregnant with Loona.

However, she could not help but feel mad at Cathy’s reaction.

One kid meant nothing to her, but the child currently climbing on the jungle gym was worthy of her love.

Why wasn’t she good enough?

Loona contemplated all of this as she sat down on a park bench and tried not to cry.

Blitz was sitting out on the curb next to the pizza place extremely hungry.

He had not eaten in hours and could feel his stomach grumbling.

Blitz thought of going back inside to get a slice, but he was also too embarrassed.

He’d been so excited to talk to Millie about what was going on in his life especially with Fizz and him.

But Millie had moved on in her life and barely noticed him once her new friends came by.

They were best friends, but right now he could not feel further apart from Millie.

Had he been treating Stolas like this?

He had not meant to.

Did it even matter now or not?

Stolas was off with Vassago and he had Fizz.

Did he have Fizz?

He’d been such a coward running off.

Why had he done that?

“Hey B. I brought you some pizza.”

Suddenly Millie was behind him with two plain slices on a plate.

She sat down next to her boss and handed him a piece of pizza.

Blitz bit into it and moaned delightfully.

“Ohh that is good.”

“I know right!” Millie said.

There was an awkward silence between the two of them with only the sounds of cars rushing past and soft Italian music playing over the outdoor restaurant speakers to fill the quiet.

“Look Millie.” Blitz began. “I am sorry I left and was a bit fucking rude. I just really wanted to talk to you about some stuff tonight and then your friends came over and I felt like a third wheel.”

Millie nodded.

“I am sorry too. I should have introduced you and included you in the conversation.” Millie said. “But it's been nice having women to talk to who are going through what I am going through, you know? And I do wanna talk about other stuff besides the baby, but with them it is a little different. A lot of times when we are together we just fall into these conversations. Do you get what I mean?”

Blitz nodded.

“Yeah. Though really they did not know you enjoyed those movies? I remember you telling me you loved those films within the first hour or two of us meeting” Blitz laughed.

Millie laughed right along with him.

“Yeah I should probably try to talk to Pamela and Lucie about other things besides pregnancy. It just has not come up. But maybe that is why you’re my best friend. We tell one another everything.” Millie said while bumping her shoulder against Blitz’s.

Blitz smiled.

Then he took a deep breath.

“Speaking of telling each other everything…” Blitz began.

He then went on to tell Millie about what had happened with Stolas moving out and him sleeping with Blitz.

“Woah!” Millie said. “That…that is big news.”

“Uh huh…and I still do not know what to do.” Blitz admitted.

Millie took a deep breathe.

“Look I get what it is like to be scared about the unknown. Trust me I really get that especially now.” Millie said, patting her protruding stomach.

Blitz smiled.

“But…” Millie continued. “You will never know how something you want will go unless you try. Stolas isn’t with you right now and I know you care for him. But that doesn’t mean you should not be happy too or not try with Fizzarolli if that is what you want. Do not let fear run your life Blitz. Or you could miss out on some pretty big things. What do you really wanna do?”

Blitz thought for a moment.

This new thing with Fizz was something he’d only ever thought would live in his dreams or fantasies.

He never thought it could be real.

But maybe Millie was right.

What was he so scared of anyway?

He’d had an excellent time with Fizz last night.

It had been more than excellent.

So why was he holding back?

Was he really so scared of doing something for his own happiness that he was just making excuses?

Blitz knew what he had to do.

“Do you mind getting a ride home with your friends? There is something I need to do.”

Millie nodded.

“No problem. I think I need a night with them anywhere where we can not talk about baby stuff. Again, I am sorry for not introducing you by the way. I think you’d all really hit it off. And maybe tomorrow you and I can have lunch with just the two of us?” Millie asked.

Blitz smiled.

“Yeah I think I would like that.” Blitz said. “Let’s come back here tomorrow and we can eat whatever pizza you want. My treat.”

Millie nodded, hugged her best friend goodbye and they parted ways with Millie going back to the restaurant and Blitz heading to the van to go home.

He had a former best friend to talk to.

When Blitz got back home he was disappointed to find that Fizz wasn’t home.

He saw a note on the kitchen table that said Fizz had gone out shopping and would be back soon.

Blitz was not sure when the note had been written, but he had waited this long for a relationship with Fizz.

What was an hour or so more?

That was if Fizz wanted to be with him?

What if Fizz was so mad how they’d left things this morning that not only did he not want to be in a relationship with Blitz, but he was already looking for a new place to stay?

Before Blitz could spiral more he felt his phone vibrate.

He checked the text messages thinking it might be Fizzarolli.

But to his surprise he saw the message was not only from Loona, but she was asking for him to meet her at the park and telling him that she’d found her birth mom and it had not gone well.

After Blitz confirmed Loona was not hurt and got the park address via text he began to rush out the door.

Blitz remembered something though that might help with the conversation.

He grabbed a sealed envelope from near the TV stand and rushed out the door to Gluttony.

He needed to see his baby girl.

When Blitz got to the park he saw his daughter sitting sadly on the bench on the outskirts of the playground.

Seeing the slight resemblance between Loona and the only other person at the park currently, Blitz figured that the person Loona was staring at was Loona’s birth mom.

The same mom who was currently pushing a little boy on the swings with no care or interest in anyone else, including her birth daughter.

Blitz walked over to the bench and awkwardly sat down while holding his cell in one hand and the envelope he’d taken from the apartment in the other.

“Hey Loonie. Are you alright?” Blitz asked softly.

Loona looked over at Blitz with slight tears in her eyes.

She looked honestly tired as he did.

“I think so…I just don’t get why no one wants me. Even the nicest foster family I ever had didn’t want me and when they did it just led to disaster. And now the woman who gave birth to me just sees me as a mistake or someone to be forgotten. Why did I even think this was a good idea?”

Blitz put his cell in his pocket and gently held Loona’s paw.

“No sweetie…please don’t think you are not worthy of love…you are worthy of everything.” Blitz said as he passed the envelope over to his daughter.

“What’s this?” Loona asked, holding it and flipping it around in her hands.

“That is a list of comments that the adoption agency gave me the day I signed your adoption papers. It was stuff that your former foster families had written.”

“So I guess it just said a bunch of bad stuff about me, huh?” Loona asked, noticing the file was glued shut.

Blitz smiled softly to himself.

“I don’t know…I never opened it.”

Loona’s ears perked up and she looked at her father confused.

“Wait what! Why not?”

Blitz looked Loona in the eyes and rubbed her paw as he said this next part.

‘Cause Loona. I did not care what some shitty idiots’ - who did not see the type of person I did when I first saw you - thought of you. I didn’t care about any of that. I saw someone who could be caring, smart, take no prisoners, ruthless, passionate and loyal…I saw someone who reminded me of me. You reminded me of how people didn’t give demons like us a chance in this world so we had to either make our own way or live with what we were told we were all our lives. And I did not want the latter for you and I knew that you had it in you to amount to so much more than people gave you credit for. You were my kid the first moment I laid eyes on you Loona and that is one decision I will never regret no matter what.”

Loona wiped away loose tears from her eyes.

“You mean that dad?”

“Oh course Loona. You are my daughter and I love you. And I am sorry for treating you like a little kid sometimes. I know you’re an adult and I will try to do better remembering that.”

Loona suddenly was bent down hugging her father.

This man who had never made her feel like she owed him her love.

The man who she knew was the only parent she needed in the world.

“I am sorry for everything-” Loona began.

Blitz held up his hand.

“No need for any apology Loonie. I get yearning to know about your past and that is nothing to be ashamed of. Let’s go home…I mean if you want that?” Blitz asked hopefully to his daughter.

Loona nodded.

She did.

So Loona and Blitz walked off into the distance to go grab Loona’s stuff from Gigi’s home and head back to the apartment in Imp City.

As they began to leave the park though Loona took one last look back at her birth….at Cathy.

She was grateful that Cathy had brought her into Hell and she was happy Cathy had gotten clean and seemed to be doing well with her life.

But Blitz, IMP, and fuck even Millie and Moxxie and Stolas were her home.

And she could not wish for anything more in that moment.

So she turned away from Cathy and went forth with Blitz, going back to her old life and her true family.

When they got home, Loona rushed off to her room to unpack and Blitz sat down on the couch next to Fizz who had been watching TV.

“I got you some sandwiches, they are in the fridge.” said Fizz.

“Thanks. I ate, but I can see if Loona wants them now or to eat them later.”

Fizz nodded.

Blitz sighed.

“Look Fizz. I am sorry for running off today. It was not cool. I just…I got scared. Scared of letting myself be happy. Scared of hurting you…I’d never wanna do that to you and I’ve already done it before by accident and…I guess all of this just scared me…but I want to try. If you wanna try then I wanna try.” Blitz finally confessed.

He felt a weight lift off his shoulder as he at last admitted what he had wanted to admit all day to Fizz.

Fizzarolli took a step towards Blitz and gave him a small grin.

“Blitz…I’m a little scared too. I was with Ozzie for so long that it is like I am unsure how to do the whole dating thing again and we’ve had so many ups and downs between us. And you did hurt me accidentally, but like you said it was an accident. I forgave you and now I think it is time you forgive yourself or at least try to.”

Blitz nodded.

“I can try to do that.”

“Well then…” Fizz said, moving closer to Blitz and wrapping his arms around the other imps shoulders. “You said something a moment ago about trying with us. Is that still in the cards?”

Blitz leaned in.

“You tell me…”

And with those words, Fizz and Blitz locked eyes and were soon locking lips.

The duo felt like they were in a moment that could last forever.

“Dad! What the hell did you do to my room? Why is your horse shit in here?” yelled Loona from her bedroom.

Moment over.

Blitz pulled back, smiled and rolled his eyes as he called to Loona that he was coming.

Fizz chuckled as he watched the scene unfold with his best friend and his daughter as they argued over Blitz’s slight redecoration of her room while Loona was not in the apartment (“Loonie I just moved in a few horse blankets…and okay some pony plushies and pillows, but I think they give the room some more…character, don’t you think?”).

This was not how Fizz saw the day unfolding, but he wouldn’t trade it for anything in all the seven rings of Hell.

Chapter Text

Moxxie sat next to his wife as he held her hand in the OBGYN’s office.

Millie was lying on a bed in the gown they’d give her earlier patiently waiting for the doctor along with Moxxie.

Millie smirked at her husband as she noticed his left knee bobbing up and down.

“You nervous?” she said with a small giggle.

“Huh…oh.” Moxxie had been in a trance as his excitement had caused his mind to wander and Millie’s question had not only interrupted his train of thought, but it also made him realize he was doing a tick he often did when he was nervous: bouncing his knee up and down.

“Sorry honey. I am just excited.” Moxxie said to his wife with a smile and a squeeze of her hand.

Millie squeezed her husband’s hand back.

“Me too!” she squealed.

Millie and Moxxie didn’t care what sexes the babies were to be honest.

They really just hoped that their children were healthy and they could give them the best life that they possibly could.

But that did not mean that they were not curious.

Suddenly, Dr. Asher walked into the room and smiled at her patient.

“Alright, are we ready to see these babies and find out what we are having?”

Millie and Moxxie nodded and moved closer together as they held hands even tighter than before.

The doctor placed the device on Millie’s gelled abdomen and looked at the monitor.

She pointed to the two fetuses on the machine that showed the black and white image of Millie’s uterus.

“So this baby seems to be a girl and this one a boy…congratulations.

Millie’s eyes began to water as she looked at her husband who was also teary eyed.

The doctor left to go grab them personal copies of the sonogram.

Millie and Moxxie knew that just because someone was told that they were a boy or girl at birth or in-utero did not necessarily mean that their biological sex would match their gender.

They also knew that just because their child was a girl or boy did not mean that they’d end up liking stereotypical hobbies or interests that were associated with being male or female (Millie and Moxxie were prime examples of that themselves).

However, learning the biological sexes of the babies that were currently developing inside of Millie made this even more real.

They could imagine certain features including the design of their horns.

They could imagine maybe having a son who liked theater like his father and roughhousing like his mother.

They could imagine a daughter who liked singing and playing the guitar like her father or liked scary movies like her mother.

Maybe both kids would like the same things or maybe they’d like different things?

Maybe they could even like new hobbies or interests that Millie and Moxxie were not even aware of and could end up enjoying as well?

M&M didn’t care one way or the other.

Because soon their family of two would be a family of four.

And they could not wait to tell everyone those two pieces of information!

Blitz sat at the restaurant table nervous.

Why was he so nervous?

It was Fizzaroli and their first official date.

So why was Blitz so nervous?

They had already kissed, slept together and were both ready to try and see if there was really something between the two.

Blitz checked his phone and was about to text Fizz to make sure he’d gone to the correct place.

Blitz had let M&M go early for a doctor’s appointment (he also allowed Loona to go home as a treat) and then quickly finished up a hit himself.

By the time he was done though, Blitz realized it was almost time to meet Fizz for dinner and rushed over right from work to the restaurant.

Blitz sat with his water and was about to check his phone again when he saw out of the corner of his eyes Fizz walking into the restaurant.

He was wearing a light purple coat jacket with white and purple stripes on his pants and a white button up shirt.

Blitz felt a little silly wearing the outfit he had worn the earlier in the day. He had not had time to change or shower or anything like that.

But Fizz did not seem to mind as he smiled when he saw Blitz at the table and rushed to give him a hug.

Blitz hugged back.

“Hey. How was work?” Fizzarolli said after letting go of his partner and sitting down across from him.

Blitz began fidgeting with the menu and pulling at a small loose thread on the tablecloth.

“It was fine. Stolas said something funny today…”

Blitz stopped himself short.

He could not talk about Stolas when he was on a date.

He felt like such a dumb ass.

It was kind of hilarious though when after the client had left Stolas had made a joke regarding the questionable wardrobe choice of the sinner which included a cowboy hat and the most hideous polka dotted orange and purple pants Blitz had ever seen .

In Stolas’ defense the client had been pretty rude and irritated with Stolas after the newest IMP secretary had some trouble finding the new client forms that he and Moxxie had worked hard to organize a few months prior. Turns out they’d been in a different drawer than Stolas thought and though it only took a few more minutes than expected to gather the documents, everyone in the office was able to hear the client call Stolas some pretty derogatory things under his breath. Blitz had almost given the customer a piece of his mind and told him to fuck off, but he was gone as quickly as he came once the form situation was settled and then Stolas had made a joke about the client’s outfit which Blitz had personally thought was the funniest thing in the world.

It’s funny though, he did not recall M&M or Loona laughing nearly as hard as he had regarding the joke.

Blitz guessed he just was superior to everyone when it came to spotting comedy.

He was a former clown after all.

Speaking of former clowns, Blitz realized he’d let his mind wander too long when he noticed Fizz sitting across from him waiting for him to continue with the story.

“I mean…” Blitz said, trying to save face. “We killed this one asshole in the human world so fast I thought I’d broken my personal record for fastest kill. But the other guy we had to kill today…well that definitely took longer. So you see…”

Blitz began to ramble on and ended up telling Fizz all about what happened on today’s hit.

Then Fizz began to tell Blitz how he’d spent the day at home, but had been brainstorming some ideas regarding what he could do next with his life now that he’d not only left Asmodeus, but he’d also left his job as Ozzie’s assistant too and not to mention that he didn’t have his jobs with Mammon now either.

Fizz was about to go into some more details when they heard someone behind the former jester.

“Oh hello Blitz. It is funny seeing you here?” Stolas said.

Blitz looked up and Fizz turned around to see the former prince standing before them holding onto a paper bag that apparently held some prepackaged meals.

“Oh hey Stolas…what are you doing here?” Blitz said.

Out of all the places in Hell, Blitz had not expected Stolas to be at a 3 star Italian restaurant in Pride. Although Stolas still lived in the Pride ring as he was staying in Vassago’s home for the time being, Blitz had figured he was dining on fancy salads or something along those lines instead of a place like this.

“Oh!” Stolas said excitedly. “I’d heard you talking to Millie about this establishment earlier and I suggested to Vassago that we get food here. He was going to have his wait staff grab the food for me, but I volunteered to go. After all, I should learn how to pick up food for myself.”

Stolas chuckled to himself and Fizz and Blitz smiled at Stolas.

Blitz had seen the bird come a long way since the trial and he was happy to see Stolas was doing well.
He had not really seen him at all outside of work since he’d moved out and Fizz had officially moved in…so it was nice to see Stolas outside of the element he’d grown to exclusively witnessing Stolas in over the past few weeks.

“That’s great Stolas!” Fizz said.

Fizz reached slowly for Blitz’s hand and Blitz held it too, though he still was looking at Stolas.

Damn he had to stop that.

Blitz looked at Fizz’s eyes with admiration and love.

And it wasn’t that he did not mean it.

It’s just that his mind kept going back to Stolas no matter how much he wished it hadn’t.

Stolas looked down at his watch.

“Oh my. I’d best be going. It was nice to see you both. Have fun on your date.”

Blitz suddenly got slightly nervous.

He was on a date with Fizz, but he couldn't help but think about Stolas.

Why did Stolas seem so nonchalant about Fizzarolli and him being on a date.

Did he not care?

Was he pretending to not care?

Why did Blitz even care?”

Blitz chuckled and looked at Fizz who was staring back at him with an unamused stare.

“What?”

Fizz just sighed and looked over the menu.

“Nothing…”

Blitz was about to ask his date further questions when they were interrupted by the waiter asking for their orders.

Blitz and Fizz spent the rest of the dinner nibbling at the bread and then later their meals.

They did talk a bit more about how their day had gone and some things that they were looking forward to this weekend, but now there seemed to be some tension in the air between the two imps.

Like Stolas’ visit had sparked something.

When they finished up their meals, Blitz and Fizz left to begin to walk back towards the apartment.

When they were a block away, Fizz suddenly stopped.

“Blitz…we need to talk.” Fizz said, sitting down on a city bench next to the curb.

Blitz sighed.

He’d had a feeling things were not going well, but he’d hoped that it was just his insecurities telling him that.

But Blitz could not deny it, the date ended the moment Stolas had come over to the table.

“I know what you’re going to say, Fizz. I wish you wouldn’t though…”

Fizz gave his friend a sad smile.

“I just think that you are not totally over Stolas and I just got out of a relationship. I feel like I haven’t been on my own in so long or had the freedom to pick what I do for myself. I feel like I’ve just fallen into different roles so many times in my life from working with Mammon to meeting Oz and now this…I think I just need time to be by myself and work on my next steps.”

Blitz nodded.

“I get it Fizz and I am really sorry. I didn't mean to lead you on or anything. It’s just…”

“I get it.” Fizz said. “Maybe you need some time to figure stuff out too.”

Blitz smiled in agreement.

“So what does the great Fizzarolli wanna do now?”

Fizz sighed and grinned a tiny, but hopeful smile.

“Well I was looking over my bank account and I still have a good amount of money from Mammon and cash from my work with Ozzie. Mammon was of course a fucking selfish bastard when it came to my portion of the money he brought in. But those bills combined with the money I have from Ozzies I think I can start looking for my own place and then follow my new dream.” Fizz said with a twinkle in his eyes.

“And what is that?” Blitz asked with curiosity and playfulness in his voice.

Fizz’s face suddenly turned serious and focused.

“I was thinking about how Mamom exploits the champions of his clown pageants. I mean I had a sex doll made of me without my consent and when I was barely young enough to even realize what I was signing up for after I won. I mean that is all kinds of fucked up. But I do think that I could help maybe make a difference. Open up my own performing arts school. The money I have saved is just enough to at least get some funding and I’ll have to look for some investors and wherever I live next won’t be the greatest place in the world, but I think I can do this and I really want to do this. I saw the kids at those pageants look up to me every year and I want to do this so I can help them the way they want to be helped and the way they deserve to be helped.”

Blitz patted Fizz on the back.

“I am happy for you bud. And you can stay at the apartments for as long as you need till you find your own place. You don’t even have to move out yet if you do not want to.”

Fizz nodded solemnly.

“Thanks for the offer and I think I will take you up on it. But I will want to try to get all of this started as soon as I can. So you may be getting rid of me sooner than you thought.” Fizz said with a chuckle.

“I never wanna get rid of you Fizz. You're one of my best friends.” Blitz said.

Fizz nodded.

“And you’re mine. And just cause we are not involved romantically doesn’t mean I won’t be an annoying pain in your ass for the rest of your life.” Fizz said laughing.

“I would not have it any other way Fizz.”

As the two friends walked back to the apartment, Blitz could not help but think how thankful he was for being kidnapped by Crimson last year.

Sure it was at the least an inconvenience and at the most a major terror, but without that happening who knows if Biltz and Fizzarolli would have ever made up and went from being childhood friends to lifelong enemies to back to being best friends.

Blitz did not want to dwell on the what ifs or the past.

Because in this moment Blitz and Fizz were both happily walking side by side and exactly where they belonged.

Blitz didn’t know what the future would bring, but that did not mean he wasn’t excited to find out.

And Fizz felt the same way.

The next morning Fizz had left early to do some apartment hunting and also meet with an old circus colleague who'd apparently won the lottery recently and was interested in possibly investing in Fizz’s idea.

Blitz walked into the IMP office ready to start the day when he suddenly halted when he saw the scene that was in front of him.

Millie and Moxxie were standing closely together in front of the couch as Loona and Stolas were seated with a spot saved open for Blitz on the far right end of the furniture.

“Blitz, can you hurry up and get over here? Millie and Moxxie won’t let us start the day until we all hear their announcement.” Loona complained with an eye roll.

“Okay I’m coming. Jeez you two what could you possibly have to announce? We know about the baby and the house, what’s next?” Blitz said with a laugh.

“Well sir. Moxxie began. “We recently found out the sexes of the babies, but if you’d rather we go out on the hit…”

“No!” Blitz exclaimed with extreme enthusiasm. “I want to know. My money is on a girl, but a boy would be nice too of course and…wait…”

Blitz realized something that Mox had just said.

Babies, as in more than one baby.

“Did you say babies?” Stolas asked with equal enthusiasm as Blitz.

Millie nodded.

“Yes, twins, a boy and a girl.” Millie said with pride as she held up a copy of the sonogram.

Blitz, Stola and Loona all huddled around the picture and began congratulating the couple.

Millie leaned in next to her husband closely as she thanked all of her co-workers for their well wishes.

Stolas began ranting about proper childcare and how excited he was to take care of not just one child, but two when Millie and Moxxie both had to go on a job.

Loona began pitching very inappropriate names causing Millie to groan and even chuckle a bit while Moxxie just rolled his eyes and scowled at her improper suggestions.

After Blitz hugged M&M, he excused himself to step outside the office for a moment and into the hallway.

Blitz thought about the last 24 hours.

Everyone and everything was changing.

Fizz was altering his life path and direction, M&M were adding lives to Hell, Loona was trying to be more involved in the business, and even Stolas-though still living with Vassago-was trying to adapt to a new life as an average being.

Maybe it was the fact that so much had happened regarding changes in the past day that made Blitz wanna bring more positive change to his own life?

Maybe it was the fact that Millie and Moxxie were having twins that were a boy and a girl according to the sonogram?

Hell maybe it wasn’t any of those things?

Blitz just had a feeling that he really wanted to call Barbie.

Just then though…a funny thing happened.

Blitz’s phone was ringing.

And according to the caller ID…it was his twin sister Barbie.

Blitz almost did not pick up the call as he was in such a state of shock at the caller.

Blitz thinks about calling Barbie after so long and she randomly calls him for the first time in years.

He had no idea what was going on, but Blitz was not gonna waste another minute waiting to find out.

“Barbie! Well this is a nice fucking bombshell. How have you been sis. It’s funny I was actually just about to call you-”

“Shut the fuck up Blitzo.” Barbie exclaimed, interrupting her brother’s long winded greeting.

Blitz did just that.

He then heard his sister sigh woefully before revealing the real reason for her call:

“Dad’s dying. How fast can you get to Wrath?”

Chapter Text

This was one of the most awkward car rides of Loona’s entire life.

And being in foster care there had been a ton of those.

But this one probably took the cake.

Currently Loona was sitting in the back seat of the van with Blitz driving and Barbie in the passenger seat.

“Sooo…” Loona said awkwardly trying to break the tension. “You both grew up in the circus…how was that?”

Loona internally face palmed. She did not really know what to say. She’d barely heard of this woman who was her aunt apparently and now they were all driving together to some backwoods hut in Wrath that was apparently where her grandfather (who’d she also barely heard of and had never met before today) was in hospice care at.

“Fine,” both Barbie and Blitz said straightforwardly with bits of anger and resentment in their voices.

No one was happy to be here which made sense seeing as they were on their way to see a dying relative who 2/3rds of the passengers in the car hadn’t spoken to in years and 1/3rd who felt the dying man in question fucking hated his guts.

As they arrived in Wrath and pulled onto a remote dirt road and parked in front of a small yellow home with a wrap around porch.

The three demons got out of the car and headed towards the door.

A short imp woman with purple scrubs walked out of the home.

She gave a sad smile to the group.

“I’m Mimi…I’ve been taking care of your father. He is in the first room on your left. I will give you all some privacy and keep myself busy in the kitchen. Let me know if you need anything.”

With that the woman walked back into the house and towards the back of the house most likely to the kitchen while Barbie, Loona and Blitz made their way into the living room.

The room was pretty baron with only a TV, a sofa, baron shelves, and a wobbly sidetable.

No one paid much attention to those items though.

Because in the middle of the room Cash Buckzo was lying in a hospital bed with multiple monitors connected to him.

There was silence in the air as the only things they could hear were the machines used to keep Cash alive and comfortable for as long as possible.

“So…” Blitz started as he stood by the bed next to his sister.

Loona stood behind the siblings a little farther than she had expected.

“I guess he’s sleeping…” Barbie said

“You’d be guessing wrong Barbara.” said a hoarse voice.

Blitz and Barbie looked closer to see that their father had awoken just barely.

“I may be dying, but I am not dead yet.” Cash Buckzo said with a hacking cough following his statement.

Barbie and Blitz suddenly felt very small around their father.

Though he was weaker and more tired than everyone on the property, Cash Buckzo found a way with only a few simple statements to make his children feel as though they were small children again fighting for their dad’s approval.

“Hi Daddy.” Barbie spoke first.

Her voice was almost a whisper.

“Dad.” Blitz said curtly just slightly louder than his sister had said her greeting.

Cash nudged his head a bit to indicate he was referring to the hellhound behind the two imps.

“That my granddaughter?” he asked.

Loona had been staring at the floor awkwardly not knowing what exactly to do.

But when Cash referred to her she stood up straight copying her father and aunt’s stature.

“Yes…how are you doing?”

Cash let out a huff of a laugh.

“How the fuck do you think sweatheart? I'm an old dying man. Jeez son I knew you were shit for brains, but I did not think your kid was too.”

Blitz suddenly got inches away from his father steaming with anger.

“LISTEN DAD! YOU TALK TO ME HOWEVER YOU WANT, BUT THE SECOND YOU SAY ANYTHING FUCKING NEGATIVE ABOUT MY DAUGHTER THEN YOUR GONNA DIE SOONER THAN YOU THOUGHT.”

Blitz honestly thought he might take out his gun if he had not felt the hand of his sister and paw of Loona pulling at each of his arms to hold him back.

Once Blitz was steady he was about to say even more to his father about the fact that he even dared to say anything less than praise to his little girl.

Loona beat him to the punch though as she looked pissed at her grandfather.

“Fuck you old man and fuck this. Dad, I'll be outside.”

And with that Loona left.

Now it was just Blitz and Barbie in the room.

“Barbara, you look well. I see the rehab money I gave you helped somewhat…”

Blitz looked at Barbie with his eyebrows raised.

She’d always told him when he leant the money for her to go to rehab that the rest was being paid by her or insurance, but he guessed that had been a lie and their dad had been covering the rest.

Barbie dared not look her brother in the eye.

“Yeah…thanks…” Barbie mumbled.

The siblings did not seem to know what exactly they should do.

On one hand this was their father and even as shitty of a dad as he was, he was still their dad.

But on the other hand this was their father who had made their lives miserable.

Who had blamed Blitz for the fire and kept him away from his best friend.

Who had pitted Barbie and Blitz against one another as teens just for sport.

While Fizz seemed to be the favorite of the three circus kids…Blitz knew that between him and Barbie it was not even a competition.

Even on his deathbed he could barely give a smile to his son while he was giving any amount of energy he had to give his daughter a smile.

“Well…at least you aren’t a killer like your brother it is the only thing he was ever good at anyway I guess.”

Blitz could not take it anymore.

He knew he should not have held his tongue the second his dad spoke a word toward Loona.

He only did so for Loona and Barbie’s sakes, but he’d been dealing with so much pent up anger for this man the fact that he’d been able to calm down at all after that had been a miracle.

Blitz was about to open his mouth when suddenly Cash looked as energetic as he possibly could while dying.

‘Well…if it isn’t my favorite son.”

Blitz and Barbie turned around and saw that beforet them stood an uncomfortable looking Fizzarolli.

“Fizz…what are you doing here?” Blitz said.

“I had the nurse call him too…seemed right he should be here.” Cash said followed by another hack.

As Cash lay in bed coughing up a lung, Blitz looked at his friend both with curiosity and concern.

Why hadn’t Fizz told him that Cash had called him too.

As if able to read Blitz’s mind, Fizz turned to Blitz.

“I got a voicemail after my investor meeting. I came here straight from that. I tried to text you, but did not hear anything back. Sorry.”

Blitz quietly cursed himself as he remembered he hadn’t checked his cell since they’d picked up Barbie.

“Crap. Sorry. I did not see your message.” Blitz said apologetically.
“Now that that’s all cleared up.” said Cash looking annoyed at his son and gesturing towards Fizz. “Fizzarolli, how are you? Come here?”

If Barbie had gotten Cash to use a bit more energy on her compared to Blitz to give her somewhat of an approving grin, then their father was using all of his remaining energy to give Fizzarolli the largest smile he could possibly seem to muster.

“I’m fine.” Fizz was looking down at the floor too.

Blitz looked confused at Fizz.

He’d never seen his friend act this way towards his dad.

Every interaction he’d seen included his father acting like Fizz was the son he wanted instead of Blitz and Fizz being honored or bashful about it.

This was new.

Cash then looked over his daughter.

“Now I have something to say to each of you…first Barbie…”

Barbie looked her father straight in the eyes.

“Barbara. You were a wonderful trapeze artist and a hell of a lot better than Blitz. I am sorry for what happened after your mother died, but you did fucking disappointed me with the drug use. Your mother probably would’ve been as well. We could have started a new circus team…a better one. But you seem to be on your feet now and that is why I am leaving you one of the only things left of value I have…this home and your mother’s necklace.”

Cash gestured to the jewelry box that was perched on the side table next to his bed.

Barbie rushed over to take out the item.

Inside was a choker similar to the one Blitz was wearing but this skull was painted black while the choker’s chain ribbon was red.

Barbie held it close to her.

“Thanks Dad, but you know what you can keep this fucking house. Your grandchild was right. Fuck you.”

And with that Barbie rushed outside to join Loona as she rushed to put on her mother’s choker.

Next it was Blitz’s turn.

Blitz was actually about to stand up for his sister, but Cash raised his hand.

“Now Blitz. You were a shit son and shit clown, but you did what you were told and seemed to have made your way in the world. You’re like me with all that money grabbing. It’s a good trait to have and for that I guess you can have a hundred bucks.”

Cash nudged towards an envelope that had been sitting next to the box Barbie had taken the necklace out of. There was another envelope on the opposite side of the box that even on the outside looked nicer.

Blitz did not even have to ask which one was his.

Blitz picked up the simpler envelope and just like Cash had said, there inside the white paper envelope sat two $50 bills.

Blitz sighed and was about to speak up again when Cash beat him to the punch.

He now looked at Fizz with a similar expression on Cash’s face as to when Fizzarolli had first walked into this house about 15 minutes ago.

“Fizz it’s no secret you were like a son to me and the son I always wanted. You were great at your craft and even afterwards I had the honor of telling people I knew you before you worked with Mamon. I know you quit recently and while I don’t get why you’d wanna stop working for such an upstanding sin as Mamon, I respect you and your judgement. That’s why I am leaving you this amount.”

Cash nudged towards the other envelope and Fizz slowly walked over the picked it up.

He opened it up and Fizz’s eyes went wide.

Cash just nodded.

“That is all my savings there. Every penny left that was not used to pay Mimi or for this home, I am giving to you. You earned it, Fizzaroli.”

Blitz just shook his head at his father.

“Still playing favorites after all this time…” he mumbled.

Blitz wanted to get angry.

He wanted to yell expletives at his dad.
He wanted to tell his pop where he could shove his money.
He wanted to ask why he was not good enough for his father’s love.
Why was the only person who seemed to be good enough for his father’s unconditional love was his childhood best friend.

Blitz was about to walk out.

He did not have the mental energy to even hear what his father had to say to Fizz or whatever niceties Fizz would say to Cash.

He would not exactly blame Fizz for being nice to Cash as Cash was the one who had given him a start and practically raised him alongside his other children (well Tilla mainly did the parenting, but still) and Blitz knew Fizz felt somewhat of a debt to Cash even if he did not wanna say it out loud.

But then Fizz did something unexpected.

He put the check down, walked straight up to Cash, and got inches from his face similar to what Blitz had done earlier.

“Cash. I do owe you a lot for giving me a home and a start and best of all having the opportunity to meet and befriend Blitz and Barbie. But that is the only compliment you will get out of me. Because now the rose colored glasses are off and hell do I have things to say about you.” Fizz said with anger and confidence in his voice.

Cash looked taken aback

“What…what…are you saying Fizzaroli? You don’t mean-”

“I’M NOT FINISHED!” Fizz exclaimed so loudly that Blitz swore the house shook.

For the first time maybe ever Blitz saw his father flinch and even cower a bit at someone else talking back to him.

Fizz continued.

“Cash…you are a selfish, cheap, manipulative and physically and emotionally abusive sack of shit. You not only harmed your own flesh and blood, but you made me feel like I had to be perfect all the time for your approval. No wonder all the stuff happened with Mamon cause I’d been feeling that sort of pressure since day one. You don’t love anyone, but yourself and you don’t deserve me or Barbie or Blitz to be here. But we showed up because we give you more than you ever deserved.”

With that Fizz began to walk outside.

‘But then he turned around.

He had one more thing to say to Cash Buckzo.

“Oh and Tilla was the one who should be alive right now and not you and she would be so disappointed in you if she’d seen what you’d become and who you really were. Honestly though I think she always was and was probably just scared of you. But now you are a weak old man who will die with nothing. Just like you deserve. Have a great fucking death Cash. You deserve it.”

And with that Fizz walked outside.

That left Blitz and Cash alone in the room.

The only sounds being the movements that Cash’s nurse was making in the kitchen as she seemed to be attempting to cook something and the sounds of the machines connected to Cash.

Blitz began to walk over to his father and then paused near the end table as he grabbed some things off of it and placed those items in his pocket.

Cash looked over at his son and broke the silence as he gave Blitz a “puppy dog” eyes look.

“Can you believe him? After all I did for him. Well at least I have you son. You know you were not always a disappointment. What do you say? Don’t you wanna stay here with your dear old dad in his final hours? You really aren’t gonna let your sister and Fizz leave me right? You are not gonna leave right? What would your mother think?”

Blitz looked at Cash with disgust and confusion.

He could not believe it.

Even after all of these years Cash was still trying to emotionally manipulate him.

And using his mother to do it as Cash had done years before to get him to steal from Stolas’ home.

Stolas and how that indirectly led to him starting I.M.P. was one of the good memories he had of his childhood, but why did so many of those good memories have to be tainted with Cash.

Blitz decided to do something he had always wanted to do to his father when he got like this.

He turned around and walked away.

But before doing so he too had one more thing to reiterate to Cash.

“You know, you’re lucky Barbie and Loona were here…cause again if you had said that comment about my daughter when we were alone…I’d have treated you like any other of my targets and you’d be taking your fucking dirt nap way earlier than you’d expected.

“Aww son you don’t mean that. Don’t you have anything you’d really like to say to me?” Cash whined as he started to sound like he was hacking up his lungs again.

Blitz squinted his eyes, turned around and walked out the door.

But not before saying.

“Yes Dad. I do mean that and no…I don’t have anything else to give you anyway.”

Loona stood against the paneling of the old house and took a puff of her cigarette.

She hoped that she had not made the situation worse.

Things were better than they'd ever been with her and Blitz since she completed her mission finding her birth mom and went home with Blitz.

But she could not stand to have someone who was supposed to be grandfather talk to her that way.

Satan knew what he was saying about Blitz and Barbie.

Just as if on cue, Barbie Wire walked over next to Loona and took out her own cigarette.

“Hey…” Loona said to Barbie as she offered her aunt her lighter.

Barbie gave Loona a small smile and graciously took the lighter from Loona’s paw.

It took a few times as usual, but eventually a flame appeared and Barbie was able to light her cigarette as well.

“Hi…look Loona, right?” Barbie asked.

Loona nodded and Barbie continued.

“My father says a lot of crap. Has his whole life. Please don’t take anything he said to heart. Satan knows we all try not to. I know Blitz especially so.”

“Was your dad always like that to him or to you? He hasn’t really mentioned him much.”

Barbie sighed.

“Sadly yes. He was.”

Loona sighed as well.

“That really sucks.”

“Yeah…it does.”

Loona and Barbie sat in a bit of an awkward silence for a few moments as they both continued to smoke.

“You know,” Loona said with a sly smile, breaking the tension. “if you’re my aunt…there have been a at least a few birthdays you’ve missed.”

Barbie for the first time that day, gave a good honest chuckle.

It felt good to laugh.

Even when dealing with a shitty situation like the one she had been involved in all day.

“Alright, that’s fair.” Barbie said with a similar humorous tone. “How can I make it up to you?”

“You could get your favorite niece a car!” Loona said jokingly.

Barbie laughed this time even louder & had to stop herself from choking on the cigarette smoke.

“Kid, I can’t even afford a car right now. Don’t tell your dad, but I am saving up for some community college classes. I’m making some decent money with some part time jobs to afford my shitty apartment and the necessities, but I’ve always wanted to do more with my life especially now. The circus was fun and I was a good trapeze artist, but I was never really passionate about entertainment life. Just cause you are good at something doesn’t mean you have to do it for your career…you also should be passionate about it if you can.”

Loona looked at her Aunt curiously.

“So what are you passionate about?”

Barbie shrugged, decided she was finished smoking and put her cigarette out, stomping on the remaining bits causing them to be shoved into the dead grass beneath them.

“Not so sure yet. I think I’d like to help people. After my last stint in rehab I realized all the messed up stuff you know with the healthcare here and the drug treatments and all that. I’m leaning into doing things to try and help demons and sinners who have dealt with addictions like me. Maybe counseling or something. I’ll figure it out once I can see what classes I can take.”

Loona smiled intrigued.

“That sounds really cool of you. Dad finally started letting me really go out on hits with him so I guess I’ve been getting to do what I am passionate about as well.”

Barbie nodded at her niece.

“Keep that train of thought then kid. It’ll get you far.” Barbie said. “Back to your belated birthday gifts though…how about one shopping trip where I get you a few shirts and some burgers for dinner, sound? Would that be even?”

Loona’s face lit up. She’d been teasing about the birthday presents including the car, but her aunt actually offering to spend time with her and go shopping plus get food with her (not to mention having it be on her aunt’s dime) was something she had not expected.

And it was nice.

Loona agreed and the two began to enthusiastically discuss where they would want to shop as well as place to eat (much to both the womens’ surprise, they seemed to have similar taste in clothing stores and food).

Before they could get into the details though, Fizz and Blitz slowly began to walk over to them.

“So what should we do now?” Fizz said, breaking the silence.

The group shrugged.

Should they just wait around for Cash?

They’d all pretty much said their piece and didn’t want to give him any more attention.

But at the same time this was Barbie and Blitz’s father and the closest person Fizz ever had to a parent besides Tilla.

Could they really just leave?

Before anyone could offer up a solution, Mimi walked out of the house with a concerning expression.

“Your father’s condition has worsened. It probably would only be an hour at the most. Would you all like to come in and say your final goodbyes and be with him in his last moments?”

Blitz, Fizz and Barbie all looked at one another and shook their heads.

They’d said their piece to Cash.

They had nothing else left to give him.

So they thanked Mimi for her time, but told her they had somewhere else to be.

Mimi nodded solemnly, but understandingly.

Mimi told Barbie she’d text her when her father had passed as well as give her the number to the lawyer Cash had hired to work out all the technicalities after he was officially gone.

Barbie thanked her and hellborns all piled into Blitz’s car.

“So I guess we should just go back to Imp City?” Barbie said as she began to put the directions back to Pride in her phone.

“Wait!” exclaimed Fizzaroli as everyone else in the car looked at him. “Can we stop somewhere else in Pride first, there is something I wanna show you all?”

Once they were back in the Pride ring, Fizz had directed Blitz to drive to a small cemetery on the other end of the ring.

Everyone piled out of the car and followed Fizz as he led them to a small headstone right in the middle of the cemetery.

The demons all looked down to read the inscription:

TILLA BUCKZO
FRIEND, WIFE & MOTHER
SATAN’s GREATEST GIFT
1970 - 2010

Blitz looked in astonishment at the gravestone before turning to Barbie who had a similar look.

They both stared at Fizz with bewilderment before Fizzarolli cleared his throat and said.

“I used my first paycheck from Mammon to buy this headstone. I kind of feel bad about adding the wife part in, but I think it’s pretty nice. Sorry for not telling you all about it till now. Do you like it?”

Barbie and Blitz gave a sad smile.

“It’s perfect.” they both said in unison.

“I think she’d really like this place, Blitz.” Barbie said, looking around at the quiet scenery.

“Me too Barb…me too.” Blitz said.

They all sat around the gravestone for some time.

Fizz, Blitz and Barbie each took turns telling stories to Loona about Tilla and even talked to her while standing over her grave.

Blitz was about to try and talk to Barbie again. Try to see if maybe he could begin to salvage their relationship.

But he stopped himself short.

He'd wait for them to talk in private later.

Suddenly Barbie’s phone buzzed and she looked at it.

Fizz, Loona and Blitz look curiously at Barbie as she solemnly nodded to say what they already knew.

Cash was dead.

All those years of treating his body like crap and just being a piece of crap all together had finally caught up to him and now he was dead.

No one knew what happened after you died in heaven or hell.

Some said you just stopped existing all together.

That there was nowhere to go after you passed away.

Others say you go to another version of heaven or hell for hellborns and sinners.

Blitz had even heard that Lucifer’s daughter, Charlie, had a theory that she could redeem sinners and get them to heaven somehow.

Blitz was skeptical about her theory, but he had to admire the princess’ tenacity even if he was not sure he agreed with her.

So no one knew where you would go when you died in Hell, but all the demons’ standing over Tilla’s grave had one wish.

That wherever Cash Buckzo was now…they hoped Tilla would not be there.

She and Cash did not deserve to share an afterlife together.

As the group sat in silence, Blitz broke the tension by asking Fizz how his investor meeting went.

“Oh!” Fizz said with some hesitation in his voice. “It…went ok. The money he was able to offer me wasn’t as much as I had hoped. But it is a start though so I can't complain.”

Blitz gave a small smile to his friend and pulled out two envelopes.

“Well then you will especially want this money to help you out.”

Fizz looked bewildered at Blitz as he took the envelopes and checked inside.

“When did you grab these?” Fizz asked.

“I snatched both while my father was mumbling about something right before I walked out,” said Blitz. “You need this money Fizz. You deserve it. Just take it and use it to help those fucking kids the way you wished you had been helped. Make my father’s money do something actually good in Hell.”

Fizz was about to protest, but one look at Blitz’s face and he knew there was nothing that could sway Blitz to take the money back and it would help move the business production up and allow Fizz to move out sooner than he’d thought.

So Fizz just nodded and said “Thanks Blitz.”

Blitz nodded back.

Then Fizz looked down at Tilla’s grave again and wrapped his arm around Loona, Blitz and Barbie.

This family was odd, but Fizz would not have it any other way.

As the sun began to set for the day, the group decided to head back to Pride to get an early dinner before the restaurants all became too packed.

As Barbie, Loona and Fizz argued about where to get food as they got into the van, Blitz turned back and gave one long last look to his mother’s headstone.

“Thank you Mama. For everything.” Blitz said quietly.

And with that the group of demons headed off back to Pride for a well deserved meal.

Chapter Text

To say Millie was thrilled her sister was coming was an understatement.

She loved her whole family and maybe it was wrong to secretly pick a favorite, but if she had to then she’d have to say Sallie May was her favorite member.

It was just around this time several months ago that she’d met her sister at a bus stop very similar to this one (though it was closer to their old apartment) and had spent the whole day with her.

They’d had a great time and the sisters had promised one another that they would keep in touch and try to visit more.

Millie was planning to ask her sister for a really big favor today though and she hoped that she would accept it.

It would allow them to have more help at IMP as well as help with the new babies. Not to mention, this arrangement could assist getting her sister off the farm.

Sallie May had mentioned that it was not so bad here. So maybe another great day showing her sister the new house would help convince her of Millie’s plan.

As the bus pulled up she waited till her sister was in view to get ready to hug her (not making the same mistake as she had last time her sister had come to The Pride Ring).

“Mills! Wait!” Sallie May said with a laugh. “Sit down, I will come to you.”

Millie laughed and obeyed her sister’s command as she sat back down on the bus stop bench.

She placed her left hand over her baby bump and smiled as Sallie May rushed over to her suitcase in tow.

Sallie May bent down to hug her sister and then asked permission to feel Millie’s stomach.

Millie agreed and led Sallie’s hand to the spot where just a few moments later she felt the baby kick.

“Woah! Isn’t that kind of weird? Cool, but weird?” Sallie May asked as she took her hand off of Millie’s stomach and began to follow her sister down the street to her new home.

Millie chuckled.

“A bit, but I’ve kind of gotten used to it. Excited for them to get out of me though soon.”

“Only a few more months right?” Sallie May asked her sister.

Millie nodded.

“Yup. Just about 12 more weeks to go.”

“And your boss and princess of a husband are ok with you still going topside to off humans?” Sallie May asked with her eyebrows raised.

“Oh they’ve been wanting me to slow down since the moment I told them I was pregnant. They just have not said anything much, but I’ve heard a few remarks thrown in now and then about finding a replacement for me when I go on maternity leave soon. Speaking of which-”

“Hi Sallie May!” said a voice from the doorway of M&M’s new home.

Millie stopped short as she saw her husband walking out of the house carrying a reusable shopping bag.

She sighed.

She’d ask her sister later what she wanted to ask her.

“You better be taking care of my sister and my future niece and nephew!” Sallie May called out to her brother in law.

Moxxie nodded extremely energetically.

“Oh course! In fact, I am heading to the store right now to pick up a few things for dinner.” Moxie then turned to his wife and grinned. “You craving anything I can pick up for you honey?”

Millie thought to herself for a moment and then snapped her fingers.

“Pickles, peanut butter, and some puff pastry dough…I have an idea for something I may wanna bake tonight.”

Millie smirked as she could see her husband biting his tongue to hold back a grimace.

Moxxie loved his wife, but her cravings included ingredients he did not think should even be in the same radius as one another let alone mixed together somehow.

But he loved his wife and unborn children more than his opinions on what foods went well with one another and if that is what Millie wanted, then that is what Millie would get.

“On it! Have fun!” Moxxie said as he waved goodbye to the sisters and headed off towards the grocery store.

Millie walked into the house and Sallie May followed behind.

She began to give her sister a small tour of the home.

They moved quickly through the living room and kitchen and Millie made sure to ease Sallie May’s mind when she saw some small renovations they were making to parts of the home like changing the backsplash or working on some loose wires (“Don’t worry, that stuff will all be fixed by the time the babies come.”).

She then led Sallie May upstairs to show her the bedrooms.

Sallie May was especially in awe of the twin’s nursery that she and Moxxie had finally started working on a couple of days ago.

It was decorated with dark blue wallpaper with red music notes on it (similar to the music note wallpaper back at the apartment).

Above the two cribs were mobiles that had both music notes and knives (fake ones of course, both items made of plush) and which played a rendition of “Oh Millie” when you twisted them. Moxxie had gotten it custom made for Millie as a surprise.

There was not much in the nursery, but her and Moxxie were planning on finishing up the remaining decorations together soon.

Finally, Millie led her sister to the next room that featured a small queen sized bed, a dresser, closet, and small bookshelf.

“So this room is a guest room or something?” Sallie May asked.

“Yes…or it could maybe be yours for some time…” Millie said nervously.

Sallie May looked back at her sister with a confused look.

“What are you saying?” she asked her younger sister.

“I am saying…what if you moved in to help at IMP when I am on maternity leave and when the babies are born?”

Sallie May looked hesitant towards Millie.

“I…I don’t know Mills…excuse me…”

And with that Millie was left alone upstairs as her sister headed downstairs presumably to get something to drink from the kitchen.

As Millie heard the water running from the sink in the kitchen, she walked into the guest room and bent down to sit on the bed.

What had she done?

Meanwhile across town, Blitz and Barbie were sitting across the table from one another at the same diner Blitz had taken Stolas to when he first began living with the imp months ago.

How times had changed.

The two siblings sat awkwardly as they waited for their meals to come.

Blitz had invited Barbie to brunch to help settle things between the two.

They had not really talked since their father had passed away, but after dropping Barbie off at her apartment in Lust (where she was currently staying) Blitz had invited her to come to Pride for a few days to spend some time together and talk.

Barbie agreed only with the exception that she could stay at her own hotel room.

She wanted to spend time more with her brother as well as get to know her niece and even spend time with Fizz again (she’d forgotten how much she’d truly missed him till she saw him again in Wrath).

She knew Blitz wanted the same.

However, she felt having some space in terms of their living conditions for the next couple of days would help ease them into the situation.

And after Barbie heard about Blitz’s chaotic living situation the past several months, she felt it was best to not add any guests to Blitz’s already cramped apartment.

“So how have things been?” Blitz said with a nervous tone as he seemed to look everywhere but his sister’s face.

“Oh!” Barbie said with the same tone. “It has been good. I’ve been clean for a while and I got a nice job at a pharmacy in Lust. The pay isn’t great, but it’s at least enough for a small studio apartment.”
“That is great!” Blitz exclaimed.

Barbie nodded.

They were now making small talk which was something, but still they were definitely ignoring the huge elephant in the room.

Once their food arrived, the siblings dug in and regressed back into not speaking to one another at all.

Once Blitz finished his pancakes and Barbie finished her bacon and eggs, they quickly paid the bill and began to walk down the street back to Blitz’s apartment.

Blitz was supposed to show Barbie his place today and then show her IMP tomorrow. They had only one quick job scheduled tomorrow so it would be a perfect day to really introduce her to everyone and show his sister what he did. He would not be bringing her to the human world, but he could at least show her the office.

As they continued to walk down the road, Barbie suddenly halted in her tracks.

“Blitz…we really need to talk about it.”

Before Blitz could respond, Barbie sat down on a bus stop bench.

Blitz sighed and sat next to his sister.

“I know Barb…I just don’t know what to say. I’m sorry. It really was an accident. I know I can never truly make up for what I did. How I hurt you or Fizz and…and…mom…but you have to know it was an accident Barbie. I swear to you it really was truly an accident.”

Blitz sighed waiting for his sister’s response.

Would she hit him?

Run away?

Would she not believe him?

Hate him?

Blitz braced for what his sister would say.

But to his surprise she said the most unexpected thing of all to him.

“I know Blitz.” she said.

Blitz looked at his sister in awe.

“You…you know?” Blitz asked, confused.

Barbie nodded.

“Fizz explained everything to me after you dropped us off in Lust.”

Barbie remembered leaving the van with Fizz and watching her brother and niece drive off just hours after their father had passed.

Fizz offered to walk Barbie back to her apartment and catch up.

It was during the walk that Fizz explained to Barbie everything Blitz had told him when they’d been taken by Striker and Crimson.

Including the fact he believed Blitz when he told him the fire was an accident.

“I know it will take time…” Fizz had said to her when they got to her apartment door. “But if you can find it in your heart to give him a chance, I would do it. You should do what is right for you Barb, but I remember how we used to be and the fact that I’ve been able to find that again with Blitz is a feeling I’d be a fool not to let you know about it. I almost had to watch Blitz be killed months back and the thought of that happening and never getting the chance to well…to be… I mean just think about it, please.”

Barbie had thought long and hard about what one of her best childhood friends had told her when she got in her bed that night.

She had been so hurt and angry at her brother for so long.

She’d turned to drugs and alcohol to numb the pain of losing her mother.

She’d blamed him for her addiction too.

She knew it maybe was not fair to do so, but she could not help it.

At the time she’d been so angry at Blitz.

She’d been so angry at herself too.

But she’d learned in rehab to try and forgive herself for the pain that she’d caused to herself and to others.

That is at least what they had drilled into her over and over again in her therapy sessions after being back in rehab for the 4th time in her life.

She’d ignored them before, but this last time in rehab something had just stuck for some reason.

Maybe it was knowing that this could be her last chance to actually stay alive.

Maybe it was some type of sign from Satan like her roommate in the facility had kept mumbling on and on about in her sleep.

But she knew part of getting through all this and being clean was learning to forgive herself as well as making amends.

It did not mean she had to forgive everyone who ever did her wrong.

Satan knew she definitely did not forgive everyone.

But she also knew her mother would not want her to be angry with Blitz and honestly she was tired of it too.

She’d held on so long to those feelings and if there was another side of all that hurt…another way she could be maybe like things were before like how Fizz had said…well she had to try.

As much as she’d been hesitant to trust her brother, she did have to admit she trusted Fizzarolli and if he could forgive Blitz after the agony and tribulations the fire had cause the young jester…then who said she could not learn to forgive too.

Or at least she had to try.

Blitz and Barbie sat quietly for a moment on the bench.

They watched a mother rolling a stroller down the street.

They watched cars pass by.

They watched a few pieces of litter fly in the wind.

Finally Barbie spoke up.

“I hated you for so long Blitz and I blamed you for Mom’s death. And you’re right. As much as I do believe you, it isn’t as simple as fully going back to being the ‘Amazing Imp Twins,’ you know?”

Blitz nodded at her.
“But,” Barbie said, speaking up again. “I would like to try to see if we can have a relationship again. It’s what…it’s what mom would have wanted and it is what I want too.”

Blitz nodded.

“I want that too.”

Barbie had so much more to tell her brother.

She had to tell him about the drugs and how she felt when she went to rehab.

She had to tell him about how she almost picked up the phone after she’d heard about the trial on TV (she had been working most of the day and had missed the live coverage, but looked up the video on Sinstagram as soon as she learned about what had happened), but she’d chickened out.

There was a whole chunk of her history that she’d had no one.

She had no friends, no love, no family…she had nothing.

Nothing that is but the temporary comfort that the pills and booze had offered to her.

That time was in the past though and now she wanted to head into the future.

A future that included a family with Blitz, Fizz and Loona.

She had that chance now and didn’t wanna ruin it.

“I still have a lot to tell you, Blitz.” Barbie said with a sad smile.

“Me too.”

“I mean it. It’s a lot.”

Blitz gave his sister a smile, got up, offered her his hand to help her off the bench and she took it.

“We’re lucky we have some time then.”

And with that the two siblings walked off down the street together to see Blitz’s apartment.

It wasn’t much…but it was a start.

Millie found her sister sitting outside on the front steps of her home with a glass of water.

She placed one hand on her stomach and then slowly bent down to sit besides Sallie May.

“Hi.” Millie said quietly.

“Hey.” Sallie May said, looking off into the sunset & taking a sip of her drink.

The weather today was warm enough that neither sibling needed a coat, but even so they could still feel this cold tension between the two sisters that was basically just a big unanswered question.

Finally Millie asked that question.

“I’m sorry if I scared you in any way Sal, but can I ask why you ran off like that?”

Sallie May sighed.

“I’m sorry too Mills. I didn't mean to hurt you or anything. I guess I was just scared.”

Millie gave Sallie May a confused look.

“You? Scared? I’ve never seen you fear anything.”

Sallie May let out a half laugh and then groaned.

“Trust me Mills. I’ve been scared of so many things in my life. From coming out to the family and being able to be my true self to being scared that one bad harvest or crops could put us into financial ruin, trust me I know fear.”

“I’m sorry.” Millie said with a guilty conscience. “I had no idea.”

“Well I guess I did a good enough job of masking it, huh?” Sallie May chuckled and then got serious. “But that doesn’t fully answer your question, right?”

Millie nodded.

“Look Mills.” Sallie May continued. “I love you and those babies that are growing in your belly, but I guess I just never really thought of leaving the farm for such a long time. I get a visit, but do you think the boys can handle that responsibility?”

Millie thought of her brothers.

Growing up she and Sallie May were one of the eldest in their family and had to handle most of the work.

Their next eldest brother had married young and while he spent most of his time divided between the farm and traveling with his trucker wife, the brunt of the chores had still been left up to the two eldest daughters.

Their younger brothers were still in school and while they had their fair share of work on the farm to do as did all of Millie’s family members, Millie did truly believe they could handle more responsibility.

“Like I said Sal. The boys are older now and Mamma and Daddy do have those extra hands to help out. I understand wanting to protect the family and the farm and bein’ scared of the unfamiliar…but if this pregnancy has taught me anything it is that I can’t let fear rule my life or I will never know what could be.” Millie said.

Sallie May stared at her sister with such hope and admiration.

“I guess you are right.”

“Now,” Millie continued. “I’m sorry for springing this on you and if you don’t wanna come you don’t have to. It is not fair for me to expect you to uproot your whole life on a whim for me, but if you did want to stay I’d really love the help and to be able to spend more time with you as well.”

“That would be nice.” Sallie May said. “And I guess killing a few earth fellas to make some money could be fun too.”

Millie laughed.

“So you’re gonna stay?”

Sallie May reached over to gently hug her sister.

“Hell yeah I’m stayin!”

The two sisters smiled and began to work out a plan to get Sallie May’s stuff to Millie and Moxxie’s home and when she could move in.

It was late at night when Barbie Wire walked into the bar.

It was a small, but relatively cheap looking place that wasn’t too packed.

Barbie walked over to the bar and asked the bartender for a glass of whiskey.

Today had been a long day.
But she’d at least started mending her relationship with her brother.

And she got to spend a little more time with her niece this afternoon.

Overall, it had been a good day.

But she could use a drink.

Sallie May sat on a bar stool at the end of a lone bar.

A few folks were talking over in a corner or shooting pool, but she pretty much had the bar top to herself as she asked the server for her favorite whisky.

She’d promised her sister she would be back in time to get a good night’s rest and be up & ready to go to IMP tomorrow to talk to Millie’s boss about taking over for Millie during maternity leave (maybe even longer potentially).

So much has changed in such a short amount of time though.

It was a good change, but still somewhat frightening nonetheless.

She was excited to go and after talking with her sister she did think the farm would survive without her at least for the time being.

So she told her sister she was going out and would be back by tonight.

She could just really use a drink right now.

Barbie looked over at the other end of the bar to see a tall imp woman sitting up on the last bar stool.

She had long black hair tied in a ponytail and was wearing a pair of faded jeans and a red crop top.

The woman noticed her immediately and gave her a smile.

She smiled back.

They both held up their similar drink orders.

“Good choice.” said the woman, revealing her country accent.
Barbie nodded.

“You too!”

Soon the women had moved closer to one another at the bar and began to talk.

Barbie learned the woman’s name was Sallie May and she was here visiting her sister who was getting ready to have a baby soon.

Sallie May learned that the woman sitting next to her was named Barbie and she was visiting her brother plus getting to know a niece she had not had the chance to know much about before.

Soon the two were talking about their favorite drinks, a little more about their families which led to talking about their friends, then hobbies and even more and more random topics.

The women soon learned they had a lot of things in common.

One of those things seemed to be liking one another.

This was just a theory/hope that both Sallie May and Barbie were having individually.

That was until it was possibly confirmed when Barbie Wire asked Sallie May to come back to her hotel room with her.

Sallie May sent a quick text to Millie to let her know she’d be staying with a friend she ran into that night, but she’d be back tomorrow morning to meet her at the IMP office.

It was a little white lie, but she did not want her sister to worry.

Now she could just focus on what she wanted to do the rest of the day and possibly into the next morning.

And that was to be with this amazing woman.

Barbie felt exactly the same.

She’d had a rough day and deserved some fun.

And Sallie May did not know if this was just a one night stand or something more, but she’d never know if she didn’t try.

So that is how Sallie May and Barbie Wire, two Imp City visitors who had more similarities than they knew at the time, ended up tangled in the sheets of Barbie Wire’s hotel room bed all through the night.

Chapter Text

Sallie May woke up wrapped both in the cotton sheets of the hotel’s bedspread and in the arms of a beautiful imp woman she’d met last night.

Barbie Wire.

Sallie could not believe how amazing the last several hours had been.

Barbie was so cool and real. She’d never met someone like her before.

She’d feared she never would again.

However, before Sallie May could enjoy herself anymore she looked over at her vibrating phone and gasped when she saw the time.

It was almost 8 am and she was supposed to meet Millie at IMP by 8:30.

Carefully, Sallie May rushed to grab her stuff and silently shuffled out the door.

Though not before leaving a note on her pillow with the hotel stationary that read:

I had a fun time last night.
Sorry I had to leave early, but didn’t wanna wake you.
If you wanna have some more fun again…call me at this number:

Sallie May hoped she’d get a call or text from Barbie later, but she could not think too much about that now.

She had to quickly run back to Millie’s house, get changed and head over to the office with her.

This was a new start for Sallie May and she was not going to waste it.

“And this is IMP!” said Blitz, leading his sister into the office.

Blitz was apparently running late, but his employees including Loona had arrived an hour earlier to get things started.

Barbie looked around the office and nodded.

“It’s…really nice.” Barbie said

Barbie was honestly pretty impressed with her brother’s accomplishments.

He had built his own company from the ground up and a pretty successful one at that. At least she guessed as she saw the calendar on the wall was filled with notes about different hits and remembered seeing some articles talking about Blitz’s new fame online.

Barbie though could not stop thinking about the wonderful woman she’d met last night.

She was so fun loving, free spirited and they’d had a fantastic night together.

The paper with Sallie May’s phone number was burning a hole in her pocket.

Barbie was planning on texting her as soon as she could, but she had to rush and get ready to go with Blitz first for a quick breakfast at a coffee shop down the street and then straight to the office.

She’d text Sallie May after she was finished seeing the office.

“So what do you think?” Blitz said, extending his arms out.

Barbie smiled.

She hated to admit it, but she was sort of proud of her brother.

He could be annoying and she was not exactly ready to forgive him fully and go back to the ways things were when they were kids.

But she knew as well as any other imp, that demons like them don’t usually become their own business owners and Blitz not only has his own business but a pretty successful one at that.

“It’s really nice.” Barbie said with a small smile, “But don’t you have other employees?”

Blitz’s eyes went wide as he looked around and realized that M&M, Stolas, Loona and Millie’s sister who was coming in today for a trial run (risking a bad first impression felt off to Blitz when he knew this was someone who was related to Millie and Moxxie, some of the most punctual people he’d ever met) were nowhere to be found.

The lights had been on and the door was unlocked, so where could the rest of his team be?

Just then three imps, a Goetia and a hellhound all walked into the room carrying cups of ice cream.

“Hey Blitz’s, we are sorry but there was that really good ice cream truck downstairs that I had to show my sister.” Millie said.

She then grabbed her sister’s arm and pulled her up in front of Millie.

“This is Sallie May!”

Barbie Wire and Sallie May both had similar looks of astonishment that quickly turned into the greatest poker faces ever.

Barbie could not believe it.

Sallie May could not believe it.

Sallie May and Barbie had not expected to see one another so soon and Sallie May was not even sure if she’d ever see Barbie Wire again.

But here they stood in front of one another doing everything in their power to not show any evidence that they had already met the night before.

Blitz quickly introduced Barbie to everyone and Millie did the same with Sallie May.

Neither Blitz nor Millie or anyone else in that room for that matter besides Sallie May and Barbie had any clue that the two women knew each other and they definitely didn’t know that they’d shared a romantic encounter the previous night.

Before the two had a chance to talk though, Blitz clapped his hands together and announced that they’d be taking Sallie May on a trial hit.

“This one is pretty simple.” Blitz said to his newest potential employee. “We need to kill some beauty influencers before they can go to their next narcissistic event. The client is their former assistant and she gave us the group's exact schedule for today. So this should be pretty easy seeing as those bitches seem to walk everywhere.”

Everyone nodded in agreement and got ready to go.

While Blitz, Millie, Moxxie, and Loona got ready to leave (with Stolas busy at the desk getting some new employee forms for Sallie May ready in case), Barbie Wire urged Sallie May to move closer to her.

Sallie May backed up and stood next to Barbie against the back wall.

“I thought you said you were in town to visit your sister…you didn’t tell me your sister worked at IMP!” Barbie said through hissed teeth.

“Well you did not tell me your brother was the boss of IMP.” Sallie hissed similarly through her teeth.

Both women sighed, but immediately tensed up when they saw that the crew was getting ready to leave.

“Look, the short answer is, I’m sorry and I really like you.” Sallie whispered as she began to walk back over “Can we talk more when we get back?”

Barbie Wire nodded.

“We have nothing to be sorry for. It is just a weird coincidence.” Barbie whispered back. “And for the record, I like you too. Yeah, let’s talk when you get back.”

Sallie May smiled and went to head over to her sister when Barbie tapped her on the shoulder.

Sallie May turned around and looked curiously at the other woman.

“Oh and Sal…good luck.”

Sallie May smiled.

“Thanks!”

With that, everyone besides Barbie and Stolas hopped through the portal to the human world.

Barbie Wire proceeded to sit down on the couch and check her phone while Stolas sat across from her shuffling through some paperwork.

Barbie did not know what to make of Stolas.

She grew up like most of the other imps not thinking too highly of the royals as they thought highly enough of themselves as it was and because she knew that imps like her were nothing to demons like the Goetias.

However, she’d seen the video of Stolas defending Blitz (basically saving his life) and knew how much the former demon prince had given up to help her brother.

As Barbie awkwardly scrolled through some photos on her phone she gave a small smile to Stolas.

Stolas gave her an awkward wave.

“So you are Blitz’s sister, hmm?” Stolas asks intrigued.

Barbie Wire nodded.

“Yup and you are Blitz’s….” Barbie said while rotating her hands in front of her to urge Stolas to finish her sentence.

However, Stolas looked perplexed.

He had thought about how he would end the sentence Barbie had started so many times.

Finally Stolas settled on a word.

“Friends…Blitz is my friend.” Stolas said.

Barbie nodded.

She felt there was more that Stolas wanted to say, but she let it go.

“Soooo,” Stolas said with a bit of mischievousness in his voice. “I bet you have many stories you can tell me about Blitz growing up.”

Sure Stolas had heard a few from Fizz and Blitz when Fizz was staying at the apartment, but he figured that hearing a story from Barbie Wire would mean that the stories might not be as exaggerated as he thought they were when he’d heard Fizz tell them or Blitz recount them.

Here he could possibly get some both funny and truthful anecdotes about Blitz.

Barbie all of a sudden had a large grin on her face.

“Oh buddy, you have no idea. So I need to tell you about the pudding incident first…”

Meanwhile on earth, Sallie May was lining up her shotgun to get ready to hit one of the targets.

They’d split up into groups to be able to cover more kills and get the kills faster than if they’d gone one at a time.

Blitz was with Sallie May and Millie getting a few of the hits while Moxxie and Loona were taking care of the rest of the influencers.

The next person that was on their list to hit had gone into the restroom and now the three imps were just waiting for her to come outside.

“You’ll need to line up the shot with the door.” Millie whispered to her sister.
“Got it!” Sallie May said with a nod.

“Oh and you are gonna want to make sure to do multiple shots just in case you don’t get her the first time. It’s ok if you don’t, but-”

“Millie! I get it.”

Millie just chuckled.

“I know, but can I give you some more advice? Okay, so if you-”

“Millie!” Sallie May exclaimed at her sister.

Millie looked up at her sister with confusion.

‘What’s the matter? I am just trying to help.”

‘What you are doing is distracting me. I want to impress your boss and I can’t do that with you yapping. You remember I won the Pain Games like 3 years in a row, right?”

Millie started to stammer.

“I get it but…but…”

“Hey Mills?” Blitz interrupted from behind them.

Millie turned around to see her boss standing now directly in front of her.

“Can I talk to you over here for a sec?” Blitz said, nudging Millie away from Sallie and towards a tree a few feet south of the trio. “We will be right back Sal! You’re doing great by the way.”

Once they were out of Sallie May’s earshot and behind the tree, Blitz turned to Millie with his arms folded.

“Wanna tell me what’s going on with you today with your sister?” Blitz said.

“Nothing is going on, Blitz.” Millie said defensively.

Blitz did not believe her for a second.

“Look Mills you are my best friend and I know something is up. Just please tell me. I mean your sister is doing fucking fantastic so far. I don't see what the big deal is.”

Millie sighed.

“It’s just…I’ve never been away from IMP for how long I am gonna have to be away with my maternity leave. I love my kids and I’m excited to be a mama. But I love this job too and so if I have to leave it in anyone's hands I just wanna make sure they are the best hands possible.”

“But don’t you trust your sister?” Blitz asked.

“I do!” Millie exclaimed. “I do trust her…I guess I am just worried that if I am not around something could happen. Like what if Sallie May gets hurt and I’m not there to help her? She is still my baby sister. Or what if she makes a mistake and it hurts the company or what if she…what if she is better than me and I get replaced?”

“Oh Mills. First of all, from what I’ve seen your sister is just as good of an assassin as you are. She already took out two of those dumbass selfie obsessed freaks earlier like it was nothing. I trust she will be fine and if something happens she will have Loona, Moxxie and me to help her even if you are not here.” Blitz said. “We are a team and there is nothing anyone on this team could do that could ruin this company…well maybe Moxxie could do something, but that’s not the point right now. And as for being replaced, Millie there will always be a spot for you on this team no matter what. I don’t care if you and Moxxie have 100 kids someday, till you wanna retire you will always be a part of this team…this family.”

Millie felt small tears in her eyes as she quickly swept the waterworks away.

“Dumb hormones.” Millie said with a laugh as she hugged her best friend. “Thank you Blitz.”

Blitz hugged her back, but the moment was interrupted when they heard a gunshot and suddenly Sallie May was walking back over to them holding a body bag.

“Got them!” Sallie May said proudly.

“Nice Work Sal! You want the job, it's yours! Right Millie?” Blitz said with a sly grin at his co-worker.

Millie nodded and smiled.

“Absolutely.”

She then walked over to her sister.

“I’m Sorry Sal. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. I just was worried about leaving work and I took those insecurities out on you. Forgive me?” Millie said.

Sallie May put her arms around her sister.

“Of course! And don’t worry Mills, I’m gonna be a great assassin. You won’t have to worry about anything.”

“You’re right Sal.” Millie said. “Everything is gonna be fine.”

“So then Fizz put the pudding cup down on Blitz’s seat and…and…” Barbie said through fits of laughter.

Stolas was cracking up himself as he started to punch his fisted talons down on the desk.

“Don’t tell me this was right before the rehearsal?” Stolas asked.

“Oh no…it was before the actual show.” Barbie answered crying with laughter.

The two demons were laughing so hard that they had not heard Blitz and the gang come into the office through the portal.

“We’re back bitches!” Blitz announced. “Oh shit. Barbie you are not telling him the story about the pudding cup are you?”

Barbie laughed.

“Ughhh I was just about to celebrate Sallie May being hired officially as Millie’s replacement for her maternity leave and now I have to do damage control. Thanks Barb!” Blitz said pointedly at his sister.

Barbie just continued to laugh.

“Stolas, I need to tell you the story correctly now.” Blitz said as everyone turned to listen to Blitz’s version of the tale.

Barbie excused herself to go to the bathroom though and rushed away, but not before giving Sallie May a look that told her to follow Barbie into the restroom.

Sallie May ducked out quickly as well (though she was not sure if anyone was even paying attention now since they all seemed captivated with Blitz’s version of the story Barbie had apparently told Stolas moments ago) and went past the wooden doors too.

Inside the two women stood face to face next to the sink.

“Congratulations on the job.” Barbie said, breaking the tension.

Sallie May smiled.

“Aww shucks, thank you. I’m excited to work here.”

“I guess you’ll be spending a lot more time in this ring then.” Barbie said curiously.

“Yeah. I mean at least till my sister is done with her maternity leave. Then I don’t know what will happen.”

“I’ve been thinking…I’d like to try to visit here more often as well. Maybe even get an apartment around here. It would be a little cheaper than Lust although I’d have to commute between rings to work. I gotta admit though there is a lot to like about this place.”

Sallie May moved closer to Barbie.

“Really like what?”

Barbie moved closer to Sallie May until their heads were practically touching.

“Well my brother is here and I get to spend more time with him. I’d like to spend more time with my niece as well. My brother’s business is kind of cool so getting to hang around here would be a plus also…”

“Also?” Sallie May asked with her eyebrows raised as she wore a small grin.

Barbie made a similar look.

“And you’d be here…”

The two imps finally stopped resisting their urges and leaned in to kiss one another.

The two felt like they could embrace one another forever.

They’d just met less than 24 hours ago, yet neither Sallie May nor Barbie understood how they had gone on so many years without being in one another's lives.

They could not explain it, but they just felt so pulled to one another like a magnet.

Barbie found Sallie May to be exciting and contagiously energetic. So full of life.

Sallie May found Barbie Wire to be interesting and someone who she could just talk to easily to.

Their kiss was short lived though as they suddenly broke away and froze when they thought they heard the door creak.

Turns out it was just a creak of one of the bathroom stall doors that had made the noise, but that did make the two imps realize something in the moment.

“Could we maybe keep this between us two? I just really wanna see where this goes without my sister’s involvement. I love her, but it just feels like it would be nice to have something to ourselves for a bit, you know?” Sallie May asked.

Barbie nodded enthusiastically.

“Agreed! I love my brother, but he can be a handful and I really don’t need him trying to give me any relationship advice now. Let’s just see where this takes us and then if things go well…”

“Then we can tell the others.” Sallie May finished her new girlfriend’s sentence.

Barbie gave her a quick kiss.

“Now let’s see.” Sallie May said with mischief in her voice. “If Blitz is telling stories about his childhood I bet I could find out some fun things about when you were a tot.”

Sallie May then rushed off to ask Blitz about some more childhood stories that specifically featured her new girlfriend.

“No wait Sal!” Barbie said with a laugh as she followed behind Sallie.

Minutes later, Blitz was now telling a brand new story featuring an embarrassing moment from Barbie Wire’s childhood as revenge for the earlier pudding story.

As Sallie May watched Barbie Wire and Blitz argue over specific events and level of truthfulness to what Blitz was saying, she looked around at the office employees.

Millie and Moxxie were sitting together with Millie sitting in between her husband's legs, both of their hands gently resting on Millie’s baby bump.

Loona was secretly recording the story on her phone probably to tease Blitz later with it.

And Stolas was sitting at his desk with his head resting on both his hands as he was taken in by Blitz and Barbie’s retelling of their childhood days at the circus.

This would be Sallie May’s life for the foreseeable future and she could say with complete confidence that there was nowhere else she’d rather be.

Chapter Text

Stolas had been staying at Vassago’s for some time now and while he enjoyed the amenities, something he was not too fond of was the secrecy.

Vassago could get in big trouble with the other Goetia if they knew Stolas was secretly staying at Vassago’s home.

So whenever anyone arrived at Vassago’s, they had worked out a plan for Stolas to hide in the nearest place he could at the moment.

That morning it was a hall closet.

As Stolas heard Vassago talking to someone he looked around at his surroundings.

This particular hiding place had been one he’d frequented quite a bit as it was near the guest room he was staying in and close by to the front door of the home.

However, as he could barely make out the words that were being said behind closed doors Stolas noticed something he had never noticed before when he’d hidden in this closet countless times.

Stolas did not know how he could have missed it, but under a pile of books and some frames, there was a small Goetia family photo.

Most of the royal family collected portraits of themselves and while Stolas was someone who could appreciate a good piece of artwork, he did love the photographs he had kept throughout his life just as much especially if they featured Via in them.

She was the one of the only good things in his life.

Stolas grabbed the photograph and studied it closely.

He observed the different faces of the members of the Goetia family.

They were stoic and stand offish. As if someone had just told them they needed to take this photo and they did so just on duty alone.

That was probably the case.

But then he spotted her.

In the crowd of straitlaced, no nonsense faces, was a smile coming from the youngest member at the time the photo had been taken: Octavia.

He and Octavia were the only ones in the photo who had any semblance of joy on his face.

Stolas’ eyes averted from his daughter to him in the picture.

How young he was.

He had to have been about 19 or so in the photo, this was taken months after Octavia had hatched from her egg.

He could not believe that Via was gone from his life forever.

Blitz had tried to give him hope at Sinsmas and had even compared their situations to the one with his sister (the sister who he seemed to have recently rekindled with).

Stolas didn’t know the whole story with Blitz and his sister, but he was not sure if the same type of rekindling could happen with Via and himself or at least any time in the near future.

Stolas was so wrapped up in the memories and thoughts that the picture was causing for him, that he barely registered Vassago, opening the door to his hiding place.

“Stolas. Vámonos. The coast is clear!” Vassago said.

Stolas quickly put the photo back and then turned back to his friend.

As they walked out of the room, Stolas looked at Vassago with curiosity.

“Who was at the door?” Stolas asked.

Vassago suddenly looked like a deer in the headlights as he processed Stolas’ simple question.

“Uhh…a telemarketer…nothing to worry about.” Vassago said.

He then quickly changed the subject and Stolas none the wiser accepted Vassago’s offer to go watch a movie.

Vassago felt both guilt and relief at Stolas’ acceptance of his lie.

The former prince would find out soon enough what he’d been notified of.

It was about his daughter anyway.

Vassago…just could not be the one to tell him at this time.

Not now at least.

Octavia never wanted to marry.

It was not just because of the turmoil she’d witnessed between her parents in regards to their own marriage.

But she’d figured out that from a young age many married people were expected to not only procreate, but also seemed to like the idea of having sex for fun.

And whether to create another life or enjoy the life a couple had together, sex was not something Octavia had ever been interested in herself.

She remembered hearing the term “asexuality” randomly on a television program early on in her adolescence (though she had not made it very far in the show as her mother had caught her watching it, deemed it was “inappropriate” for her daughter and had made Via go to bed instead).

That night at the age of about 11, she’d snuck down to her father’s library and looked up in the dictionary the word Asexuality and she’d learned it meant someone who had little to no sexual attraction to anyone.

She then did her own research online using the cell phone she’d gotten for her 12th birthday.

The more she looked into asexuality, the more she realized it was something she would label herself as.

It was not just about being repulsed by the idea of sex (something she knew some asexual people related to and others did not), but she felt fine with giving up the idea of marriage if it meant she had to have that.

She did not identify as aromantic and did have crushes before in the past on the very few guys she’d been able to interact with at her age (though most of those crushes vanished after she had realized they were grade A jerks who were only interested in her due to to her status or money or even her body as those were unfortunately the only young men her mother had allowed her to come into contact with as they were deemed “suitable” for her to interact with due to their own high status).

However, if the kind of man she was expected to marry also expected her to have sex and have a kid…then she just was not interested in that sort of thing.

Octavia also did not even dislike the idea of having a family someday either, but the thought of adoption was not something that Goetia’s or any higher up demons seemed to take kindly to as many of their ideals and values included things like bloodlines and birth legacies.

So if she was going to be alone in her lifetime, then that was something she was content with and she thought she had at least somewhat of a say in.

That was until one morning in Spring when her mother and uncle called her into the parlor of the palace.

“Good morning sweetie.” Stella said to her daughter.

“Yes good morning Octavia.” Andrealphus said to Octavia.

Octavia exchanged pleasantries and then sat down on the sofa directly in front of her mother and uncle.

“Darling, we have some wonderful news.” Stella said passionately.

“Uhh what is it?” Octavia asked, confused.

She had no clue what news her mother could be talking about.

“We have found a viable suitor for you. He comes from a good line of the Goetic demons and we think he will make a fine husband for you.” said her mother.

Wait, husband?

“I…I don’t understand…” Octavia said, confused.

“The Goetia family members are expected to bare an heir to extend our family sweetheart. I apologize as I wanted to tell you this sooner, but your father always was able to fight me on that front. Now that he is gone though you can finally reach your full potential in this family and be who you are meant to be.” Stella said while holding her daughter’s hand.

Octavia could not believe the words she was hearing.

An heir?

Like having a baby.

She was not interested in anything like that, but she did not feel she could even tell her mother the reason why.

She’d never understand.

And what was this about her father keeping this from her?

Why would he do that?

Was it more cruelty from her dad?

Was it protection?

Via thoughts were going a mile a minute.

She could barely wrap her head around what was happening.

She was about to try and ask her mother some type of follow up question when the doorbell rang.

“Ohh!” Andrelephus exclaimed, clapping his hands. “He’s here!”

“Who?” asked Octavia, even more confused than she’d been before.

Suddenly a young man about Octavia’s age was led into the parlor.

He was a taller boy with a medium build who wore a dark blue peacoat and a ruffled shirt.

Octavia could not get much of a read on the young chap as he looked as terrified as she was in the moment, though he seemed to do a better job at hiding it.

Via could tell though that it was just an act from the sheer look of hidden terror on his face.

Did he know about this arrangement already?

Or was he told only moments before being carted off to their palace gates?

“May I present Orion. Orion was a top student and has been studying to lead the future armies of the Goetia for quite some time now. Isn’t that right?” Andrealphus asked the boy.

The young man just nodded.

“Well we shall let you and Octavia get acquainted for a moment.” Andrelepheus continued as he began to walk out of the room.

“Have fun darling…but not too much fun.” Stella said with a chuckle and wink.

Via’s mother had no idea how wrong she was in that assumption.

Soon the two teens were left alone in a room together.

“Hello.” Orion said, breaking the silence.

“Hey.” Via said back.

There was more awkward silence between the two young Goetic demons as neither knew what to say.

“Look I am sure you are nice and all…” Via began.

“I am sorry we got caught up in all this. I am not sure what you were told.” Orion said, interrupting her.

Via shook her head.

“I honestly was just told this news today.” she said.

Orion looked curiously at her.

“Really I was told this plan at a young age and honestly no offense, but I’ve been dreading it ever since.”

Via’s eyes went wide.

“You were?” she asked.

Orion nodded.

“Yes.”

Via was about to say something else when she noticed a small keychain peeking out of the boy’s pocket.

“Is that the ace flag?” she asked.

Orion suddenly went stiff and began to stuff the keychain back in his pocket.

“Oh no…oh Lucifer…umm…well…” Orion mumbled.

Via suddenly was horrified by what she had done.

She had hoped she hadn’t accidentally outed the boy.

That was the last thing she wanted.

She knew what it was like to hide something like that in a family like this and she could not believe she’d possibly made someone else feel the way she had been terrified of feeling for years.

She did not know how much of a comfort this news could be to Orion, but if he was someone who had a key chain with the ace flag on it then she figured he could be trusted with what she was about to tell him.

“I’m ace too, Orion.” Via said.

Suddenly Orion stopped and looked at her with both relief and curiosity.

“Really?” he asked.

Via nodded and showed him some of the accounts she liked on her secret sinstagram account that had to do with LGBT+ youth and Ace acceptance.

Via switched back and forth constantly between her private and personal accounts so that she could interact online without anyone finding out her sexuality or that she even was the princess.

Under her anonymous account she had even more freedom and it was not something she felt she could just anyone.

But she felt she could trust Orion.

Orion gave a small smile and breathed a sigh of relief.

“I thought I’d hidden that away and no one in my family has ever asked about it regardless. I don’t think they even know what the colors mean either.”

Octavia smiled as she thought of her own ace pride pin that filled a random pin board in her room.

Her mother had seen it once and just seemed to figure it was a meaningless colorful design and nothing more.

Stella had no idea what the purple, grey, white and black striped heart (one that sat in between a pin of a random hell hound character she liked on a show and a pin of a plant similar to ones her father used to keep) really meant to her.

“I think I would like to fall in love someday and get married and even have a family.” Orion said. “But no offense, I don’t want it to be with a total stranger and I am not interested in having sex and having biological children especially not now.”

Octavia agreed.

“So how do we get out of this?”

Orion suddenly looked determined, maybe even confident.

Like a switch had turned on inside him.

Orion had not known Octavia long and the plan he had was a long shot to begin with.

But he felt he could trust her.

She’d been so open and honest with him and even though he’d walked into this palace with little hope of his plan working, in this moment he had some semblance of actual hope.

“Can I trust you with something?” Orion asked.

Orion was about to explain when Stell and Anderelephus suddenly came back in.

“Ahh you two seem to be getting along well,” said Stella.

“Yes, quite well!” her brother agreed.

Via had to resist the urge to roll her eyes.

Her mother and uncle had barely seen the two teens interact at all and now they seemed to know how well they were getting along.

“You do not know the half of it.” Via mumbled under her breath.

The rest of the afternoon seemed to be talking about wedding plans and how Via would be turning 18 in only a few months.

It seemed that this wedding was to happen about a month or so after her 18th birthday.

That did not give her much time to escape this.

Worst of all she had no idea what Orion wanted to tell her.

Did he have a plan that could actually get them out of this.

At the end of the visit, the two teens were asked to shake hands with one another as they said goodbye.
“Goodbye Via. I look forward to seeing you soon.” Orion said curtly and with the exact polite tones that he’d had when he’d walked into the palace that day.

“Thank you Orion. I do as well.”

The two shook hands and Via felt a small slip of paper be placed in her hand.

As Orion was led out by her uncle and Via’s mother went off to brag to her friends about her daughter’s engagement, Octavia look down at the item that was in her hands.

It read:

COME TO E. 5th ST. OUTSKIRT OF IMP CITY @ 11 TONIGHT

Via had no idea what this was or what to expect.

However, she did know that this could be her only chance of getting out of this marriage.

So if she had to sneak out in the dead of night to do so…then so be it.

Hours later, Octavia found herself at a warehouse on the outskirts of Imp City.

She wore a large purple cloak and was dressed in black to help her not be spotted.

Luckily no one seemed to be around this part of town at this time of night so she felt safe…or at least somewhat safe.

Via took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

A slab in the wooden door opened up and Via could tell Orion was looking through the peephole back at her.

Suddenly, the door opened up and Orion stood with his hand out to lead her inside.

Via took it and began to follow the fellow Goetic demon.

“You were not followed, right?” Orion asked as he led her through another doorway and then into the basement.

“Nope. I made sure.” Octavia said with confidence or at least as much as she could muster in the moment.

“Good.” Orion said as he opened up one last door and walked through it.

Via walked inside and gasped.

It was not much but the large they were in looked to be an old looking gorgeous library with a bar built into the corner.

It honestly looked right out of an old speakeasy she’d read about in an earth history book she’d gotten her hands on years ago.

Huddled around a computer, sat two hell hounds that looked to be identical twins, a young imp in a blue dress with their hair in two pigtails and an imp succubus hybrid wearing a black leather jacket, green shirt, and blue jeans.

“Via meet everyone.” Orion began.

He pointed to the twin hell hounds first.

“This is Polly and Patrice, they are twins and are our tech geniuses here.”

The twins nodded to say hello to Via.

Via waved back.

Orion then pointed to the young imp in the blue dress who could not have been older than 13.

“This is Sarah. She may be young, but she has some of the fastest reflexes I’ve ever seen.”

“Aww hon. I’m blushing.” Sara said.

Orion rolled his eyes.

“She also talks like she’s an old wrathian woman even though she’s 13.”

“I just turned 14 may I remind you.” said Sara with fake offense in her voice.

Orion just chuckled and shook his head.

He then turned to the remaining member of the group, the imp succubus with the black leather jacket.

“This is Tony and he is our muscle of the group. He doesn’t speak much, but makes up for that in his brute force.”

Tony just gave a quiet nod to Via and looked back at a book he’d been analyzing moments before.

Via peeked at the cover and it seemed to have something to do with fighting styles.

“So what is this place and who are all of you?”

Orion gave Via a look that told her he was about to say a speech he’d been practicing for quite some time.

“A few years back, I began to truly realize all the suffering that goes on in Hell. Yes, it is Hell and things aren't great, but there is so much we could do to fight back and make things better for everyone in every ring. Our goal is to try and fight back. Start a revolution that will overturn the rings of hell and hierarchy we have here. I want lower class demons to not be seen as just servants or made to be obedient. I want us young royals to not have to get married or have sex just because someone told us we had to. I want things to be better for everyone. So I ended up meeting a few others who felt the same way and together we started our rebellion group. And now that we have you to help, we think we can actually do this.”

Via crossed her arms unconvinced.

“Do what exactly though? How can we overthrow the hierarchy of Hell and the whole class system. And how can I help?”

Orion put a hand on Via’s shoulder.

“Via, you are one of the most powerful beings in all of hell. Not just due to magic, but also your status. I do not have half the status you have even with my family and background. If you could help us we could help stop not only our wedding, but the way things are done in Hell for everyone. We could be the change that everyone deserves. If people knew that a Princess like you was behind our cause then we’d be able to grow fast and if we grow fast, then we have a serious shot at making this dream a reality.”

Octavia had to admit as much as she found some of Orion's speech a bit corny, she also knew he was right.

She wanted to make a difference for not only her own life but for everyone in hell.

There were times when she’d suggested new laws or ideas to her mother in regards to when she took over as Queen.

Her mother would just laugh and pat her on the head like she had no clue what she was talking about.

Her father had at least listened and debated her ideas with her, helping to find ways to possibly make these things a reality.

Though at the same time her father had never really seemed interested in implementing Via’s ideas himself.

She was not sure if that was due to his own ignorance or if he doubted her plans.

Regardless, though this could be an opportunity to make Hell the way she wanted.

A place where any demon was free to be who they were and a place where demons who were lower class were treated no different than royals.

In fact, the class hierarchy system would not exist at all in her world.

And if this was the only chance she had to do all of that plus stop the wedding she and her fiance absolutely did not want…then how could she say no.

“I’m in…” Via began. “But I do have one question.”

“What's that?” Orion asked.

Via smiled.

“Does this rebellion group have a name?”

Orion smiled back at her.

“I thought you’d never ask.” Orion said, outstretching his arms. “Welcome to Project Renegade.”

Chapter Text

“All I am saying is Blitz could be a gender neutral name. It works for anyone really.” Blitz said.

Millie just chuckled and rolled her eyes as Moxxie drove the van up to Millie’s childhood home.

“Blitz we have not decided on names and I just called to thank you for the van again.”

She could hear Blitz sigh and knew that even rings away he was smiling too.

“No problem Mills. Loony and I can handle the jobs on our own in the next few days.”

“I am sorry again Sallie wanted to take time off just as her trial period was starting.” Millie said, apologizing on her younger sister's behalf.

“Don’t worry about it Mills. I don’t even need your sister to come in much till you officially go on maternity leave anyway. And besides, Barbie is back in Lust for the week too so both of our sisters are away. Me, Loona and Stolas can handle a job or two for the day. Just enjoy your family time and keep in mind that Blitz is-”

“Blitz is a good name for anyone. I heard you the first time,B. Bye and I will text you later.” Millie said, hanging up.

She smiled and placed her hands on her swollen belly. She could feel the twins kicking. It still was a little odd for her to know there were beings growing inside her, but she was excited and a little frightened for what was to come not only when she delivered her babies but after.

Lin met M&M at the door and waved them inside as Moxxie parked the van and helped his pregnant wife up the steps.

“Mox, I am fine. You don’t have to hold me for every step.” Millie said with a laugh.

Moxxie chuckled.

“Sorry honey. Just wanna make sure you are all safe.” Moxxie said as he helped Millie sit down at the kitchen table.

Just then they heard Lin groan as she looked down at a stew she was making on the kitchen stove.

“Oh no!” exclaimed Millie’s mom.

“What is it Mama?” Millie asked with concern.

“I forgot I needed some garlic and hot peppers to get this recipe just right. It just doesn’t taste the same without it.” Lin said solemnly.

“I can pick those up for you, Lin.” Moxxie said.

“Really?” Lin asked Moxxie with concern. “Are you sure?”

Moxxie nodded.

“No problem.”

Lin sighed again.

“Ok, I am gonna write down the exact brand I need. Go to the general store up the road. They should have exactly what I need. And please hurry back as soon as you can.”

Moxxie took the list that Lin handed him, gave Millie a kiss goodbye and headed on his way.

Millie watched as her mother watched through the window as her husband sped off in the van down the road.

“He will be fine Ma. You really need to give him more credit.”

Lin gave Millie a grin that Millie felt was a bit fake, but did not want to stir the pot more by stating it.

“I know honey.”

Before Lin and Millie could continue their conversation, Millie heard the sound of footsteps as her youngest brother, Pete, rushed over to Millie.

“Millie!” Pete exclaimed as he ran to hug his sister, almost hitting her with his toy train in the process.

“Pete, no baby. Remember what we talked about?” Lin said as she led Pete away from Millie’s stomach and helped him to put the toy down. “We can’t be too rough with your sister.”

“Cause she has babies in her belly, right?” Pete asked innocently.

“That is exactly right.”

Pete gave Millie a wave and then jumped up.

“Wait, I have to show you something I found! I will be right back!

Moments later, Pete returned with a piece of paper.
“I was playing with the toy planes in your old room and saw this. Mama said you might want it.”

Pete handed the paper to Millie and Millie looked at it.

She laughed when she read the title.

“Millie’s Future Baby Names List.” Millie said as she looked at the faded writing written in red marker.

She remembered that she’d made this for fun at the age of 13, but had not really thought much of it since.

“We thought it might be fun to look at now and get some ideas. Though I assume you may wanna name them after one of our family members. There are so many to choose from after all. Like your father’s name: Joe. Isn’t that a good strong name, baby?” Lin ranted to her daughter.

Millie got a curious look on her face as she looked around the room.

“Hey wait, where is Papa or Joey or G.?” Milie asked, wondering where her father and other brothers were.

Lin smiled and ruffled Pete’s hair.

“Oh your father decided to take your brothers on a hunting trip in the southern parts of the ring. Too bad you won’t be able to see them, but I am sure you will get to much more after the babies are born.”

Millie looked confused at her mother.

“Oh that is too bad, but do you mean you and the rest of the family are gonna visit more. Cause honestly that would be so fun and Sallie May had a great time-”

“No honey, I am talking about when you move back here.”

Millie froze.

“Hey Pete, can you please go to the living room for a bit?”

“I wanna play with my trains and planes, Millie.” Peter answered with his arms folded.

“We can play later. I just need to talk to Mama please.” Millie said pleading with her youngest sibling.

Pete sighed and solemnly walked away with his toy train in hand.
Once Pete was out of earshot, Millie carefully turned to her mother.

“Mama, I don’t think you understand. I am not leaving Imp City after I have the babies.”

Lin looked perplexed at her daughter’s statement.

“What do you mean honey? Of course you are.”

Millie sighed.

This was gonna be a long conversation.

She hoped Moxxie would be back soon.

Moxxie stepped into the old general store that had been exactly where Lin had stated it was.

The store looked ancient to Moxxie (and that's saying something since most things in Wrath looked worn down and old), but Moxxie did see the charm in it and he was able to find the exact ingredients his mother-in-law needed pretty quickly.

While Moxxie was waiting at the checkout counter for the store clerk to finish ringing him up he noticed something.

Behind the front counter, there were a multitude of photos decorating the wall.

Some looked like they could have been from before the store even opened and others looked like they had been taken yesterday.

As the old man at the counter scanned Moxxie’s items, Moxxie’s eyes suddenly went wide as he saw one particular photo.

Just to the right of the store clerk hung a photo in a bright blue frame of a young woman with long black hair and beautiful eyes. She was on a stage and in a beautiful blue leotard.

The woman looked younger than Moxxie had ever known her, but without a doubt he knew exactly who the person in the photo was.

“Excuse me sir? That picture right behind you.” Mox said, alerting the store clerk of the photograph in question. “Do you know who took that picture or the connection to this store?”

The man turned around, looked at the photo Moxxie had mentioned and turned back to Moxxie with a smile.

“Oh why that is a photo of Maria. She worked here as a teen actually. One of the best workers we ever had actually. That was taken at one of her ballet recitals at Madame Celeste’s.” The man said nostalgically as he seemed to be somewhere else when he said it.

“Why do you ask?” the clerk said, breaking out of his walk down memory lane and back at his curious customer.

“Because…” Moxie said with awe and wonderment. “That is my mom.”

“Ma, what do you mean you expect me to move back here?” asked Millie with frustration in her voice.

Her mother could not actually be serious, could she?

“Well I just thought once the babies arrived you’d need extra help.” Lin said with her hands on her hips.

“Mama. Sallie May is gonna help and my friends and I have Moxxie. We will be fine.” Millie said.

Lin let out a snort that she tried, but failed to hide.

Millie gave her mother a look with raised eyebrows in response.

“Honey.” Lin started as she walked over to her daughter and took her hand. “I love your sister, but I’m not sure if she will be able to handle two babies at once. And your friends I am sure can help now and then, but can you really depend on them all the time? Plus your husband I am a little concerned about…”

“What are you talkin’ about Ma?” Millie asked, getting more and more frustrated by the minute.

“Well I know he loves you hon, but now you’re gonna have twins. Multiple babies. I just don’t know if he is up to the task.” Lin said nonchalantly.

Millie found herself seeing red when looking at her mother.

She really thought that after the last time her and her mother really talked Lin had at least gained a bit more respect for her husband.

But she guesses she was wrong.

Millie was about to say something when her phone vibrated.
She looked down to see Moxxie had texted her asking her to come outside.

“Moxxie is here. I am gonna go talk to him.” Millie said bluntly to her Mom.

She did not want to say anything more as she worried she would say something she’d regret.

Once outside, Millie took a deep breath and then put on a smile for her husband who held a small shopping bag.

“Hey.” Moxxie said as he kissed Millie on the forehead and passed her the small bag. “Is everything ok?” he asked, studying his wife’s face.

Moxxie could tell when Millie was upset and doing her best to hide it.

“Yeah. I am fine.” Millie said as she started to head back inside the house. “Let’s just get this to the kitchen.”

“Wait!” Moxxie exclaimed.

Millie turned back towards her husband confused.

“What’s the matter?” Millie asked with curiosity.

Moxxie took a deep breath.

“I think I may have found some stuff out regarding my mother. I can’t explain much now, but I wanted to do a little investigating. Do you mind if I head out for a little bit? I promise I will be back in time for dinner.” Moxxie asked.

Millie looked at her husband in shock.

“Wow! Your Ma. Yeah of course. Go! Just let me know how it all goes tonight when you get home.”

“Of course! I love you.”

“Love you too.”

With that the duo parted ways and Millie made her way back inside the house.

When she got back in the kitchen she saw her Mom was holding the baby name lists she made as a kid and was using a pen to do some editing.

“Ma!” Millie said, snatching the list and throwing the grocery bag onto the table.

She was thankful she could not hear any broken glass or see any spilled contents from the bag.

“What were you doing?” Millie said as she read over the list again and took in the markings her mother had made.

Lin looked up at her daughter and smiled innocently as if Millie had not

“I was just helping with this list. I mean you wrote it so long ago. You probably don’t want any of these names. Like Gina or this one?” Lin said, pointing to one of the names at the top of the list.

“I like that name actually!” Millie said with a small stomp of her hooves.

She knew it was childish, but at that moment Millie could care less.

Why was her mother being so judgmental?

“Ma! Why can’t you just let me make my own decisions?” Millie asked angrily.

“BECAUSE YOU DON’T MAKE THE RIGHT ONES!” Lin yelled.

There was nothing but silence between the two women for what felt like hours.

Why would her mother say something so cruel?

“What…what do you mean?” Millie said, her voice cracking as she urged herself not to try.

Lin sighed.

“Two years ago I get a phone call that you are marrying someone who you not only met less than a year ago, but that you are going to be off doing some human world freelance killing job. You just jump into things without thinking, Millie.”

“Oh so you don’t trust me? Is that it?” Millie asked with hurt in her voice.

“It’s not that…it’s just…I worry….”

Before Lin can say any more Millie stops her.

“You know what, Ma. I am gonna take a nap. Cause I am scared I’m gonna say something I’ll regret if I am around you much longer.”

And with that Millie rushed upstairs to the guest room dropping the list on the floor in the process, gently laid down on the bed, and began to cry.

The dance studio was an old reconstructed barn that featured wall to wall mirrors covering half the building, a polished dance floor, and cases of trophies and photos from various competitions.

Moxxie walked over to the case and began to read the names wondering if any of them would say his mother’s name on it.

“May I help you with something?” a voice said behind Moxxie.

Moxxie turned around to see a smaller elderly Imp woman who had a Latina accent and a dark blue pant suit. She held her cane in a death grip and looked Moxxie up and down like she was trying to decide what to make of her unexpected guest.

“Madame….Madame Celeste?” asked Moxxie struggling to get the words out.

The woman in question took another long look at Moxxie and then started to laugh.

“Yes…yes son. Though that is just the studio name. I took it over from Madame Celeste when she sold the studio after running it for a few years. I was told to keep the name due to brand recognition, but honestly I think some people just thought Wrathians knew nothing of the arts and that naming the studio something else would cause people to distrust my teaching even more. I’m Vanessa.”

Moxxie sighed.

He definitely knew what it felt like to be teased or ridiculed for being a patron of the arts.

Their situations were not exactly the same, but both imps could relate to one another.

Moxxie was about to ask more questions, when he suddenly remembered why he came in the first place.

Moxxie showed Vanessa the photo he’d taken of the photo at the store on his cell.

“I am looking to learn more about this woman…she was my mother. Did you know her by any chance?” Moxxie asked with hints of desperation in his voice.

Vanessa murmured something and then urged Moxxie to follow her.

Moxxie was led up a wooden spiral staircase and soon he was face to face with another trophy case.

Right in the middle of the case was a small framed photo of his mother along with two different trophies reading her name.

“She was one of my favorite students. She had mastered every dance we offered here from jazz to tap to salsa to flamenco to ballroom, but she had a special knack for ballet that I just had not seen in any of the other students. Such a natural gift and it won her a variety of awards. I figured she’d get some type of scholarship or go on to do it professionally.Then one day when she was around 18 she did not show up for class.”

“How come?” Moxxie asked, confused.

Vanessa sighed sadly.

“I thought maybe one of the part-time jobs she’d been juggling had asked her to come in at the last minute or maybe her parents needed her, but when I called around I found out she’d run off with your father.”

“Oh.” Moxxie said solemnly.

“I had my suspicions that she was seeing someone and I knew her parents were hoping she’d marry wealthy.”

“Why?”

“Well they were worried a career in ballet would not be feasible. I am guessing they must have been charmed by your father the same way your mother was. I did hear from her one more time though about a year later.”

Vanessa led Moxxie into her office, grabbed a postcard off the cork board in her study and handed it to him.

The postcard read:

Vanessa,
I am sorry I could not stay, but I’m fine.
I am married and have a newborn son.
His name is Moxxie and I love him with all my heard.
I am fine, don;t worry about me.
Attached is a picture of my pride and joy.
Thank you for all you did for me.
I’ll never forget it.
Paper clipped to the postcard was a small photo of Moxxie and his mother.

Moxxie had not recollection of this photo as he was a newborn in it.

But he smiled and felt wet droplets in his eyes.

He could not remember the last time he’d seen a picture of his mother with him in it that did not include his father.

Those portraits had been memories of terror and performance.

But even though he was an infant here, Moxxie knew that in that moment he felt safe and loved being in his mother’s arms.

“I wish I could have seen her dance. She must have been amazing.”

“Maybe you can?” Vanessa said.

Millie was still crying when she heard a knock at her door.

If it was her mother she did not feel like talking.

But then she heard a small voice from outside her room.

“Millie. Can I come in?”

Millie sighed and wiped away her tears.

Then she walked over to the door and opened it, revealing her little brother on the other side.

Pete stood before her with the list in hand.

“You dropped this.” Peter said.

Millie lifted Pete up into her arms and then brought him over to the bed.

“Thank you Pete”

Pete smiled as he held the paper in his arms.

“Peter?” Millie asked. “Do you think I am gonna be a good mama?’

Pete looked at Millie confused.

“Duhh. You’ll be the best mommy ever.” Pete said.

Millie smiled and hugged her little brother close.

At least he believed in her.

“I like this one Millie.” Pete said, pointing to the name that Millie argued with her mother about.

Millie smiled at her brother.

“Me too.”

A few moments later, Millie led her brother back to his room promising to play with him in a few minutes.

First she needed to go confront her mother.

Milie had been expecting to find her mother sitting around looking self righteous.

Or just minding her own business acting like nothing happened.

Instead though she found her mother in front of the tv crying and watching a recording of the news report from months ago during the trial.

Millie cringed when she saw the imagery on the TV screen.

She had been avoiding trying to think about that afternoon.

When she was scared more than she’d ever been in her entire lifetime.

“You know I almost wasn’t gonna turn on the news that day,” Lin began to say without turning around to look at her daughter. “I just had a feeling though that I needed to. Then…then I saw what was going on and clicked the record button…cause If this was the last I was gonna see of you then I needed to be able to play it back and see my baby again.”

“But they were only gonna kill Blitz, Ma.” Millie said, walking over the couch and putting a hand on her mother’s shoulder.

“I had no idea what to think. For all I knew they were going to turn around and decide to behead you all right after your boss.” Lin said with her voice cracking.

Millie sat down right next to her mother and stared at the screen.

Then she grabbed the remote to pause it before she or her mother had to endure any more of these painful memories.

“But I am here Mama. I am here and alive. I’m ok.”

“But you almost weren't.” Lin exclaimed. “I know I can be tough and controlling with you sometimes, baby, but in all honesty I am just scared. It scares me when I think about you going to earth to kill humans. I get scared when I think about how freelance can be not as secure as I wish it was. I got scared when Striker hurt you last Harvest Moon Festival cause I wanted you to know you could protect yourself. And now your sister is leaving the farm too…I just…it’s just so much.”

“Ma. I understand more than ever about wanting to protect your family…especially your kids. But you need to trust me to be able to make my own decisions about things…whether it is my line of work or your grandchildren.” Millie said with her hand resting softly on her belly.

Lin gave Millie a sad smile.

“You are right. I will try harder. I know I need to try…” Lin said, resting her hand on top of Millie’s own hand.

Millie smiled.

“I’ll try to come around more too. I may not be here 24/7, but I know my kids are gonna wanna see their grandparents and uncles more.”

Lin grinned back at her daughter.

“I’m sorry for what I said about the name too. I think that is a good name for your child because you want it for your child.”

Millie smiled.

“Thanks Ma…I know.”

Vanessa led Moxxie into a small supply closet and grabbed an old laptop, she slammed it down on the desk in the corner and then started to fiddle with some buttons.

A disk drive popped out and after a few more seconds of searching, Vanessa found the disk she was looking for.

She set up what looked like a video for Moxxie and then began to walk away.

“Wait…what is this?” Moxxie said.

Vanessa did not directly answer his question insead she just said.

“I will be right outside. You are free to pause it and leave whenever you want.”

And with that Vanessa left the room and closed the door behind him.

Moxxie curiously walked over to the laptop and pressed play on the video.

The video began with a dark stage and a single spotlight.

Underneath the light he saw a woman…no not just any woman.

His mother.

He watched as the opening notes to a song Moxxie recognized as being Swan Lake played and the woman on the screen began to dance.

Moxxie watched as she did ballet move after ballet move.

She was almost floating on the screen as she danced with such grace and poise.

Moxxie’s mother was made for the stage.

He did not remember much of his mother, but he did remember small moments of her sad smiles or fake bravery put on her face in front of Crimson.

Nothing even remotely like that was seen on the screen here.

Moxxie’s mother looked more at home dancing for people than he’d ever seen her in the mansion he’d grown up in.

Then Moxxie began to do something surprising even to himself.

He got up and danced alongside her.

He was familiar with this particular routine for the most part and the bits he didn’t know too well he could just follow along with.

Moxxie did not get too much time with his mother.
He barely remembered her at all.

But in this moment he was able to feel more connected to her than he’d ever had in his life.

Because even though it was only in a video…Moxxie was able to see his mother’s passion come alive and share that passion with her.

She may not be around anymore.

But Moxxie swore that he felt her presence when he’d danced.

After the video was over he played it one more time, danced again and then turned it off.

Moxxie could not believe the day he’d had.

But it was definitely one he would never forget.

“Wow! You’re mom and you had some things in common then I guess.” Millie said as she got into bed next to her husband.

It had been hours since they’d been apart, but between dinner and a quick game of charades after Pete begged them to play (Millie and Pete won against Lin and Moxxie of course) they had not had much time to chat.

So Millie told Moxxie about her day and Moxxie revealed everything about his day.

“I never felt so connected to her, Mills.” Moxxie said.

Then he gave her a shy smile.

“I know we have not decided on a name yet for our daughter…but I was wondering if we could maybe name her Maria.”

Millie looked at Moxxie slightly bewildered.

“That’s a nice name, but is it for that character from that musical about the guy that gets stabbed with a knife or the one where they run from the Natzis?”

Moxxie looked amused and impressed with his wife.

“As happy as I am that you remembered the names of both main characters from West Side Story and The Sound of Music…no, that is not why. Maria was my mother’s name.”

Millie smiled at Moxxie and reached out to take both of his hands in hers.

“Baby, I love that. Yes! Maria would be a beautiful name for our little girl…and I have the perfect name for our son.” Millie said.

“What’s that?” Moxxie asked excitedly.

“Max. It is a name I always loved and one I still love now. I know it isn’t a namesake or anything like that but–”

“It’s perfect!” Moxxie said, hugging his wife gently.

Millie then grabbed Moxxie’s hand and placed it on top of her swollen belly and she placed her hand there too.

“We love you…Max and Maria.” Millie said softly.

And soon the family of two…soon to be four…were fast asleep.

Chapter Text

Millie sat with Blitz at the small table next to a food truck as she scarfed down a burger.

“Thanks for taking me out to lunch again, Blitz.” Millie said.

Blitz smiled.

“No problem Millie Billie. We haven’t hung out on our own in a while and so I just thought it would be nice.”

Millie smiled and then noticed someone was dressed as the mascot of the burger place they were eating at.

“Ohh Pete will love that. I am gonna get a photo and send it to my mama to show to him.” Millie said.

Blitz chuckled as he watched his best friend walk over to the mascot to ask for a photo.

Ever since Millie had come home she’d been trying to connect more with her family outside of Imp City, especially her younger siblings.

She’d send her mother funny videos or photos that she knew her family would appreciate and was already planning a trip back home a few months after the babies were born.

Blitz still couldn't believe it.

In about 11 weeks his friends were going to be parents.

He would be an uncle.

Blitz wondered how things would change when the babies got here.

He did not know much about babies.

Sure some clients had popped out kids in their office from time to time (he could never convince them to name the kids Blitz) and he remembers interacting with some older performers who got pregnant in his circus days.

But for the most part Blitz was curious how he’d interact with these kids.

He was gonna try to be the best uncle he could be of course…but was that enough.

Maybe he should try to be more proactive in helping with Millie’s pregnancy.

“So Mills.” Blitz began once Millie got back from her impromptu photo shoot with the mascot. “Are you ready for the babies then?”

Millie smiled at Blitz, but he could tell something was a little off about her grin.

As if she was trying hard to show she was truly fine rather than actually believing it herself.

Or maybe Blitz was just reading into his friend’s facial expressions too much?

“Absolutely!” Millie answered, taking another bite of her sandwich.

Blitz just nodded along.

The last thing he wanted to do was make Millie upset or prod at something she did not wanna talk about.

Then Blitz got an idea.

“Hey, that baby store you visited before is just around the corner. What if I bought you a gift to add to the nursery?”

“Oh Blitz you don’t need to.”

“I want to!” Blitz pleaded with Mille. “Please let me! Don’t make me beg Mills.”

As Blitz looked at Millie with eyes like a puppy, Millie sighed.

She knew she could not say no to Blitz.

“Ok. But only one gift. I don’t want them getting spoiled. And Moxxie and I are gonna finish the nursery in a few days so no going overboard.”

Blitz nodded excitedly.

Soon the two friends were off to the store.

As Millie smiled at every item that Blitz saw that he picked up to show her, Millie was secretly feeling quite uncertain.

Was she ready for the twins' arrival?

She’d been looking forward to it for months.

Writing little notes on the calendar in the kitchen about due dates and how big the babies were.

She’d listened to podcasts with Moxxie and even read some of the books about pregnancy right before bed.

She thought she was ready, but was she?

What if all her insecurities about being a mom came back?

She’d recently stood up to her own mom about taking control of her pregnancy and raising her kids the way she’d wanted to raise them.

For months she’d tell everyone from her mother to that bitch Amber who’d Millie had heard recently moved physicians luckily (she was secretly glad she did not have to risk seeing her anymore).

It felt like everyone was telling her what kind of mother she should be and not letting her have control.

But what if they were right?

What if she was in the wrong about everything?

What if the way she was going on about her pregnancy and raising her kids was going to harm them rather than help them?

What if she really was not ready?

“Millie, can I get two of these? One for each baby?” Blitz asked, holding up two plush toys.

That broke Millie out of her trance and she went to talk to Blitz about his gift ideas.

In a few days her and Moxxie would finish up the nursery together and maybe then she would finally feel truly ready.

“Are you sure this is where you want it?” Stolas asked, holding a tall lamp near the rocking chair in the corner of the room.

“Exactly! We need to hurry though cause Blitz and Millie should be back any minute.” Moxxie said excitedly as he finished putting the last of the onesies in the dresser.

“I thought you and Millie had decided to finish decorating the nursery together?” Stolas asked.

“Yeah.” Moxxie said, closing the dresser drawer and backing away to look at his handiwork. “But I thought it might stress her out with all the manual labor and everything so I figured I’d finish it up as a surprise.”

Stolas smiled and looked down at a pillow that was decorated in tiny gold stars he’d just placed on the rocking chair.

Satan, Via had something just like that.

Stolas shook his head and tried to snap out of it.

He couldn’t think of his daughter right now.

He feared he would start crying and maybe never stop.

So he changed the subject.

“So Moxxie? Are you feeling ready to be a father?” Stolas asked, looking over at the imp across the room currently throwing some stuffed dolls in a toy chest.

“Oh definitely…as long as I do everything the opposite of what my father did to me it should be fine…” Moxxie said not daring to look Stolas in the eyes.

Truth was Moxxie was terrified, but he did not want to show it.

He could not show it in front of Stolas or Blitz and especially not in front of Millie.

He had to fake it till he made it…but what if he never made it?

What if all those fears about being like his dad would become a reality?

Or what if there was something lurking that he did not even know about himself and his parenting skills were even worse than his dad’s?

That couldn’t happen…could it?

They were prepared. He and Millie had read books, watched videos, listened to podcasts and had tried their best to be ready.

But was it enough?

Moxxie was broken out of his spiraling thoughts when he heard the door open and the sounds of two imps walking up the steps.

He knew Blitz and Millie had to be back from lunch and he was so excited to show his wife the nursery.

“We are in here honey!” Moxxie called as he gave Stolas a silent thumbs up.

Stolas smiled back almost just as excited as Moxxie to show off the nursery.

“Hey baby, so Blitz got a few things for the babies-” Millie said as she walked in and then paused in shock.

Before her was a completed nursery for her children along with a dresser put together, lamp shades on all the lamps, stuffed animals tucked away and basically everything else completed.

“Hi Honey! Surprise! Stolas and I finished decorating the nursery for you. What’d you think?” Moxxie said.

Moxxie expected Millie to smile or cheer or maybe even cry tears of joy.

What he did not expect though was the reaction before him.

Millie looked…pissed, angry, and genuinely upset.

Her eyes filled with tears and she rushed off to the bedroom slamming the door behind her.

Moxxie looked concerningly and surprisingly at Stolas and Blitz, but they both shared a similar confused expression as Moxxie.

What was going on?

He had not meant to make her cry.

Moxxie walked out of the room to comfort and apologize to his wife.

Millie was curled up on her bed crying into her pillow.

“Millie. Honey? Can I come in?” Moxxie asked from outside the door.

Millie groaned, but got up to unlock and open their bedroom door.

Millie looked at her husband with a blank expression and blood shot eyes.

Moxxie frowned.

“Millie, I'm sorry. I did not think finishing up the nursery would upset you so much?” Moxxie said apologetically.

“We were gonna do that together, Mox. Did you really think I could not be trusted to help with the nursery?” Millie asked pacing.

“No!” Moxxie exclaimed with horror as he reached out to lay both of his hands on Millie’s shoulders to stop her from pacing and help her relax. “Absolutely not honey. That wasn’t it. I just thought it might stress you out because of how far along you were and the manual labor of it all. I didn’t mean to take this over or make you think that I think you would not be able to do this. I’m really sorry Millie. I should have been more considerate.”

Millie did not answer and instead walked over to her bed and held one of her small pillows to her chest, careful not to press the pillow too much into her expanded belly.

“Moxxie…do you honestly think I will be a good mom?” Millie said.

Moxxie walked over to his wife and sat down next to her on the bed.

Millie turned to her husband with slight tears in her eyes.

He then held her hand and looked directly in her eyes as he said this next part.

“Millie. I think you are gonna be the best mother in the world. You are compassionate, fun, protective and so so adoring. Our babies are gonna be so loved and so well taken care of because you are their mother.” Moxxie said.

Millie began to cry again, but this time she did so with a small smile to show they were tears of joy.

“Oh Mox.” Millie said. “And I think you’re gonna be the best daddy in all of Hell.”

“Really?” Moxxie said with a small voice crack of his own.

“Of course. I mean you are so sweet and smart and prepared. Who would not want you as their father? An idiot that is who and guess what Mox?” Millie asked.

“What Mills?”

“Our kids are absolutely not idiots.”

“You got that right!” Moxxie said as he hugged Millie.

“I’m sorry again about the nursery.” Moxxie said.

“It’s ok. But I do have one more thing I wanna add to it.” Millie said with a smile.

A few moments later, Millie and Moxxie went back to the bedroom to find Stolas and Blitz on opposite sides of the nursery.

Blitz was taking the time to maneuver the new hellhound plush dolls he’d bought for the twins onto the rocking chair while Stolas was looking very intensely at a painting in the corner.

Millie and Moxxie grinned at one another and secretly chuckled.

They knew their boss and co-worker were avoiding each other due to their feelings.

And hell could they be any more obvious about it?

Moxxie instructed the two to go downstairs and pick out a place they wanted to get take out from later tonight.

Millie thanked Stolas quickly for helping with the nursery and she watched as the two members of IMP walked down the steps to pick a place to get dinner.

All the while, Millie had been holding something in her hands.

So as Moxxie began to move the stuffed toys off the rocking chair and into their childs’ cribs, Millie placed the item on the rocking chair soundly.

That item being the “Thing” that Millie had won at Loo Loo Land last year.

Moxxie put an arm around his wife and smiled at her.

They were gonna be fine…all four of them.

Because they were partners…a team….team M&M and together they could master anything.

That included parenting.

“Oh my satan! I can’t wait to tell you my idea!” Pamela said as she led Millie over to the park bench.

Pamela had asked Millie to meet her at the park the next day.

Pamela, like Lucie, had about two months to go till her due date. She’d found out she was having a girl and ever since had been throwing around name ideas to anyone she could talk to as she and her wife had still not come to a decision.

Millie felt though that today Pamela was not asking her to meet at the park to discuss her future child’s name.

This seemed different.

“What’s up and is Lucie joining us? You didn’t say anything in the group chat.” Millie asked.

Pamela shook her head, but grinned like the Cheshire cat.

“Nope! Lucie was gonna come, but she is away for her high school reunion so I told her that I would tell you my idea and then we can explain it to her when she gets back.”

Millie nodded intrigued.

“So…” Pamela began with a clap of her hands. “You know how we’ve been having this little group with just the three of us?”

Millie nodded.

Pamela continued.

“I was thinking, what if we expanded on it?” Pamela asked excitedly.

“Expanded?”

Pamela nodded enthusiastically.

“Yup! But turn it into a nonprofit organization.”

Millie looked at her friend confused.

“What do you mean?”

“So!” Pamela began. “I was thinking, there are so many moms out there who need support whether it be single moms like Lucie or families with more than one more like me or families with a mom and a dad like you. It really does take a village and I want us to help be that village. So what if we had something like this where we could help expecting mother’s navigate hospitals and what they need to get ready for their babies. You remember telling me about the way you were treated at your first appointment. What if we could fight back against that kind of treatment and advocate for one another? What if we could find a way to support moms who are looking for work or need support groups like us? I have a ton of ideas for more support groups at different stages in parenting and how we could get partnerships with local businesses who would be interested in hiring parents or maybe we could even offer daycare for working moms or something like that?”

Millie raised her eyebrows.

This was a lot, but she liked this idea.

She’d felt so much more secure and excited about her pregnancy when she had not only the support system of her husband and friends at IMP, but her new friends she’d met at the doctor’s office too.

So to be that kind of support for other parents who wanted to navigate having a child in Hell, especially if they were lower class demons like her, was something she definitely wanted to be a part of.

“That sounds amazing! I can’t wait to tell Lucie.”

“Me either!” Pamela said.

“Do you think I could juggle this and being a mom and my work though?” Millie asked.

She had never run anything even close to a non-profit and nothing as serious as what Pamela was suggesting.

“Millie come on! You once told me you killed 9 cheating scumbag humans in the span of 3 minutes with only a paperclip and some rope. If you could do something as wild as that then I don’t think anything is stopping you.” Pamela said.

Millie looked hopeful, but a bit unconvinced.

“Please! I can’t do this without you and I also need your help convincing Lucie to help. She is the one I am worried about not feeling she is up to the task” Pamela said. “Though I can’t say I blame her after…”

“After what?” Millie asked, confused.

Pamela blinked and shooed her hand as if she was gently swatting a fly.

“Oh um nothing. Basically I just need to know you're on board. Come on Mills, please.”

Millie thought about it for a second and then smiled.

She’d had so many thoughts of self doubt lately.

And after her feelings came to light last night regarding her fears about being a mother, Millie felt like she really needed to believe in herself more.

That was of course easier said than done, but she had to try.

Not just for herself, but all the demons out there like her trying to navigate new parenthood in a society that did not think much of you as a person let alone someone who could raise a child.

Yes. She wanted to do this.

“I'm in!” Millie said and shook Pamela’s hand.

For the rest of the afternoon Pamela and Millie brainstormed everything from potential locations for this new non-profit to the name and even some other services that they could offer.

Millie could not wait to tell Lucie about their ideas and she definitely could not wait to tell her other friends and family.

For the first time in a while Millie felt something different than fear.

It felt good, positive and life changing.

It felt…like hope.

Chapter Text

Octavia and Orion walked down the street in the dead of night each holding take out boxes.

It had been a week since Via had met Orion, started forming a plan with Project Renegade, and had actually felt like she was beginning to make friends.

Via and the twins learned they liked the same movies that she did and they were even able to hack into the security systems at the palace to make sure that none of the cameras at the palace (during the rare moments her mother’s lazy guards actually checked the cameras) captured Via sneaking out as she had every night over the last few weeks.

Sarah was fun to talk to and Via would grin when she saw that Orion and her seemed to have a big sibling and little sibling dynamic. She’d watch them practice sparing and would laugh when Orion would fall on his ass.

If you asked Octavia though, his wink at her when he’d fall down definitely did not make Via red in the face.

“You’re blushing more than a tomato frying in the hot Wrath sun.” Sarah would tease and Via would just roll her eyes.

Then she would try to learn some sparring once Orion’s turn was over.

Though it was not really her thing, she did feel she was getting stronger and stronger each day as she practiced new moves that Sarah taught her.

The only person Octavia had not really bonded with was Tony.

Tony seemed to keep to himself in the corner lifting weights or using the treadmill with his earbuds in.

Orion and the others told her to not take it personally as Tony had always been like that. He’d lost his whole family caused by the royals confiscating his family’s land to build another addition to their palace.

Tony had stepped up and told his mother and younger brother, Rick, that he would go out and find work so he could build a new home.

They’d been staying at a motel, but one day Tony’s brother had wanted to get a toy he’d left on the land where their home had once stood.

Tony’s mother and Rick had gone back to the area to retrieve the toy, but when they did they were both shot for trespassing on now royal owned property.

The media had portrayed them as thieves and low lives, but Tony knew even without the text his mother had sent about going to get the toy from their old home…that the story the royal guards had told was nothing but flat out lies to just make themselves look good.

Orion had told Via this story on the night she’d met everyone during their walk back to the palace.

“Tony once told us that we could tell any new recruits this story as long as they did not try to talk to him about it and he did not have to talk about it. I guess it was too traumatic for him, but…unfortunately we all seem to have a reason to be part of this mission.”

That was definitely true.

Polly and Patrice had parents who were first to come up with this group name and actually worked as guards for Orion’s family.

Orion had confided in their parents about wanting to make some changes and they promised in exchange for what help they could give Orion that in return he worked with Polly and Patrice to get the rebellion off the ground.

Turns out Polly and Patrice’s parents felt that if they had a royal on their side in this revolution their daughters might be a bit safer.

The twin’s grandparents had been one of the many lower class demons to be put to death for their crimes (stealing food to feed their family) and ever since then the twin’s mother and then later their father had been secretly working to try and infiltrate from the inside.

They had had a bit of luck in terms of small changes or disturbances here and there, but having Orion they thought would help really take things off.

They knew Orion since he was a kid and trusted him to help keep their children safe and as well as trusted him with the secrets of their rebellion. They also all agreed having someone with such higher connections was not a bad idea.

So what began with Polly, Patrice & their parents (though they never seemed to come to the bunker and stayed in their posts at the palace to avoid any suspicions), soon added Orion.

Then a few months later, Orion had found Sarah when he’d been secretly trying to find new recruits in Wrath.

Sarah had been beating up a man twice her size for hurting a small animal and in that moment, Orion knew that Sarah would be an asset to the team.

He had been worried about bringing a child into the rebellion (Polly and Patrice were 19 and had begun this project when they were 18), but as Sarah constantly was reminding them she was 14 and could hold her own.

So they all would take turns helping out Sarah whether it be making sure she had fresh clothes in the corner of the bunker where she slept or food to eat at least two to three times a day.

Sarah was an orphan who’d ran away from her abusive foster family when she was 12, she’d been living on the streets and wanted to make a difference ever since.

“I’m already a kid. No one ever cares about kids like me. Especially someone from Wrath who never had much of a chance anyhow. I just want to make things better.” Sarah had said the first day she’d meet Project Renegade.

The last and most recent member was Tony who the group only knew for a month or so now.

With that and now the addition of Via, their group of originally a few became a group of now 5 (7 if you counted the twin’s parents).

They’d only been doing this for two years though and sadly…not much had been done in regards to the rebellion.

They’d staged a few protests with some other demons who did not want to fully be involved in Project Renegade, but were willing to help with a sit-in near the palace.

It’d lasted a total of minutes before many of the group had been harmed or killed.

Orion had lied to his parents to make it seem like he had just been caught up in the fan fair.

Orion had not wanted to lie, but it was easier to keep working with Project Renegade if his family did not know he was involved.

Via had remembered hearing rumors of a protest months ago, but her mother had told her that it was just a minor disturbance outside the courtyard and she did not have to worry about anything.

The news had basically said the same thing so she’d brushed it off.

She felt guilty for that.

As much as Via wanted to act like a rebel and believe she was against the system she’d been born into…how much had she really done to counteract that or use her privilege to fight for those who did not have the life she did?

Sure she listened to punk rock music and shared some posts now and then, but had she really been using the power she did have for good?

She could not turn back the clock, but she could at least try to do what she could now.

Since then the acts of rebellion Project Renegade had done were small.

There were acts of graffiti to get their message across and they’d even stolen a large amount of the tech equipment that was going to go to the royal army for surveillance.

That had been their biggest act of rebellion yet, but now with the wedding fast approaching Via, Octavia and the rest of them needed to figure out a plan.

“Do you think this is really going to work?” Via asked.

“It has to. If we can make enough commotion leading up to the wedding, then maybe they’ll see it as a bad idea.”

“It might work…” Via said solemnly. “But I just feel like it will maybe delay the wedding.”

“It’s the best plan we have at the moment Via.” Orion said, sneaking his hand into the take out bag and breaking off a piece of garlic bread.

“I don’t get how you like that?” Via asked with bewilderment.

“Hell Via! Who doesn’t like garlic bread?” Orion asked.

“Me and…vampires.” Octavia said with a smirk.

Orion just chuckled.

Even the smallest jokes from her Orion found charming.

“Speaking of vampires, remind me to show you Vampire Revenge 3. It is so much better than the sequel.” Orion said.

Via rolled her eyes.

“Vampire movies are so cliche.”

Orion laughed.

“Really? Well then what’s your favorite movie miss horror movie snob?”

Via was about to answer when she stopped in her tracks and gasped.

Orion was frozen in place too.

Before them was the bunker they’d been hiding out in for the past week…engulfed in flames.

Orion began running towards the burning building.

“Sarah! Tony! Polly! Patrice! Where are you?” Orion screamed.

Via began to yell the names of her news friends as well.

That was until they bumped into Tony covered in sut, his leather jacket covered in burn marks.

“What the fuck happened?” Via cried.

Octavia did not know Tony much and had definitely not seen him have much emotions and expressions besides contentment and neutrality in the past several days.

However, at that moment Tony looked more crushed than Via had ever seen another being look.

“Patrice and Polly…they were trapped inside…I tried to save them, but…but…” Tony then began to tear up as did the Goetic demons.

“And…you’re sure they are…they are…?” Orion asked not being able to say the words.

Tony nodded solemnly.

“And I can’t find…OH MY SATAN! SARAH!” yelled Tony as he noticed a small figure crawling out of the rubble.

Tony, Via and Orion rushed over to the young teen before then who had bruises and burns covering her body.

She began to hack as Orion bent down to try and lightly rub her back to help.

Sarah began to cry harder from pain though which caused Orion to quickly move his feather away from the small girl.

“We need to get her to a doctor!” Via said.

Before anyone could answer, a voice behind the young rebels answered.

“I don’t think so.”

Via turned around to see her mother, uncle, and a group of royal guardsmen.

“How…Why…How?” Via began to stutter.

She did not understand.

She’d only just begun sneaking out and the cameras had been hacked.

“You really think our guardsmen would not notice you sneaking out cause you managed to hack a few of the security cameras, did you? We finally found where you were going and decided torching this hideous establishment was just easier for everyone.” Stella asked with a laugh.

Via felt ashamed and angry.

How had no one noticed when she’d snuck out to see her father at the IMP office, but this time they’d noticed.

And what did her mother mean by easier for everyone?

Just easier for the Goetia it seemed…not anyone else she.

Andrealphus laughed.

“Now girl, you will go with us and stop this foolishness. Guards! Seize the boy!”

Guards rushed to put cuffs on Tony.

Via began to use her magic to stop them as did Orion, but before they could barely cast a spell Orion found himself in cuffs and Via was soon dodging the guards.

“Stop this nonsense at once Octavia.” screeched Stella.

Via was about to fight back when suddenly a cloud of even more smoke appeared.

“SILENCE!” the voice yelled.

Before them stood Paimon, Octavia’s grandfather and Stolas’ father.

Via had barely seen the man throughout her life, but in the rare instances she had seen him she’d remembered him being rather large and frightening.

This moment was no exception.

“Octavia. My granddaughter. What have you been doing?” Paimon said disappointedly.

He then turned to Orion.

“And young man I am surprised at you as well. Well at least we stopped this foolishness once and for all.”

Paimon dropped down to eye level with his granddaughter.

“Octavia…we will be moving up this ceremony and you will be married in a few days time.”

Via looked shocked.

“You can’t…I’m not of age yet.”

Paimon smiled.

“Ahh, but he is.” Paimon said pointing to Orion “And the rules state if at least one guardian of each individual in a royal betrothment approves of the matrimony and another is of age, then the courts will allow you to marry earlier than originally expected. It is a good thing you turned 18 today Orion..”

Via looked at Orion.

It had been his birthday and she had not known.

Why had he not said anything?

It did not matter now though.

The only thing that mattered was getting Sarah help.

“Wait! I will go with you…no more tricks or anything. But you need to take care of Sarah. Please, she is only a child.” Octavia said.

Paimon sighed.

Via was so much like her father.

He remembered having to take Stolas to the circus as a kid to get him to stop crying about his engagement to Stella.

He guessed he could do something for Via’s little friend if it meant the wedding would be smoove sailing.

“Fine! Guards take the girl to the hospital, but arrest that young man there!” Paimon said pointing to Tony who had his hands up.

Via looked back at Tony who turned away from Via.

Was he blaming her?

Was he right in blaming her?

Via did not have time to think, she just watched as half the royal guardsmen took away Tony and the other half brought Sarah through a portal to the hospital in Sloth.

Via’s heart clenched.

How had so much gone wrong in so little time?

As quickly as Paimon left he was gone.

Via wondered if he would be at the wedding or not.

He barely paid attention to his children or grandchildren, but would he come to the ceremony to make sure it would go off without a hitch?

Would he have better things to do?

Via was not sure and frankly she did not care.

She was just happy Sarah had a chance to be ok.

As Via and Orion were put into the back of the car, one of the guards took off her cuffs.

He was an older hellhound, who Via did not notice but Orion seemed to.

“We are sorry Princess. We will be at the castle gates shortly.”

Via was confused as to why the guards seemed to trust the two to be uncuffed in the back of the car while her uncle and mum sat up front only mere inches away.

But that is when Via remembered something.

Patricie and Polly’s parents were royal guards.

Not for Via’s home, but for…Orion’s.

Orion looked back at Via with sad eyes and nodded.

He knew what she was thinking and his nod confirmed it.

Via began to tear up.

How had things gone so wrong and why had the twin’s father been so nice to them?

Had she not gotten their children killed?

Via knew she had promised to marry without a fuss to help Sarah, but she did not want this disaster for Project Renegade to die in vain.

Patrice and Polly were dead.

But the mission they had wasn’t.

She knew it was a risk and maybe a long shot, but she had one more idea.

Via quickly grabbed her phone and began to text the one being who might have the power to help her:

DAD!
MOM IS TRYING TO MARRY ME OFF.
PLEASE STOP IT!
HELP!

Via had wanted to write more, but the car stopped suddenly and the princess realized they were back at the palace.

Via threw her phone quickly back in her pocket before anyone caught her and got out of the car.

She was about to help Orion out too, but Stella stopped her daughter and slammed the door behind Via.

“Orion will be going back to his own home to have a long talk with his family, I am sure.” Stella said.

Via turned back to look at Orion, but Stella again interrupted.

“Oh and sweetie I will need your phone.”

Via froze.

Did she know about the message?

Would she see it?

Lucky for Via, Stella threw the device on the ground and smashed it with her heels the moment it touched the cobblestone driveway.

“I can’t take any chances. Now say goodbye to your fiance. We have a wedding to plan.”

Stella began to walk with Andrealphus back to the palace and before the car could pull away, Via looked back at Orion.

“I am sorry…and happy birthday.” Via said.

“I’m sorry too Octavia…and thank you.” Orion said.

And with those parting words the car was driven away by their royal driver.

Via watched as the car pulled away and soon just became a blip in the distance as it drove off to Orion’s home.

Via rushed off after her mother and uncle, but not before looking back again this time at the crumbled remains of her cell phone.

She did not know what would happen next, but she hoped that her message had gotten through to him and that Stolas could help stop this in some way.

If not, then she was worried not only that she would have to be in an unhappy marriage like her parents and be forced to sire an heir…but that no rebellion would ever happen again.

That Tony was in jail for nothing.

Sarah was lying in a hospital bed in Sloth for nothing.

That Patrice and Polly had died for nothing.

It couldn't be nothing.

It just couldn’t.

And with that Via walked into the palace and shut the door behind her.

Chapter Text

Stolas did not get a ton of texts these days.

Besides the occasional message from Blitz (now mainly information pertaining to work rather than horse memes and discussions of their day to day activities), Stolas did not receive many messages except maybe from Vassago or the occasional spam text.

However, this morning was different.

Stolas had left his phone on silent, but had fallen asleep close enough to it that the vibrations of the cellular device had awoken him.

Stolas slowly moved his talons to pick up the phone and while half awake he began to read the message that was on screen.

Seconds after reading the message in its entirety, Stolas was fully awake and out of bed.

With the phone in hand he rushed down the hall to Vassago’s bedroom.

After minutes of knocking, Vassago finally opened the door and gave Stolas a worried look.

“Stolas! Qué pasó?" Vassago asked with concern and curiosity.

Stolas quickly showed him the text that detailed his daughter’s cry for help.

“Oh no!” Vassago said quietly to himself.

“Via is in danger. I had no idea that…ugh…how could they? I did my best to not have her suffer the same fate as I did and oh Lucifer this is all my fault.” Stolas said moments away from tears.

Vassago placed a hand on his friend’s shoulder.

“No! Stolas it is not.”

“I need to go. I’ll call Blitz and everyone. They ought to be able to help.” Stolas said as he began to rush away.

“Can I help?” Vassago called.

Stolas quickly halted and turned back to face Vassago.

“Can you be my ears and eyes on the inside? Let me know if you have any information or can somehow talk to Octavia. I am worried if I try to contact her Stella will find out and make this all worse.”

Vassago nodded and Stolas rushed off.

But not before saying a few simple words that would haunt the bird for the rest of the day:

“Thank you Vassago. You really have been such a trustworthy and helpful friend.”

As Stolas left to rush to the IMP office, Vassago sighed and felt a feeling in his chest he had not felt in some time.

That emotion he was feeling…was guilt.

“Slow down Stols,” Blitz said as he rushed the IMP team members to the conference room. “Do you even know when or where the ceremony is going to take place? Maybe we have more time than you think to stop this fucking shit show?”

“Ughh Dad…I don’t think so.” Loona said, showing the group her phone.

The team members all gathered around the small screen to see the latest headline.

LAST MINUTE ROYAL ENGAGEMENT: Octavia of the Ars Goetia and Orion of the Ars Goetia Set to Marry Tomorrow at Palace

Stolas shook with fear and despair.

Blitz reached out to take his friend’s hand.

“It is gonna be okay Stolas. Via won’t have to fucking marry anyone. Not if we are able to stop it.”

“But how can we stop it?” Stolas asked with desperation in his voice.

“We do what Millie did when she saved me from my almost marriage to my ex.” Moxxie pipes up.

“Yeah!” Millie said. “We crash that mother fucking wedding!”

“We just need to be a little sneaky about it.” Blitz said with a sly grin.

Lucky for the gang, they had no jobs to work on for the next 24 hours…which gave them perfect time to work together to brainstorm the best way to go about helping Via.

Stolas just hoped it would work.

Via had found herself in a large poofy periwinkle dress that she never would have picked out herself.

In fact nothing about this wedding she would have chosen herself.

It seemed her mother had taken the liberty of doing everything for her.

From the decor to the food to even where in the royal garden the nuptials would take place.

Octavia did not know why her mother was so obsessed with this wedding.

To be honest, it felt like it was the only thing her mother was living for at the moment.

“Octavia darling. You look divine.” Stella said as she walked into Via’s bed chambers. “The color looks perfect on you and you are going to look perfect walking down the aisle.”

Via sighed.

She figured she should make one last attempt at getting her mother to stop the wedding…though it was a long shot.

“Mother…why do I need to get married now? Can’t it wait a few years perhaps?” Via asked Stella as her mom lightly fixed her daughter’s veil.

“Via darling. This is what our family is meant to do. This should have been arranged years ago and I’m sorry your horrid father decided to ruin my original plan for preparing you for this, but you will see. Orion is nothing like your dull and terrible father. You’ll understand once the ceremony is over.”

Stella suddenly held her daughter in front of the mirror and tightly placed her talons around Via’s shoulders as she stood firmly behind her.

“When I was a little girl I was told that this would be everything I ever wanted and was meant to do. This is how it is supposed to be and I promise you darling…you will not regret this like I did.”

Before Octavia could ask any follow up questions or ponder if Stella meant she regretted her marriage to Stolas even if their marriage gave them her, there was a knock on the door and a guard suddenly walked into the room.

“Your majesty, the flowers have arrived and the delivery service is asking for your approval.”

Stella suddenly leapt up and rushed out the door.

The tall female hell hound began to close the door and then looked over at Via.

“You look beautiful, your highness.”

Via gave a small sad smile and tried not to cry as she looked at herself in the mirror again.

The girl in the mirror was beautiful…but it did not feel like her.

Nothing about this felt like her.

She did not want to get married now.

She was not sure if she wanted to get married at all.

She definitely did not want to have sex with Orion and get pregnant.

The thought alone made her sick to her stomach.

She knew Orion felt the same way too, which just made the situation worse.

Before Octavia could spiral any further, she felt a small device be placed into her palm.

She turned around to see the guard had placed something into her talon.

Via looked down to realize it was a small phone.

It was actually an old flip phone that had been popular several years ago before even Via was born.

But it still seemed to be a working phone.

Maybe she could call her father for help?

She had no way of knowing if he’d received her message or was coming to help her.

Before Via could think more, she realized something about the female guard who had given her the phone.

She was not only any royal guards woman.

Via looked at the guard more closely and began to speak, but instantly shut her beak.

What on earth could she say?

How could she tell the mother in front of her how sorry she was that her Uncle and Mother were responsible for her daughters’ deaths and their life’s work falling apart?

How could anyone.

The grieving mother seemed to be able to read Via’s mind and just held her paw up in front of her body as she turned to walk out the door.

“Please…just don’t allow my babies to have died in vain. I don’t want a sorry or well wishes, I want action. Now if you can take that phone and do something with it then do so. I will try to do what little I can to help stop this wedding but-”

The twin’s mother was suddenly interrupted as they heard voices come down the hallway.

The guard quickly rushed out of the room just as Andrealphus and Vassago walked into the room Via was in.

“Oh my princess. ¡Tu eres muy bonita!” Vassago said with the clap of his hands.

Andrelaphus nodded as if he’d had anything to do with the way Via looked.

“I just came to tell you girl that the ceremony will begin in an hour. You and your fiance are to meet in the lobby of the palace in about 15 minutes.”

Via nodded.

“Thank you uncle. And thank you Vassago for coming to celebrate my big day.”

Vassago gave her a nod and a grin as before he could reply, Andrealphus suddenly saw a text on his phone and asked Vassago to talk to him in the hallway.

“Vassago may I please speak with you out in the hallway?”

Vassago rushed out to follow Via’s uncle to the small area outside Octavia’s door.

Via slowly tip toed over and quietly creaked open the door.

She took out the phone, quickly went to the video option and pressed record.

“I am hearing rumors about Via’s retched father possibly trying to stop the ceremony. Why didn’t Stella just have him killed like she’d originally tried to do?”

Vassago gawked at him.

“What do you mean?”

Andrealphus chuckled.

“You really thought that Wrathian low life gunsman was hired by that stupid Imp to kill Stolas? Stella orchestrated the whole thing. That last trial was a personal joke for me and I swear if that shameful pathetic waste of a former prince tries to do anything to stop this wedding, then I will have his head myself.”

“I am sure he won’t do anything of the sort.” Vassgo said quickly.

“Let’s just hope you are right.” Andrealphus replied.

Via then heard their footsteps leaving the hallway and she quickly ended the video.

Maybe this was enough?

She could send it to Channel 666 News. Katie Killjoy would eat this story right up.

Or maybe she could put it on her Sinstagram.

She was not sure exactly how to get the video from this device to her social media pages, but she was sure she could figure something out.

Octavia could not even begin to fathom what she had just heard to be honest.

Her mother had tried to have her father killed?

What for?

What would she gain from that?

Via could not ponder this revelation anymore though, as she heard footsteps moments later heading towards her room. She quickly tucked the phone into her dress pocket as she smiled at the being at the door in front of her.

It was her mother.

“It’s time darling.” Stella said with the most glee in her voice that Via had ever heard from her mom.

Via followed behind the woman and for the first time in Via’s life, she felt this sudden coldness to her mother’s presence that she swore she’d never felt before.

It was feelings of doubt, lies and just full of wickedness.

Via did not like it one bit.

Via and Orion stood side by side at the altar.

They only had a few moments till they’d be forced to say “I do.” and Via was shaking.

She surveyed the garden area looking for any way out.

It would be risky, but maybe they could make a run for it?

But how would the two teens do so…and if they did manage to escape, where would they go?

Orion looked at Via and squeezed her talon.

He wished he could speak to her and tell her that he was sorry.

That he wished they’d had more time to think of a better plan.

That he wished he had not gotten any of their team killed or hurt.

He wanted to tell her so many things.

Like how he loved seeing her bond with the other members of the fellow rebels.

How he loved how she enjoyed horror movies even when his enthusiasm for a specific movie was not as high as hers.

How he loved her strength and willpower.

How though they barely knew one another he felt like he had known her his whole life and did not know how he ever survived in a world where he wasn’t introduced to the wonderful demon princess.

There were so many things left unsaid.

But all he could do was squeeze her talon.

Via felt it was wrong to give up so easily.

There had to be another way.

But when she felt Orion squeeze her talon…she felt at least the slightest bit of comfort in this messed up situation.

This boy had come into her life so recently yet it also felt like she’d known him forever.

She enjoyed the times they spent with Project Renegade.

It hadn’t been long, but when she had been with the group she felt a sense of community and belonging.

Via had been promised all this power and wealth, yet she felt guilty that she had not given as much thought into how she could use that power to help others.

Orion helped her to see that clearer.

The team had.

Now they were gone and she was going to be forced to do something she had no interest in doing at all or at least not now.

Though to be honest, part of her deep down figured she might be in a better predicament than her father had when he married her mother.

Her mother!

How had she not seen the signs?

Her mother had tried to have her father killed.

Via felt mixtures of guilt combined with justifiable anger.

How could her mother have done such a thing?

If she was so unhappy in her marriage why do the same thing to Via?

Why hadn’t her father told her any of this?

Had she been too hard on her father or just enough?

And why did the way Orion held her talon in his make her feel tiny bits of happiness in such a cruel and terrifying situation?

Octavia was not sure of the answers to any of those questions.

What she was sure of though was she could hear the sound of a car…no, a van hurtling towards the outside garden.

Suddenly there was a giant bang and soon wedding guests were coughing, people were screaming, and the ceremony had been stopped.

It all happened so fast after that.

First, there seemed to be some sort of smoke bomb that went off shielding the vision of pretty much everyone there.

Next, Via felt someone grab onto her arm and place her in the van.

It was so fast that she did not even have time to dissect the situation and figure out if she should be fighting back or thanking her mysterious kidnappers.

Soon the van was speeding off though and moments later Via was clearly able to see the identities of her captors.

“Dad?” Via said with tears in her eyes.

Stolas nodded.

“Hello Starfire!”

Via smiled tearfully as she looked around the van to survey her situation.

Seated in the back with her sat Millie and Moxxie both decked out in black.

Loona was up front with Blitz driving.

“Hey Octavia! You alright?” Blitz called out.

“Yes” Via choked out trying not to sob.

She was safe for now, but what would happen to Orion?

And how long would it take for her mother and uncle to find her.

Millie handed the princess a tissue and in return Via gave her a grateful look.

Then the group sat in silence as they quickly dropped off M&M at their apartment and drove back to Blitz’s place.

The group hurried inside and Loona took Via inside her bedroom to help her get changed and get situated.

Blitz and Stolas stood in the living room of the apartment as Stolas paced.

“Are you okay?” asked Blitz.

Stolas paused and looked at Blitz.

“I…I don’t know. I am glad to have Via back, but what of her mother. What if Stella is able to track us here. I mean won’t this be the first place she looks?” Stolas says hesitantly.

Blitz stammers.

They had painted the van, checked no one was following them and the smoke bomb had been cloudy enough to deter anyone from seeing them.

But Stolas was right.

Would Stella come right here to grab Via and take her back?

Before Stolas could answer, he felt his pocket ring and saw it was Vassago.

“Stolas. Was that your doing?” Vassago asked quickly.

“Yes!.” Stolas said. “I’m sorry, but I had to help her. Did anyone see?”

“No. Mio Lucifer Stolas. I knew you had a plan, but not that. The entire royal army is out looking for her. Stella and Andrealphus are enraged and I don’t think you should come back here.”

“I shouldn’t?” Stolas asked.

“No! I’m going to try and tell them I’m involved to buy you some time, but Stolas you won’t be able to hide forever.”

“But won’t you get in terrible trouble?” Stolas asked.

He heard Vassago sigh over the phone.

“Stolas…I knew about Via’s marriage before you. That is what I was being told that day at the door when I had you hide.” Vassago said.
Stolas squawked angrily.

“How…How could you not tell me?”

“Por favor perdóname Stolas. I did not want to upset you more than you had already been lately and I was going to tell you when the time was right. I didn’t know it would be so soon or all the details. I was wrong. But I am going to make this right?”

“How?” Stolas demanded.

“Just leave that to me. Hide out at your friend’s home and I will stall. Buenas Noches Stolas.

And with that Vassago hung up.

“If you need a place to stay you are all more than welcome here.” Blitz said, holding out his arms gesturing towards the room.

Stolas smiled.

“Thank you so much Blitz.” Stolas said.

Blitz nodded.

Before either of the demonic beings could say another word Loona walked out in her pajamas and gently shut her bedroom door behind her.

“Via is out like a light. I think she needs rest and…and time.” Loona said, looking directly at Stolas.

Stolas nodded.

“Loona, Stolas and Via are gonna stay here for a while.”

Loona nodded, but then raised her eyebrows.

“Wait! The guards know about you and Stolas’ whole thing, Dad. They are gonna come here eventually.”

Blitz thought for a second and then snapped his fingers.

“You’re absolutely right, Looney. We will just need a bigger place?”

Stolas and Loona gave Blitz similar looks of confusion.

“Can we afford that?” Loona asked.

Blitz nodded and then took out his phone.

“I’ve been saving up and was gonna wait a little while to try to get us a place with a few more bedrooms and maybe less leaks in the ceiling, but I think I could probably use what I have saved so far to get something a little bigger. Fizz just got a new place. Maybe he can help?”

So for the rest of the night, Loona and Blitz and Stolas all sat around researching new homes while also keeping their eyes on the news.

Katie Kiljoy wasn’t mentioning anything about the event on the news which was worrying Stolas.

He knew what to expect if his ex wife and ex brother-in-law had gone public regarding Octavia’s disappearance and wanted to paint a target on his or Blitz’s head right away.

But the fact that they seemed to be doing the opposite had him even more worried.

Or maybe they underestimated Blitz and his team?

Andrealphus especially thought very little of the lower class demons.

And what of Vassago’s plan?

Did it work…whatever it was?

Stolas had no idea, but right now all he had to do was hope and see what tomorrow brought.

What’s important now is that Octavia is close by and safe.

He could worry about the repercussions of that later.

Right now he just wanted to spend the night with Loona and Blitz finding a new home and wait to see what happened next.

And that is exactly what the former Prince Stolas did.

Chapter Text

“You need to be the one to tell her Blitz.” Moxxie said to his boss as they were huddled in the corner of the office.

“Nope! I’m not the one who knocked her up, Mox!” Blitz rebutted.

Moxxie sighed and put his hand across his face.

“You are the boss of this company, sir!” Moxxie said, fighting back.

Blitz thought for a second and then looked over at Stolas with puppy-dog-like eyes.

“Stolas will you please do-”

“Absolutely not Blitz. I don’t think I would be…equipped to handle such a task.”

Blitz turned to Loona.

“Loony honey. Could you please do your dad a favor and-”

“Nope. Sorry Dad! I don’t wanna deal with preggers' wrath today.”

“Oh Loona! Millie hasn’t been that hormonal lately.” Moxxie argued in defense of his wife who was currently down the street with Sallie May picking up donuts for the rest of the team.

Loona pointed to the broken copier in the corner (Millie had beaten it with her axe after a paper jam) and the coffee maker currently in the middle of the office lobby rather than the break room (Millie had demolished and thrown it into the middle of the office after some type of technical issue had caused the imp to be unable to drink her daily one cup of coffee as recommended by their OBGYN).

Moxxie sighed and mumbled that the new copier and coffee maker he helped Stolas order would be coming later tomorrow.

Blitz groaned.

“Ughh fuck me fine…I will do it.”

“Do what?” asked a voice from behind Blitz.

The group all jumped and turned to see that the voice belonged to Millie who was holding a small bag of donut holes.

“We…umm…we were…just…where is your sister Millie?” Blitz asked changing the subject & thus trying to avoid the inevitable.

Millie rolled her eyes and placed the bag of sweets onto Stolas’ desk.

“She ran into Barbie and I when we were outside and Sal offered to help her with figuring out the new bus schedule while I brought up breakfast. Now what were y'all talking about before I walked in?” Millie asked with her arms folded.

Loona slowly walked away from the impending chaos and began to dig a donut hole from the bag.

Blitz nodded. His sister had just finished another visit to Imp City and had stopped by for a moment to say goodbye before heading to the bus station.

Blitz and her had gotten pretty close recently and though the past weekend had been spotty in terms of how often they’d hung out (with Blitz finally settling on a new place to move to and Barbie apparently meeting an old friend who she spent all Saturday night with), they had still found time to hang out.

In fact, to Blitz’s shock and surprise their relationship lately seemed better than it had ever been even when they were kids.

The siblings texted one another on a daily basis now, were finding time to see each other more often and Barbie was even getting to know Loona better.

Loona enjoyed having more family (especially an aunt that could tell her embarrassing childhood stories she could tease her dad with) and to be honest so did Barbie.

They’d even all gone to the movies together that weekend.

The weekend was over now though and Blitz knew that this was the start of not only a brand new week, but a new arrangement for IMP.

Blitz had texted Sallie May beforehand so she knew what would be happening ahead of time, but his hopes of convincing Sallie to break the news to her sister had been dashed when he saw she’d been apparently too preoccupied to come upstairs with Millie leaving him to have to be honest with his best friend.

Blitz could have given another pleading look to Moxxie or Stolas or maybe even tried to bribe Loona (though how’d he alert Loona of this potential bribe with Millie right in front of them was unknown).

But he knew that Moxxie was right and he had to be the one to tell Millie that it was time for her to go on maternity leave.

He was the boss and it was his responsibility.

The duo had worked out a deal after Millie had told Blitz she was pregnant. That deal being that eventually instead of staying at home she’d be allowed to stay in the office with Stolas during her maternity leave.

Moxxie had happily been on board with the deal too as he felt it was safer for Milllie to be close by in the office with someone else in case something happened rather than alone in their home.

Millie at the time seemed fine with the arrangement, but there was a difference between planning a leave and actually having to deal with the leave when the day came.

And that day was today.

Blitz took a deep breath.

“Millie, we think it is time that you go on maternity leave…like starting today. Sallie May will take your place from this moment on and after you have the babies and feel ready to return to work we can figure something out for both you and Mox since he is gonna go on leave after you have the kids too, right?”

Blitz said this all in one breath and then squeezed his eyes shut along with the rest of the group.

They were prepared to hear Millie scream or kick something over or fight them in some way regarding not wanting to start her leave yet.

What happened next though was unexpected.

Millie just smiled, nodded and said:

“Oh okay Blitz. Thanks for letting me know. I will just hang with Stolas then, right Stols?” Millie said, looking over at the former royal.

Stolas looked at Millie with the same shocked and surprised stare that the others in the room all had currently.

“Why…yes. Yes Millie. We will have such a wonderful time together from now on. And I’ve been reading up on Imp childcare and that new book you brought me that your friend wrote is marvelous. I was shocked I had not read their work before, but I am so happy it has been brought to my attention now. Do you think they could get me an advanced copy? I always had advanced copies sent to my home in the palace from all my favorite authors.”

Millie laughed and walked off with Stolas to explain to him that she knew for a fact that Pamela and her wife had not even started outlining their next book due to getting ready for their own bundle of joy.

Blitz and Moxxie just breathed a sigh of relief and looked at one another.

They guessed they’d been worried for nothing.

Moxxie felt slightly ashamed that he had doubted his wife’s ability to handle this news with maturity and grace.

Though at the same time this fact just showcased another reason he loved his wife so much and the little ways she could still surprise him even after almost three years of marriage.

Moments later, Millie walked back over to grab herself a donut hole while Loona continued to dig a few out of the bag.

She handed one to Millie and raised her eyebrows.

“Geez. I really did not expect you to be so mature about the whole getting-benched news.”

Millie shrugged and smirked at her hell hound co-worker.

“I had a feeling it was coming today and besides I’ve been kind of tired on missions lately anyway and my stomach the way it is was making things a lil’ tougher too…also between you and me I thought it would be funny to play dumb a bit and watch all of y’all squirm before I flipped your expectations.”

Loona chuckled at Millie’s revelation.

“You are kind of diabolical, you know that?” Loona said, popping a donut hole in her mouth.

“And don’t you damn forget it.” Millie said laughing as she too ate another donut.

The pregnant imp then glanced down at her phone with curiosity.

She wondered where her sister was.

How long does it really take to show someone a new bus schedule?

Meanwhile, Sallie May and Barbie Wire were not looking at the bus schedule.

In fact, they were not near the bus station at all.

The two women were currently making out against the left side of the office building where IMP was.

“I can’t believe you need to go back.” Sallie May said as she began to kiss up and down her girlfriends neck.

“I…ughh….I know right. But I will be back soon. Don’t…oh god….don’t worry.” Barbie said as Sallie began to kiss just below her horns as she knew that drove Barbie nuts.

They were interrupted by a text on Sallie May’s cell.

Sallie stopped to check it and groaned.

“I need to go.” Sallie said sadly.

Barbie gave her a quick kiss.

“It’ll be fine. I will try to come back next weekend or the weekend before. And it will give you time to work on your skee ball game.” Barbie teased referencing Saturday night when Barbie and Salllie May had gone on a date at the local arcade unbeknownst to either Blitz or Millie.

The two had been pretty good at keeping their relationship a secret from anyone, but they didn’t know how much longer they could keep it up for.

Were they ready to go public?

That was something neither woman wanted to be the first to bring up.

They were enjoying each other in the moment so what was the rush to speed things up when the pace they were going at the moment was fine?

“Hey I thought I did alright at skee ball. It was the basketball hoops that I was weak at I'll admit.” Sallie May retorted.

“Really? I thought I was the one who knew what could make you weak.” Barbie said as she began to press her lips slowly towards Sallie’s.

Sallie regretfully began to gently push her girlfriend away.

“I want to stay…damn I really wanna stay. But I gotta go. Don’t wanna be even more late for my official first full day at I.M.P.” Sallie May said.

Barbie nodded.

“Yeah and I do have a bus to catch.” Barbie solemnly admitted.

The two women kissed and hugged one more time before Barbie Wire finally headed towards the bus station and Sallie May walked into the office building.

On the elevator ride up, Sallie saw she had one next text from Barbie and smiled.

BARBIE: YOU GOT THIS!

As fun and excited she was for this job, Sallie May had to admit she was a tiny bit nervous for this to be her first official day at I.M.P.

However after she looked at that text, Sal felt all those worries seem to wash away.

She guessed that is just the effect that Barbie Wire had on her.

Something she would not be complaining about at all.

Once the employees of I.M.P. had gotten settled and finished the donuts, Blitz called a meeting in the conference room.

The boss surveyed the various employees and clapped his hands to begin their meeting.

“Alright gang! Today’s client wants us to kill some jackass ex of hers who left her to get married to her best friend. Today is the wedding and she said she’d pay us double if we can kill both the bride and groom as discreetly as possible. So Loona, you and I will take care of the bride while Mox, you and Sal can work together to off the groom. They should be getting ready at the church now so this is the perfect time to head out.”

With that, Blitz began to rub the crystal and open the portal.

Loona headed into the portal first along with Blitz, Sallie May and then finally Moxxie.

Though the latter turned his head to face his wife and give her a small wave.

“I love you. We’ll be back soon with a juicy story to share.” Moxxie said.

Millie gave Moxxie a smile and placed a hand on her belly.

“We love you too. Now go make us some money so Mommy can eat some steak sandwiches and chili fries tonight.”

Moxxie smiled and laughed as he turned back toward the portal and fully walked through.

Second later the portal closed leaving just Stolas and Millie in the office.

Millie was not used to being left behind like this.

It was odd and the strange feelings in her stomach did not help ease her anxieties.

The anxieties she had that not only came from doing a dangerous job and not being there to help her sister and husband fight, but the anxieties that this was her new normal.

It was one thing to accept and seem ok with putting the breaks on her job.

But to actually do it was totally different.

Millie felt her kids begin kicking up a storm and gently rubbed her stomach.

“It’s okay Max and Maria…Daddy will be back soon.”

Millie just wishes she could be a part of it.

“Alright so the groom is apparently arriving at the church first minutes before his guests according to our client so we should probably stay in these rafters till he comes in and then I will shoot him. We need to make this quick before anyone else comes in and makes this all harder.” Moxxie said as he knelt in the rafters next to his sister-in-law.

“Great plan and all but why aint I allowed to take the hit.” Sallie asked, raising her eyebrows at Moxxie.

“Look this is your first official job and all so why don’t I just handle it.”

Sallie May groaned.

“You know I did excellent on the trial job Blitz gave me before. What if I just jumped down and knocked him out. I could get this kill over with a few good punches.” Sallie said mimicking a boxing match.

It was Moxxie’s turn to groan now.

“I understand you did well before, but this job is different. It takes marksmanship and a delicate hand to get this guy in one shot.”

“I shot plenty of rats on the farm.” Sallie rebutted.

“Animals don’t count. It is not the same as your ranch.” Moxxie argued.

Sallie May rolled her eyes at Moxxie and mumbled “of course.” under her breath.

Moxxie lowered his gun from where he was practicing aiming and looked over at Sallie.

“And what’s that supposed to mean?” Moxxie said judgmentally.

“Oh you damn well know. You’ve always thought you were better than me and the rest of your wife’s family.”

“That is not true! You’ve always had it out for me since day one.” Moxxie argued.

“No I aint!” Sallie hissed back.

Moxxie put down the gun and folded his arms.

“Really? Cause when I went to the ranch for dinner and met your family for the first time you conveniently forgot to put out any of my place settings or serve me food until Millie asked you to.”

Sallie May rolled her eyes.

“That was payback for after you lectured daddy about how his way of handling the crops could be more efficient if they followed your method.”

“I was only trying to help increase your productivity.” Moxxie said. “What about how at Me and Mills’ wedding, you spent half your maid of honor speech saying all the ways you’d kill me if I hurt Millie and another part of it talking about why I wasn’t good enough for your sister.”

Sallie May groaned.

“Well you were marrying my sister after knowing her less than a year.”

“That is because I love her.”

“Well, so do I.”

Churches are normally quiet, but the silence between the two siblings-in-law felt like the largest pregnant pause known to any being on earth, in heaven, or in hell.

Sallie May was about to break the silence when they saw someone walk into the church.

They knew the groom had arrived early like the client had predicted and luckily their dreams of him being alone had come true too.

Moxxie began to line up the shot but groaned.

“Oh no.” Moxxie sighed.

“What’s wrong?” Sallie May asked perplexed.

“The angle he is sitting at is making it impossible for me to get a good shot. And the guest should be arriving soon and the client did ask for us to kill discreetly.” Moxxie said with a slight panic in his voice.

“I have an idea.” Sallie May said with a small snap of her fingers.

She then turned to Moxxie.

“Can you trust me?” she asked her brother-in-law.

Moxxie sat quietly for a few moments and then let a tiny grin shine onto his face.

“Yes.”

With that acknowledgement of approval, Sallie May suddenly jumped down and tackled the unsuspecting groom allowing Moxxie to take the shot right to the man’s skull.

The two imps smiled at one another while they began to clean up.

The client had asked for the bodies to be hidden where no one could find them.

She had hoped the guests would show up later and just assume the couple was late or had eloped or had even gotten cold feet.

Sure eventually they’d realize something was wrong, but by that time the two bodies would be buried hopefully somewhere no one would find them.

Luckily, Sallie May was an expert in hiding bodies where people could not find them thanks to all her experience in the pain games.

As she and Moxxie worked hard to clean up the area and discard the body, Sal turned to Moxxie.

“Look. I am sorry for being hard on you and maybe I wasn’t very fair all the time. It’s just Millie is my sister and I want what's best for her and the guys I had seen your wife with in the past were awful and did not treat her like she deserved to be treated. I just worried for her and well I guess you were just not what my family was expecting when we met you. Though to be honest that was not fair to you and I should’ve tried to be more open minded.”

Moxxie nodded as he wrapped up the garbage bag they had now holding the dead body of the groom.

“Well I was a little judgmental I guess. I wasn’t trying to be. I just wanted to honestly be helpful to your family and I guess I had not really taken into account you had your own system that worked for you.”

“There is nothing wrong with offering help Moxxie. I mean hell I am excited to help here at this job and with your little ones, but sometimes you can come off like you know best when that’s not always the case.”

Moxxie nodded.

“That’s true. I just love Millie so much and always wanna do whatever I can to help her.”

Sallie May nodded.

“Well that’s one thing we can agree on. Tell you what. You don’t act so much like a know-it-all and I won’t poke fun at you…too much.” Sallie said with a laugh.

Moxxie laughed too.

“It’s a deal.”

The two then began to head out of the church to find the best place to bury the body.

Millie loved her babies.

Even though they were kicking more than usual today and she felt a little more achy than she had in the past few months, she really loved her kids.

But damn did being alone in the office not only bore her, but it also gave her time to think a lot about stuff.

That stuff being her anxieties and worries.

Not only with being a mom, but with the fact that this was all she was ever really good at, right?

Being an assassin was something she loved and something she did very well.

But it was one of the only things that Millie felt she did well.

So if she was not an assassin…who was she?

If she was not good enough to continue her job now, who's to say what will happen when the babies’ arrive?

What if she wasn’t only not a good enough assassin, but she wasn’t good enough at anything else she had a role in in her life?

What if she wasn’t a good enough daughter or sister or wife or mother?

Blitz and Moxxie were always saying how great she did on the job.

Moxxie was in awe of her and was always telling her how happy he was to be married to her.

Her family seemed to love having her, especially her sister.

But Millie struggled with believing it.

It was like no matter how much she told herself it was ridiculous…the feelings of doubt and insecurity just came rushing back.

Her imposter syndrome came rushing back.

“Stolas…can I ask you a question?” Millie queried, looking up at her co-worker.

Stolas put down the book he was reading about imp pregnancies and childcare techniques and glanced concerningly at Millie.

“Of course Millie. Are you alright?” Stolas said gesturing towards the fact that Millie was rubbing her stomach again.

Millie looked down and stopped herself.

“Huh. Oh yeah I am fine.” Millie said as she mentally tried to tell her babies to calm down inside her while she talked to their Uncle Stolas. “I had a question about when you were a prince and all.”

“Oh?” Stolas said, looking at Millie with even more confusion and intrigue.

Millie took a breath.

“Did you ever feel like you didn’t really know what you were doing even when people around you acted like you did? Or when you had Octavia did you ever feel like you were doing everything wrong even when it did not seem like it from the outside?” Millie asked seriously.

To Millie’s surprise Stolas began to chuckle.

Millie made a face at Stolas that read as both confusion and a little bit insulted.

“Oh I do apologize, Millie. I was not trying to make light of your question or plight. But trust me I know how you feel. I felt that way all the time when I was a prince and especially after becoming a father. I was surrounded by palace wait staff whose job it only seemed to be to agree with me and then when I became a father I would overthink every cry, every expression of happiness, and well basically any emotion I would get from Via. But you know what I did?” Stolas asked Millie.

“What?” Millie responded.

“I acknowledged the problem I had and then tried everything I could to combat those negative thoughts with positive ones. I know that is easier said than done, but focusing on what I was truly doing right instead of all my mistakes or what I perceived to be mistakes initially…well that really helped me to combat my imposter syndrome head on. I am not saying it’s easier or that it will work 100% of the time, but trust me it can help.”

“What if I still do that and it’s not enough?” Millie asked hesitantly.

Stolas gave the imp a sad smile.

“Well then you just will need to remember you can reach out to those in your life who are closest with you to help remind you that you are worth everything and more Millie. I’ve seen you fight for your team and take care of them with the drop of a hat. So I have no doubt in my mind that when you get back into fighting you’ll be just as good as you always have and when your children are born you’ll be a naturally gifted mother as well. And if you ever feel yourself doubting that just remember that you have friends and family to lean on to help remind you of just how great you truly are.”

Millie began to tear up.

“Thank you Stolas. My kids are really lucky to have an uncle like you.”

Stolas then began to get a little choked up as well.

He never saw himself being a part of a family like this one, but that is just what IMP was…a real family that loved and cared about one another.

Stolas had not grown up with those and he had struggled to maintain a loving family for Via to grow up in as well.

Though that did not work out like he had hoped, he did hope that now they could have a fresh start.

If only Octavia would come out of Loona’s room for more than 5 minutes and stop ignoring him.

It had only been a few days since the father and daughter had begun to hide out at Blitz’s.

To be honest, Stolas had been worried about coming to work and leaving Via alone at the apartment.

But Blitz thought it was best for them to maintain their lives as normal as possible to not draw suspicion and that Via would be fine at the apartment while they figured out their new living arrangements.

He hoped Blitz was right.

Stolas was taken out of his thoughts when he heard a pained cry come from Millie across the room.

“Ughh…Stolas…” Millie groaned, squeezing her eyes shut. “Something ain't right. We need…we need to go to the hospital! Now!”

Stolas quickly sprung into action grabbing the keys to the newly repainted IMP van (which showed zero signs that just a few days ago the team had painted the van to disguise themselves when they crashed Via’s wedding) and gently helped Millie to the vehicle.

Before driving away, he quickly shot off a text to Moxxie to inform him of what was happening and then sped as fast as he could to Sloth.

“Great work team!” Blitz said, clapping his hands together.

They all had met up a mile away from the church after separately disposing of the bodies of both the bride and groom.

Sallie May and Moxxie had found a hole to bury the body in that would be filled with cement and paved over for a parking lot in a few days time.

Blitz and Loona had cut up the bride’s body and disposed of different parts of her in a river way nearby that seemed to go directly to the ocean.

They’d done the job they were paid to do and everything was all ready to go.

That was until Moxxie checked his phone and gasped.

“Oh crumbs! Oh no!” Mox said, trying his best not to panic but failing spectacularly.

“What is it, Mox?” Blitz asked with concern in his voice.

“It’s Millie…she’s at the hospital. Something's wrong. We need to go now!” Moxxie said anxiously.

Without a second thought Blitz opened a portal to Sloth and the present members of the IMP gang rushed through the portal to head towards where Millie and Stolas were.

Meanwhile, Millie was lying in a bed withering in pain.

“Excuse me!” Stolas said, stopping a succubus nurse who had walked into Millie’s hospital room finally after waiting for what seems like forever. “Can’t you give her something for the pain?”

The nurse just laughed to herself.

“Ughh hon. She is from Wrath. She can handle the pain. She’s just being dramatic. I will see what we can do, but really for all I know she could want medication for another reason.”

Stolas gasped and before he could stand up for his friend, the nurse walked away.

Stolas could not believe what he was hearing.

They were assuming Millie was faking it to get illicit substances to abuse.

Why would they think that?

Stolas thought back to when Stella had been in labor.

How the moment she’d demanded medications the doctors and nurses in the palace infirmary spared no cost or efforts in giving Stella whatever she needed to help with stopping the pain.

In this scenario with Millie though she was being treated like a drug seeker rather than a pregnant woman dealing with extreme cramping.

Earlier, the doctor on call (only after taking barely a minute to examine Millie) had stated that he believed it to be Braxton Hicks contractions and not her being in actual labor, but still shouldn’t someone be checking on her and making sure all is okay?

“It sucks that I have to feel lucky I got a bed when I fucking should be getting looked over right now.” Millie said through clenched teeth as she squeezed Stolas’ outstretched talon.

Stolas didn’t know what to say.

He had never really thought about how others were treated in the healthcare system until now…why hadn’t he thought of this before?

After a few more minutes, Millie finally felt like the pain had gone away and that she could breathe normally again.

Around that time was when Blitz, Loona, Sallie May and Moxxie finally arrived.

“Millie honey!” Moxxie said, rushing to hold his wife. He gently placed his hands around her growing body and held her as close as he could without squeezing her too tight.

“Are you alright sweetie?” Moxxie asked.

Sallie May appeared next to her sister and began to hold her hand nervously.

Millie nodded.

“They think it was just practice contractions. We can probably get the doctor to discharge me if we can find one to actually come look at me again.” Millie said with extremely justified annoyance in her voice.

“I’m on it!” Blitz said.

Blitz walked out into the hallway where seconds later, they could hear patients and staff screaming in fear as Blitz began shooting off his gun threatening the building if a doctor did not come and look over his friend.

Suddenly, Blitz walked back into Millie’s hospital room (that was now filled with very stricken and shocked looks) and with a very anxious looking doctor in tow.

The doctor got to work quickly assessing Millie and then declaring that if she took it easy she could go home now.

Moxxie helped Millie get dressed and the team all headed for the exit. That was until there was suddenly a breaking news bulletin from the TV in the lobby.

“I’m Katie Killjoy and we are bringing you a live new story as just moments ago, Vassago of the Ars Goetia was taken into custody after having a hand in Princess Octavia of the Ars Goetia’s disappearance.” said anchor woman Katie Killjoy from the Channel 666 newsroom.

The I.M.P.team members looked shockingly at the TV screen.

What was happening?

Stolas remembered Vassago mentioning he had some type of idea or plan to help.

Was this it?

“Furthermore, the royal guards are still out searching for the missing princess and are asking for anyone who has information to come forward. The princesses’ fiance, Goetic Demon Prince Orion has declined to comment about his missing future bride, but we know that everyone in the royal family must be devastated by this news. We’ll keep you posted with more as the story unfolds. Back to you Tom.” Katie said and suddenly a new story was being discussed.

Stolas looked worriedly at Blitz.

He was grateful for what Vassago had done, but how long could his ruse last?

How long would it take until the royal guards found out he was lying?

What would happen when Stella or Andrealaphus found out?

The group silently walked back to the van and got in.

No one was sure what to say next.

However, before anyone could speak, Stolas heard his cell phone ringing and saw that Via was calling it.

“Sweetie! Oh my Lucifer are you alright?” Stolas asked quickly as he put the call on speaker phone.

“I’m okay, but dad…they searched the apartment.”

Blitz gasped and grabbed the phone.

“Via you’re ok, aren’t you? They did not see you or any trace you’d been there, right?”

“Yeah. I was able to hide. Uncle Andie was with them and it seemed like he wanted to make sure for himself that I was not in the apartment. I hid out on the patio though and luckily they did not check there. I did hear my uncle say something though when he left.”

“What Via?” Loona asked.

“He said he guessed Vassago was telling the truth about having something to do with disappearance. Honestly I don’t think they searched as thoroughly because my Uncle did not wanna get poor germs or something classist like that.”

Blitz grinded his teeth angrily and nodded.

He hated Andrealaphus as much as Stolas did, but he was grateful for the royal bird's arrogance and dislike of the lower class as it seemed to contribute to the guards not noticing any signs of Via living with Blitz and most importantly…Via herself.

“I would not say we are totally in the clear, but at least Vassago has granted us a little time.” Stolas said.

The group nodded in agreement.

“So what is our next move?” Millie asked excitedly.

Mox laughed.

“Your next move is to go back home and rest.”

“But-” Millie began to protest.

“No buts! Moxxie is right!” Sallie May said, backing up her brother-in-law.

Millie gave them a confused look.

“Wow you two are on the same side…I guess I better listen then.” Millie said with both defeat and humor in her voice.

“Dad, I think you need to come home so we can talk…about all of this.” Via said, speaking up to make sure her father heard her.

Stolas definitely heard his daughter all right and he was ready.

“Darling don’t worry. We are heading home right now.”

And with that they were off.

Chapter Text

Via liked sitting outside and watching the cars go by throughout the city.

It was not something she had the chance to see much of when she was in the palace as many of the windows had views of the garden or some of the more eclectic and expensive homes in the Pride Ring.

Not that Via was complaining.

She knew she had privilege and knew that it was odd to be whining about the view from a fucking castle and longing for instead a dirty road filed with cars, trash and what she is pretty sure had been two different fist fights in the last several hours over hot dogs from a street vendor.

However, what Octavia really seemed to want was the noise and chaos.

While her parent’s fighting and screaming at one another was one thing, the hustle and bustle of Imp City seemed to ground her and help distract her from the terror and anxiety she felt regarding the events of the last several days.

Today was a close call.

If her Uncle or any of the royal guardsmen had even attempted to look outside the doors to the fire escape she would have been toast.

She got lucky and now she wanted to use that luck to take advantage of this time she had with her dad.

It was true she’d been avoiding him partially because she did not know what to say and partially because she feared what would happen after she admitted what she learned.

On one hand she was still a bit angry at her dad for everything that had happened from him cheating on her mom to sacrificing himself for Blitz. But on the other hand if what her uncle said was true and Stella had tried to have Stolas killed…well then that just made her hate her mom and feel bad for her dad.

Octavia thought she knew her views on both her parents, but now with this new information she wasn’t sure what to think anymore.

And the only way she could really come to terms with it all was to finally talk to her dad.

So that is why she and Stolas were sitting out on the fire escape now and not saying anything to one another.

It had been a few minutes since Stolas had arrived back at home along with Blitz and Loona who had retreated to various parts of the apartment to allow Stolas and Via some alone time.

Stolas had come out to sit with Octavia, but neither of the two seemed to know how to start the conversation.

Finally Via spoke up.

“Dad…I’m sorry. I’m still really mad at you for everything, but I’m also sorry for what you had to put up with.”

Stolas looked at Octavia perplexed.

“Darling no. What are you sorry for? You didn’t do anything wrong. You were right to be angry about the cheating and I understand about being upset regarding everything that happened at the trial. I was thinking in the moment and not thinking about how this would impact you and for that I apologize. But Blitz’s life was on the line and I felt I had to do something.”

Via nodded.

“I understand Dad. It really was messed up…you know everything with Satan and I know you just wanted to save Blitz…I just guess I felt betrayed and the stuff with the pills…but now with all I know with mother I guess I understand or at least I am trying to see your side of things.”

“Thank you Via and you do not need to apologize. I understand that I did not always put you first when dealing with the divorce or anything recently. You have a right to be upset, but I do hope you can let me explain.”

Octavia shook her head and gave a teary eyed look at her father.

“Wait dad. You really don’t. I did not know about the whole arranged marriage thing and also stuff with Mom…Dad, did you know Mom tried to have you killed? I heard Uncle Andie say it.”

Stolas looked shocked at Via, but paused to take a deep breath before answering his daughter.

“I…I was not completely sure, but I did have my suspicions. Honey, I promise I didn't mean to leave you with someone who I thought would hurt you in any way. I could handle what your mother did to me, but you don’t ever deserve that treatment by her or anyone else.”

“Dad no one deserves that abuse.I’m really sorry.” Via said.

“As am I.” Stolas replied, bringing Via into a hug.

The father and daughter sat with tears rolling down both their eyes.

“Dad…” Via said as she laid her “We need to do something. We need to use whatever power we can to help stop all of this. Not just the wedding stuff, but there is just so much hurt and pain and injustice that I never really thought about. Like I knew it was happening, but I wasn’t doing anything about it.”

“Starfire. You are not queen yet. It is not your fault.” Stolas answered.

“But shouldn’t we have been doing something…” Via answered quietly.

Stolas contemplated Via’s words.

He’d been thinking of this lately too.

For so long Stolas had bought into this life of privilege and royalty so much that he had not really thought critically about the class system (probably due to the fact that he was benefiting from it so much).

He felt ashamed and angry over the things he had bared witness to over the past months.

Not only for the fact that it took experiencing what he had experienced (from the struggle with getting pills to seeing Millie’s treatment in the hospital) to wake him up to the life that others outside his social circle lived, but he also was angry that he did not see a way he could help now that his powers were gone.

But that did not mean that he and Via could not try.

“I think we need to still lay low for a few days, but I am going to try and get in contact with Vassago. Since he took the fall for us I may be able to use this time his sacrifice has given us to come up with something together.”

“Dad…I got a text from Orion this morning. He was able to get the number from the phone that one of the guards gave me. He’s really scared of what is gonna happen to Vassago and he says his parents are just as pissed off as Mom and Uncle are. What if they kill Vassago? What if they think Orion had something to do with this or they do find me or…or”

Via began to hyperventilate and Stolas sprung into action to calm his daughter from her panic attack.

“Sweetie. It’s alright. Everything will be okay. We will think of something. Just breathe darling…that’s it….in and out…in and out.” Stolas said, rubbing his daughter’s back.

After a few moments, Octavia finally began to feel like she could breathe normally again and as if her heart rate wasn’t beating like a drum at a rock concert.

“Dad…this needs to end.” Via said.

Stolas nodded.

“I know honey. And we will figure this out. I promise.”

Via nodded in her father’s chest and the two sat in silence listening to the sounds of the city.

Stolas and Octavia sat like this for a little while longer, until Stolas felt his daughter begin to drift off and fall asleep in his lap.

So like when his little starfire was a young child, Stolas picked up Octavia and brought her to the small makeshift cot they’d been able to set up in Loona’s bedroom.

He then gave his daughter one last look before turning off the light and shutting the door behind him.

His last thoughts before leaving her new bedroom being:

We will be okay…we have to be.

“Come on Millie.” Lucie said, dragging Millie down the street.

“Lucie, you really should not be rushing like that.” Millie said from behind trying to catch up to her pregnant friend herself as her own center of gravity as well as her swollen ankles were preventing her from doing so.

“I know! I am just so excited to see Pamela. I cannot believe she had her little girl last night. Sophie! Can you believe it?”

Millie honestly could not.

Pamela had showed up at her doorstep that morning with the news (though the multiple unread texts on Millie phone would have informed her of the same thing if Pamela hadn’t woken her up so early) and basically dragged Millie out the door first to grab something to eat and then to the toy store to pick up a few small gifts for the new bundle of joy.

Millie and Pamela had promised Moxxie they would be careful and to only see the baby for a small amount of time before heading back to their homes to rest.

It was the weekend and with both Millie and Pamela’s due dates being closer and closer (Pamela within a week and Millie within about a month), they knew they should be taking it easy.

Millie especially as she’d had her braxton hicks contractions/labor scare barely a week ago.

But they had been through so much together the three of them and Millie & Lucie could not resist being one of the first people to be introduced to their friend’s new addition.

It almost felt like a new addition to Millie’s own family.

In fact, in a way it was.

Millie honestly did not know how she’d gone through life without Lucie and Pamela.

Millie was also excited because maybe today was the day that Pamela and her could talk to Lucie about the new organization idea Pamela had pitched Millie a while back.

With each of the women getting ready at different rates for their own children’s arrivals, Millie and Pamela had not had time to talk to Lucie about the new endeavor.

And maybe today would not be the right time to do so.

Though Millie selfishly kind of hoped they could bring it up.

She completely got it if Pamela was not up to discussing their new endeavor, but the thought of being a part of something like this had her so excited and she could not wait to talk to Lucie and hoped she would be on board.

This could change so many people’s lives for the better and Millie absolutely was ready to help change lives in a different way.

And the thought of helping people like her with the support of her new friends, her husband and everyone else at IMP (she’d told Moxxie, Blitz, Stolas and Loona in confidence and they’d all been super supportive of the idea, even Loona surprisingly who’d even made a suggestion about having something for adoption services offered at their new organization as well) was nothing less than a dream come true.

As they neared the hospital, Millie and Lucie eagerly began to rush a bit more than they probably should toward the large medical center.

However, before the two pregnant women could even make it to the next block they heard a noise behind them.

Millie and Lucie froze in place and before they knew it they were knocked to the ground.

The next moments were a blur to Millie.

Even though she was almost 9 months pregnant, she still tried her best to fight. She even remembered knocking a knife out of one of her assailants hands with her hoove.

However, regardless of Millie’s natural ability she was still pregnant and could not fight as she once could.

That is why with one knock to the head Milie felt the darkness consume her as her last thought was of hoping her children were safe.

“Millie…Millie baby can you hear me?” a voice said.

Millie groggily began to wake up and soon was able to recognize the voice as that of her husband’s.

When Millie was fully conscious she gasped and placed her hand on her stomach.

Her growing belly was still there and her babies were kicking up a storm.

“Moxxie…are the babies okay?” she said with tears in her eyes as she needed to confirm with her husband that her kids were safe.

Mox nodded hastily.

“Yes honey. They are ok. You are all fine. The doctor said you don’t have a concussion, but you were knocked out for a while there. No one saw who attacked you, but luckily some doctor’s on their break noticed you and Pamela and were able to rush you both here for treatment.”

Millie nodded and then gasped again.

“Moxxie! What happened to Lucie?” Millie exclaimed.

Moxxie hesitated.

“What…what are you not telling me?”

Moxxie then took a deep breath and began to tell Millie the truth.

“Lucie was stabbed in the stomach during the attack and knocked unconscious. They had to do an emergency c-section. Her and the baby are both stable, but the next 24 hours are very critical. Lucie is with the baby in the NICU now.”

Millie looked at Moxxie in astonishment.

“And there are no leads to who did this?” Millie asked.

Moxxie shook his head and then held his wife as she began to weep in his arms.

After a short and unhelpful conversation with investigators (Millie could not tell if they just did not know anything about who could have attacked her or if the police just did not seem to care), Millie was able to convince her husband to take her up to see Lucie in the NICU.

Millie had to put on some PPE and could only be in the room for a small amount of time, but she needed to talk to Lucie.

“Hey.” she said as she was wheeled up by a nurse next to the small glass box that was holding Pamela’s son.

He was full term and she hoped that the baby would not need to be in the NICU long, but she could see that the long knife that Millie had gotten out of the assailant’s hands with her hooves had not only managed to hurt Lucie, but also the baby.

It was a miracle that Lucie and the baby seemed to be relatively unharmed…but Millie also knew that anything could go south at any time especially after an attack like this one.

“The doctor’s wanted me to stay in bed, but I fought them on coming to see Oliver for just a while. They think he should be ok…but Millie things could have been so bad today.” Lucie said in a heartbroken voice.

Millie nodded.

She really did not know what to say.

“Lucie. I am sorry I couldn’t protect you more.” Millie said, ashamed.

Lucie did not answer right away.

Instead she was comely fixated on Oliver.

But then she started to say something Millie had not expected.

“My last boyfriend. He was a rebel. He was into danger and I had not thought too much of it. From the cliff jumping to racing motor bikes, I thought it was fun at first. Even when I got pregnant the first time I thought that it would all be ok. But then he started working at a hit man and one day he ended up messing with the wrong people. There was a road rage incident and he was killed and I lost the baby due to stress. I had to give birth to a still born child.”

Millie gasped.

She knew Lucie had been keeping something about her past from Millie for months now.

But this was not what she expected.

Millie did not say anything though and just continued to listen to Lucie.

“When I met you Millie…I’ll admit I was a little taken aback when you told me about your life and your job. And you were so nice and cool and have been a great friend so I let those feelings go initially. But I have to think about my baby and I just don’t think I can be around you right now.”

“But…Lucie please. I didn’t know about all that stuff and I’m sorry, but this was not my fault.”

Lucie looked at Millie finally with her bloodshot puffy eyes and snarling teeth.

“Millie we live in hell and I know there is a danger with that just like anyone else. But I need to protect my family any way I can. This is my chance and if there is even an iota of a reason why danger would follow you around and cause something like this…well then I am sorry…I can’t risk it.”

Millie did not know what to say.

She was about to fight back.

To say something.

Anything to try and make Lucie understand she was not some kind of curse or bad luck charm or whatever Lucie seemed to see Millie as in this moment.

But part of Millie could not blame Lucie for her suspicions or her worries.

She understood wanting to protect your kids and Millie knew truthfully over the years that her and the team at IMP had made a lot of enemies.

But she also knew this could be a random attack.

Either way this was not her fault and she wanted to fight for their friendships.

Fight for the future.

But before she could even say anything else, a nurse came in and informed Millie she needed to leave as they had to take both the baby and Lucie for more tests.

Millie nodded.

Lucie was lucky that this team of nurses (a few Wrathain nurses as far as Millie could tell from their accents) seemed to be taking care of her friend and the baby better than she’d been treated last week.

Millie was happy for her, but she was also heartbroken.

So she did the only thing she could do.

She listened to the nurse and left the room leaving Lucie and her baby…possibly forever.

“It was not my fault…right, Mox?” Millie asked Moxxie once they were cleared to go home.

Doctor Asher happened to be in the building that day and had given Millie strict instructions of bed rest.

She hated not being able to leave her home let alone her bed, but she knew for the sake of her children this was a sacrifice she would have to make.

However, to be honest Millie did not even have the energy to be angry at the moment.

She was too worried about the day’s events and how it had not only put multiple people she cared for at risk, but it had made her second guess her role in the matter.

Had this been an attack meant for her?

If so, who was it and why?

Moxxie looked at Millie in shock.

“Sweetie, absolutely not.” Millie’s husband said in astonishment. “You have nothing to be sorry about. You were the victim in a terrible attack today baby, but this attack was not in any way your fault. Now please rest. Can I get you anything before we go to bed?” Moxxie asked Millie as he tucked her into bed.

Millie contemplated his query for a second and then smiled.

“Would you mind running to the store to grab me a carton of double chocolate ice cream. I am really craving it and I ate the last pint this morning.” Millie said with a guilty grin on her face.

Moxxie just laughed and nodded.

“Of course hon. Will you be ok here alone for a few minutes?” Moxxie asked.

Usually Moxxie would have Sallie May there to help, but Millie’s sister had rushed home a few days ago to help take care of their father who’d broken his leg after he’d tripped down the stairs.

He should make a full recovery soon, but Sallie had wanted to at least spend the weekend helping Joe and the rest of the family get situated with their new normal (or at least their normal for the next few weeks).

Her sister was supposed to be back later tonight though and Moxxie had even gotten a text from her earlier saying she was trying to get home even faster once she heard about the attack today.

Millie nodded.

“Oh yeah. Don’t worry about me baby. We'll be fine. Just hurry back please.” Millie said, putting her hands together in a prayer-like display as she gave doe-eyes to Moxxie.

Moxxie just grinned, kissed Millie on the lips and then headed out to the supermarket down the street.

It was about half an hour later when Moxxie got back.

He’d tried to be as fast as possible.

However, the closest supermarket to their home had been closed forcing him to not only go to the next closest one, but also forcing him to have to wait in an extremely long check out line.

He had secured two cartons of the ice cream Millie was craving though and Moxxie was excited to see the look on her face when she took a bite.

However, the moment Moxxie walked into the house he knew something was wrong.

First off, the door was unlocked.

Moxxie thought he’d maybe made the terrible mistake of leaving it unlocked, but became increasingly worried when he saw marks on the outside of the door indicating it had been kicked down.

Moxxie dropped the ice cream and ran up the steps to him and Millie’s bedroom.

Earlier, he had left his wife to lay in bed watching TV while she waited for Mox to get back with her favorite treat.

However, the once pristinely clean bedroom now looked slightly ransacked ot at least the bed did as pillows and blankets were strewn all on the floor.

Moxxie began to yell Millie’s name through the hallways of the home and rush to check every single room in the house.

Moxxie was so worried that he did not even stop to check the caller ID on his phone.

“Millie baby! Where are you?” he exclaimed into his cell just assuming it was his wife.

But the voice on the other end was not his wife’s.

“Hello Moxxie.”

Moxxie’s whole body went numb.

It wasn’t him.

It couldn’t be.

“Dad?” Moxxie said in almost a whisper.

“Don’t worry about your wife and kids. They will be fine…well some for the time being…remember what I said last time Mox…you even think about crossing me and you and your whole family will be sleeping in coffins if you even step foot on the estate.”

Crimson then hung up and Moxxie was left in the middle of his apartment in complete shock.

Moxxie tried to dial the number again thinking he could maybe get something out of Crimson to tell him that Millie was safe.

But the phone went straight to voicemail.

Moxxie quickly changed tactics and dialed Blitz’s numbers as he went to grab some weapons from the gun safe.

“Blitz! Millie was taken by my dad and I need you to help me get her back. Can you portal me to-”

Before Moxxie could even finish his question, a portal suddenly appeared next to the father to be and out popped Blitz.

From behind, Moxxie could see Stolas and Loona looking just as angry and determined as Moxxie.

“Come on Mox! Let’s go save your wife and kids!” Blitz exclaimed.

And with that call to action, Moxxie hopped through the portal and was off to save Millie.

Chapter Text

The last thing Millie remembered was walking back to bed after going to the bathroom.

She’d checked the comments on some posts she made on social media a few days ago with Moxxie (this one featuring her latest sonogram and reminding her followers that she only had a few more weeks to go), texted Pamela to explain what had happened and then had been so distracted with anticipating what Pamela might say or maybe it was pregnancy brain or exhaustion - she honestly was not 100% sure - that she had not heard the front door open or maybe she had just thought that Moxxie or Sallie May had arrived home and were just being loud coming into the house.

She wasn’t sure what her brain had decided to excuse the noise downstairs as.

Whatever her reasoning had been at the end of the day the important thing was Millie had been chloroformed and sedated with some type of injection from behind and it had all happened so fast that Millie had not had any time to respond.

Now for the second time in 24-hours Millie was waking up after some type of attack.

And the first thing Millie did was feel her stomach.

Her kids were still kicking up a storm and even started to cause some cramping.

“Must be those damn false contractions again.” Millie mumbled to herself.

Then it hit her as she surveyed her surroundings.

She was sitting in some sort of caged area and locked away in some basement that from the small view of the lower floor window looked like it was in Greed.

Millie at first had no clue where the hell she was.

But when her captor walked down the basement steps and over to Millie, she instantly knew whose home this was.

“Crimson?” Millie asked with confusion and a tinge of pain in her voice from another bout of mini false contractions.

The older man strolled over to his daughter-in-law and knelt down outside the caged off area so he would be at her level.

“Welcome Mildred. I trust you’ve been keeping my future heir safe.” Crimson said with a toothy and pompous grin.

Millie suddenly froze and held her stomach.

“What are you talking about?” Millie asked.

Crimson sighed and rolled his eyes.

“You know anyone can see your social media posts, right? I may be old, but I can read a post about you being close to your due date. I’ve been having my goons follow you around for months and finally last night they did the job I wanted them to do correctly.”

“What do you mean the job you wanted done correctly?” Millie asked, still holding her expanded stomach, both with slight pain and worry.

Crimson paid no mind to Millie’s slight contortions of hurt in her face though as he answered her question just as slimy as everything else he’d said to her.

“My goons tried to knock you and your friend out to grab you yesterday. But they apparently saw some medical staff coming and ran away. Made them stalk you again last night and when they saw your husband was out they figured it was the perfect time to try again.” Crimson said with a chuckle.

Millie frowned angrily at her father-in-law.

“What the fuck do you want with me?”

Crimson laughed again.

“Wow my son really did pick a dumb hick to marry and miraculously impregnate I guess. What do you think I want? An heir! I figure I will have you wait to give birth here, dispose of you and your girl's bodies while I take your son and raise him to be the next leader of this family.”

Millie’s eyes went wide.

“You…you want to take my son to be the next head of the mafia?” Millie said hesitantly.

Crimson snapped his fingers at Millie through the cage.

“Bingo!”

For a moment Millie contemplated biting off Crimson’s hands as he placed them so effortlessly into the cage he had Millie in, but then the pains came back and caused Millie to sit back down.

Ugh of all the time for these stupid Braxton-Hicks contractions.

“Why?” Millie was able to get out as she felt another pain come and then quickly subside.

“I need an heir. I am getting older and not gonna be around forever. This family needs a new leader and maybe I will train this kid better since he won’t have my wife’s wimpy ass influence this time. I’ll have another chance to get it right.” Crimson said, turning around to head up the steps.

He stopped short though, turned back and added something to his final thoughts.

“I will be away in my study and have food sent down to you. Just scream when you are ready to pop and I’ll call someone down to assist you and make sure the boy you deliver is healthy. Who knows? Maybe I’ll be nice and let you say goodbye to your stupid kids before you and your daughter die?”

And with that the door was shut behind her leaving a pained and stressed out Millie, lying in a caged off room and hoping that she’d be able to find a way to escape.

That or Moxxie would figure out where she was.

“Don't worry you two.” Millie mumbled to her belly. “Everything is gonna be ok. I just know it.”

That was one of the first lies that Millie told to her kids.

Blitz should have been suspicious when about 5 minutes after texting Sallie May about Millie being missing, Sallie May had not only texted back to open a portal from Wrath to where they were in Greed but that both Sallie May and Barbie Wire had proceeded to walk through the portal.

The women had given some excuse that they’d bumped into one another again (though in actuality Sallie May had met up with Barbie hours ago in a bar in Wrath after leaving her parent’s farm. She really had been planning to go home that night back to Millie and Moxxie’s house in Pride, but figured this was the perfect opportunity to spend a little more one on one time with her secret girlfriend).

Blitz did not have much time to ponder why her sister and Millie’s sister were randomly hanging out though.

Because soon the gang found themselves at Crimson’s estate.

“Why did your daddy call and tell you about all this Moxxie?” Sallie May asked as they all hid in the bushes near Crimson’s home.

Moxxie sighed angrily as he got his gun ready.

“Probably to torture me and try to scare me off from coming here. But I don’t care what my dad says. I am not afraid of him and nothing he says will stop me from saving Millie and the babies.”

“That’s the spirit, Mox!” Blitz exclaimed. “Now how are we gonna get inside?”

Moxie surveyed the area and was able to see just barely though the window.

It seemed that most of his father’s mafia posse was at the front of the house and if they could get past them Moxxie could run in and grab Millie.

Moxxie smirked and turned towards the others.

“Can you guys create a distraction?”

Meanwhile, Millie was sitting downstairs in a fetal position breathing through another pain.

“Damn you kids are energetic today.” Millie said to her stomach with a small smile.

“I guess they get that from their mother!” said a voice to the left of Millie.

Millie turned to see her husband standing at the cage with a knife to cut open the lock.

Suddenly it snapped off and Moxxie was able to open the door.

“Mox!” Millie said as he helped her up and pulled his wife into an embrace.

“Are you alright? Are the babies alright?” Moxxie asked with concern as he looked his wife over for any scratches or bruises.

Millie smiled and gently maneuvered her husband's head in front of her face.

“Hey. I am okay.” Millie stated. “ We are okay. Let’s just get out of here before your daddy gets back.”

Moxxie helped her up the steps and into the living room where a group of Crimson’s associates had been knocked unconscious and were lying on the ground.

Moxxie knew that there were definitely others as well as his father somewhere on the premises.

Mox looked at his boss who was smiling proudly at the couple.

“Okay Blitz portal us back home.”

Blitz went to touch the crystal on his wrist but realized something.

It was gone.

“Oh shit! Where is it?” Blitz said hastily looking around.

He must have dropped it during the fight.

The group began to search high and low for the crystal.

The brawl had taken place both in the front yard and inside the foyer of the home where they were currently standing.

So it could not have gotten far.

While trying to look for the crystal too, Millie squatted down to check the area below her as much as her pregnant belly would allow.

But then something happened.

Millie felt a sharp pain and then liquid dripping down her leg.

At first she thought it was another false contraction and that she had peed herself.

But moments later she realized that what she felt running down her leg was not pee.

It was her water breaking.

Those were not false contractions.

They were the real thing.

“Arghhh!” Millie screamed as she sat down on the step.

“Millie!” Moxxie exclaimed as he went to sit next to his wife to try and figure out what was wrong.

“Moxxie…the babies are coming…now.” she said with tears in her eyes and a pained look on her face.

Moxxie’s face went pale.

“What? Oh crumbs. But you are not due for a few more weeks?” Moxxie said in a panicked voice.

“Tell that…tell that to your kids. They are coming hun. Now. Ughhh.” Millie said, wrapping her hands around her stomach as another painful contraction hit.

“Oh damn!” Loona said feeling completely out of her element.

“What do we do?” Blitz exclaimed, trying not to hyperventilate himself. “I cannot find the crystal and we need to get to the hospital and no one here can help deliver a baby and I have not even finished baby proofing the office yet.”

Stolas sighed and gave Millie a gentle smile as he bent down next to the pregnant woman.

“Millie, if we can take you upstairs to a secure location I can help you deliver. I’ve been reading books about imp births and pregnancies and even if the twins are early you should be far enough along to have a safe delivery.”

Millie gave him back a pained smile that quickly turned into a grimace as she squeezed Moxxie’s hand.

Stolas then started rattling off orders as he helped Millie up the steps with Moxxie following next to her, never letting go of her hand.

“Barbie go boil some hot water and Sallie May go find some scissors.” Stolas called out from the top of the stairs.

Minutes later, Millie was lying on the bed in Moxxie’s old room.

The room he’d stayed in last time they’d been stuck at Crimson’s mansion.

Moxxie helped remove Millie’s pants and made sure the blanket over her legs was secure while Stolas took the supplies being handed to him by Blitz’s sister.

Sallie May went over to the other side of the bed to hold her sister's other hand after leaving the pot of boiling water next to the ex royal.

“What can I do to help?” Blitz asked Stolas in almost a whisper as if he was worried if he were to be louder he would cause something to go wrong.

Blitz had been around a few births in his times in the circus.

He recalled one year when the acrobat couple had a kid and his mother had helped with the delivery.

He did not remember much, but he had heard his mother telling the young woman to push as she screamed through the pain and then finally he heard a baby’s cry.

He also remembered that Barbie and Fizz had bet him 10 bucks that it was a girl and he had bet them both that the baby was a boy.

He ended up owning them both ten bucks.

Stolas was about to say something when they heard noises and screams from downstairs.

“Oh shit. That must be my dad and his fucking mafia members.” Moxxie said nervously as he did not dare let go of his wife’s hand.

This made Millie cry out more and begin to tear up again.

“He can’t have my babies. Please don’t let him.” Millie cried.

Moxxie bent down to get on his wife’s eye level and turned her chin towards him.

“We won’t let that happen honey. You just focus on Maria and Max.” Moxxie said softly as he began to stroke her back gently with the hand currently not being squeezed to death by his wife.

“Loona and I can take care of those assholes.” Blitz said, giving his daughter a smile and nod.

Loona gave him a similar expression.

Before Blitz turned to head downstairs though he walked over to the other side of Millie and gave her a quick kiss on her sweaty forehead and a light squeeze of her other hand.

“You’re a sturdy bitch. Remember that. Childbirth ain't got nothing on you.” Blitz whispered to his best friend as she gave him a small, but pain stricken smile.

With that Blitz and Loona rushed down to take care of the mad mob members while Sallie May took her place to the left of Millie and Barbie began to further organize the supplies.

“I helped Ma when I was a teen with a few births.” Barbie said to Stolas. “I’m here to assist if you need me.”

Stolas nodded and thanked her.

“Can you get some towels from the bathroom over there?” Stolas asked as Barbie rushed off the grab what was asked of her.

Stolas checked Millie’s progress as they could hear various screams and gunshots coming from the floor below.

Millie whimpered as Stolas looked up at her with a small comforting look.

“Mille, it's time. Next contraction I want you to give me a big push.”

“Arghhh!” Millie cried out.

“You can do this sis.” Sallie May said, dabbing her sister’s forehead with a wet cloth that Barbie had brought back and handled to Sallie May along with the towels now situated between her and Stolas.

“Come on Mills.” Moxxie said reassuringly.

Millie yelped in pain again as another contraction began.

And then she started to push.

“That’s it Millie. Very nice...hold it for a bit...okay you can rest.” Stolas said, patting her parted legs as Millie caught her breath after another painful contraction and the first time pushing.

One push down and who knows how many more to go.

Meanwhile, Blitz and Loona were beating up Crimson’s gang one by one.

Loona sucker punched one of Crimson’s shark bodyguards and Blitz used a small pistol he had to put a bullet in one of the imp mafia members.

He looked over at Loona so proud.

She had come such a long way since Blitz had first brought her to IMP and adopted her as his daughter.

He had always wanted a family who he could really connect and truly bond with and now he had one.

And they were about to have a few more additions to the family it seemed; as Blitz heard a cry from upstairs indicating the first baby had been born.

Blitz did not have much time to ponder if it was the boy or girl who had arrived first as he began to get into a fight with another one of Crimson’s mafia buds.

The fighting seemed endless as droves and droves of mafia members seemed to come into the living room where the first had slowly moved to.

Suddenly the doors opened from the kitchen and the head honcho of the mafia walked into the living room.

“Where the fuck is my son and that brutish whore wife of his?” Crimson exclaimed angrily.

As Loona and Crimson began to get into a fist fight while Blitz was still knocking out a few more mafia members, Millie was upstairs getting ready to birth her son.

Her daughter had been born moments ago and was currently being held tight by Barbie Wire.

“I just need one more push Millie. Then we will have your son.”

“I CAN”T!” Millie screamed as she felt another pain.

“Baby I know it hurts, but he’s almost here. You can do this.” Moxxie said, wiping away the flakes of sweat in his wife’s hair as he sweetly caressed her hair with his hands.

“No Mox. You don’t understand.” Millie said through shallow painful breaths. “He…Crimson…said he was gonna take our kids away…he wants an heir…”

Millie screamed again.

She knew not pushing was causing the pain to be worse than it needed to, but as long as her son was safely inside her he was just that…safe.

Millie was already equally scared for her daughter’s fate if her father-in-law was able to get into this room.

What would happen to them if he found them now?

Moxxie shook his head as he gave her hand a big squeeze back as Millie moaned again.

“Honey, it’s gonna be okay. You have been protecting those babies since you found out you were pregnant and you will protect them when they are born. But he needs to come out, Millie. Nothing will happen to them both. I promise. You just need to push sweetie. Just one more time.”

Millie looked at her husband with fear in her eyes as well as a few tears.

She nodded though and pulled Moxxie’s hand into a tighter grip.

Moxxie got even closer to her head and began to mimic the breathing exercises Millie was trying her best to copy.

Then she took a last big deep breath and pushed as hard as she could.

“Yes Millie! There you go! Almost…almost there…push…and….he’s here!” Stolas exclaimed as he gathered the child in his arms, cut the cord and gently held the crying infant to his chest as Barbie helped clean him off.

Millie lied back down on the bed in tears.

Moxxie also had tears running down his face as he examined his two beautiful children and looked proudly at his strong wife.

Stolas gently placed Max in Millie’s arms, while Moxxie was handed Maria by Barbie Wire.

Sallie May was crying too as she witnessed her niece and nephew be held by their parents for the first time.

“Hi Max…Hi Maria.” Moxxie said, looking at both his children.

“We’re your parents. We love you both so much.” Millie whispered.

Stolas smiled at the scene before him as he began to wash his hands using hand sanitizer the Barbie had found and was passing around.

He had not seen a look like that in a parent’s eye since he first watched Octavia break out of her shell.

Now he was seeing a similar reaction in both Moxxie and Millie.

The moment was suddenly interrupted by a voice in the doorway from behind.

“Well if that isn’t a sweet family moment. But time’s up.” Crimson said as he began to walk towards Millie.

Millie gasped and growled at her father-in-law as she held her son close to her chest.

Moxxie gave Maria a quick kiss and gently handed her to Sallie May who was now standing to the right of Moxxie looking incredibly angry.

Sallie May curled up next to her sister as they each held the babies close to their individual chests.

“Go away Dad! Now!” Moxxie said as he walked up to Crimson and shoved his father out through the doors and into the hallway.

“Come on Mox. You really think you have what it takes to be a father?” Crimson asked smugly as he began to try and push past his son who only pushed his father harder, now pressing Crimson’s back up against the upstairs railing.

“I’ll be a better father than you. You made me feel anxious and sad my whole life. My children will never know what that’s like if I can help it.” Moxxie said, pushing his father even further against the railing.

The father and son heard a crack in the wood behind Crimson.

Crimson pushed back against his son.

“Your mother made you weak. Now I’ll be able to do things right. My way.”

Crimson finally escaped from Moxxie’s grasps on his wrists and began to rush back into the bedroom.

However, before Crimson could even step foot in the doorway a shot rang out.

Moxxie had remembered the pistol in his pocket and a single bullet from that firearm was now lodged in the skull of Crismon Knowlastname.

The mafia boss was dead.

Moxxie looked down at his father’s sprawled out body on the floor.

For the first time in his life, he felt completely safe from Crimson.

From downstairs they could hear a few more grunts followed by silence.

Blitz and Loona appeared at the top of the stairs.

“Whoa!” Loona exclaimed, surveying the scene.

Blitz looked around at the display before him in shock.

What the fuck had happened while he was in a fight downstairs.

Blitz hadn’t ended up finding the crystal, but he did suddenly hear an ambulance coming up the road.

“Who the fuck called for an ambulance?” Blitz asked, confused and accusatory.

Stolas gave Blitz an odd look.

“I did. It seemed appropriate and Millie and the babies should get looked at immediately.”

“Stolas! Those things cost money.” Blitz said exasperated. “We could have just paid for a cab or gotten Via to drive the van over.”

“You mean ambulances aren’t free?” Stolas asked, perplexed. “Well how much does one cost?”

Blitz sighed as Loona began to explain that ambulances were expensive and most of the time insurance would not pay for rides to the hospital.

Blitz’s feelings of humor and annoyance (though with how business was going he’d gladly help pay for M&M to get a ride to hospital in an ambulance along with their kids if it meant the babies were safe and he could not blame Stolas too much for not knowing about the cost of an ambulance) were suddenly overtaken with awe as he looked at two of his favorite people in the world holding their children.

Barbie Wire and Sallie May moved out of the way and headed down the steps to help guide the paramedics to where everyone was.

Blitz took the spot Sallie May had been standing in and looked down at the newest additions to hell.

“Blitz,” Millie began as she gave him a tired smile and looked down at her children. “This is Max and Maria.”

Blitz’s eyes began to tear up as he looked down at the two barely awake implings.

“Hey you two.” Blitz said warmly. “Welcome to I.M.P.”

Chapter Text

Vassago sat tied with blessed rope in the interrogation room of the palace for what seemed like weeks.

Though to be honest it was a dungeon and he had only been there for a few days.

Vassago had been fed and given water that was at least keeping him alive.

But he knew something that he wished wasn’t true.

That every second he was in this dungeon was a second closer to Andrealphus and Stella realizing that he was bluffing.

That they might find out where Via is.

Vassago’s worries of the mind are interrupted though, when he heard footsteps and saw that Andrealphus had let himself into the dungeon.

“Hello Vassago…” Andrealaphus says.

Vassago refused to say anything and instead just nodded.

It’s funny, if he was a lower class demon he would have probably already had his head sliced off for treasonous activity, but they seemed to want to keep Vassago there as long as possible & alive…but why?

“So I thought we’d try some new tactics today.” Andrealphus says with a smirk.

Vassago raises his eyebrows.

What could Andrealphus possibly mean?

However, it seemed that Vassago was about to learn as this new tactic in question seemed to begin with an ever growing ball of magic in Andrealphus’ palms being aimed directly at his skull.

Vassago froze and squeezed his eyes shut anticipating the pain that was to come.

It didn’t though.

Instead they were interrupted by one of the royal guardsmen bursting through the door. .

“Sir, we found the princess.” the guard announced.

Vassago suddenly opened his eyes wide to view the scene in front of him.

Andrealphus had put his hand down and was now smirking.

“Well it looks like it’s your lucky day Vassago. I should honestly have you killed, but I’m feeling generous today. So I'll let you leave…when I feel like it.”

Before exiting the dungeon though, Andrealphus kicked over Vassago’s plate of food and water that had been delivered minutes before

Vassago shut his eyes and silently said to himself:

“Oh Lucifer…dales fuerza.”

Meanwhile in a hospital room in Sloth, two new parents sat side by side in a bed each holding one of their new babies.

“Oh Millie, they are so perfect.” Moxxie said, looking over at their children.

Millie smiled at the babies and then at Moxxie.

“They are, aren't they.” Millie said.

Suddenly, Moxxie began to sing something softly.

It started out as a light tune, just a quiet melody.

But soon Stolas, who had walked into the room half way through the song (along with Blitz carrying a giant horse plushie with Loona trailing behind him) and began to harmonize with Moxxie.

Besides Stolas and Moxxie’s voices, the hospital room was quiet as the demons listened to the original song that had been written by the two friends as a gift the latest additions to Hell.

When the tune came to an end, the others in the room clapped and Millie kissed Moxxie’s cheek.

“That was so beautiful, Moxxie.” Millie said, trying not to choke up. “Thank you and you too Stolas. I knew Moxxie had said something about you two writing a song together for the babies, but I wasn’t expecting that. Just thank you.”

Stolas gave her a small nod and looked down at the children in his friends’ arms.

“Of course Millie. Congratulations again and may I say you have brought two beautiful lives into this realm.”

Millie smiled.

“Oh thank you Stolas…would you like to hold one of the babies?”

Stolas looked at the new mother in shock and nervousness.

“Why…well…I mean…I don’t know…but-Oh!”

Stolas suddenly felt Maria being placed in the former demon prince’s arms.

Stolas looked down at the baby girl and began to feel his eyes water.

He had not held an infant in years.

In fact, the last time he’d held a child this small he’d barely just aged out of childhood himself.

He remembers the anxiety and terror he felt holding this new life that he had helped create in his arms.

He remembered how nerve wracking it was to be carrying someone so small, precious and innocent so close to him and how from the moment he’d seen her egg and watched her hatch, Stolas had vowed to do all he could to keep his daughter safe and make sure she knew she was loved.

Holding Maria made him think of not only how long it had been since he’d held Via (almost 18 years), but it also made him silently promise to help Millie and Moxxie in raising these children in an environment that was as safe, healthy and happy as demonically possible.

Stolas knew that was the new parents’ wish too and he would do all he could to help make it a reality.

A few feet away, Blitz was staring at Stolas in awe.

Blitz always thought babies were cute and M&M’s kids were definitely one of the cutest (Blitz believed it was because they had lucked out with Millie’s features mainly in the looks department), but he wasn’t sure of this emotion he was feeling when he saw Stolas holding a child.

It felt similar to both admiration and astonishment.

Blitz did not have much time to ponder those thoughts though, as he checked his phone and saw a text from Via stating that she was on her way and almost to the hospital.

He was excited to surprise Stolas and he was excited to include Via in this family moment.

Blitz had not had the time to look more into new homes for him, Via, Loona and Stolas as of yet.

However, he was focusing in on a few and he figured maybe tonight he could pay for Via, Stolas, Loona and Barbie to eat dinner out and talk about this decision as a family (he knew Via was not his kid and it was not like he and Stolas were together or anything…but IMP was a family and if Stolas was part of the team now then he was family too as was Octavia).

Besides, tomorrow was a big day for the princess.

Though Blitz’s dinner plans reminded him of something.

“Hey! Where is Barbie?” Blitz asked, looking around.

“And where is my sister?” Millie said, equally perplexed. “She should have been back with the coffee by now.”

Blitz went over to the hospital room door to look out into the hall to see if he could see either of the siblings.

However, when he opened up the door he was met with the answer to that question…but now was also met with a ton more questions.

Because before Blitz and everyone else was Barbie Wire making out with Sallie May.

Everyone gasped at the display in front of them as Barbie and Sallie May’s eyes went wide when they realized they’d been caught.

The two women slowly turned to those in the hospital room and nervously smiled.

“Surprise.” Sallie May said slowly with a chuckle.

Blitz’s eyebrows shot up and he gasped.

“Um how fucking long has this been going on?”

Barbie shrugged.

“We met like the day before you introduced us at the office and we kind of just hit it off the night before anyway and you know kept things going.”

“We were gonna tell y'all soon.” Sallie May said. “We just wanted to make sure this was for real, you know?”

“And…” Millie asked with a smile.

Sallie May and Barbie grinned at one another.

“It’s for real.” Barbie said to Sallie.

“You’re damn right it is.” Sallie May said back to her girlfriend.

The hospital room suddenly became abuzz with questions and jokes towards the newly revealed couple.

“How could you keep this a secret from me?” Millie said to her sister.

“Well you were so adamant that I couldn’t keep a secret when I accidentally spilled the beans to Mama about you getting knocked up. Maybe I wanted to prove to you I could keep my mouth shut.” Sallie May said with a laugh.

Millie hoped her sister knew how lucky she was that Millie was currently holding her daughter after Stolas had handed the baby back to her, because if not she would have taken all the power she could muster to playfully slap her sister for that remark.

“Speaking of Ma. I should chat with her and the rest of the family. I know they can’t come up here cause of daddy’s injury, but I still wanna show them Max and Maria even if it is only on video chat for now.” Millie said as she began to reach for her phone.

Millie stopped short though when they heard a small knock at the opened door and saw before them stood a nervous looking Octavia.

“Well hi sweetie. Nice of you to join us.” Millie said sweetly to the young teen.

Octavia gave a small awkward wave and slowly sauntered into the hospital room.

“Umm Blitz texted that I could come and that we were doing dinner after.” Via said looking at Stolas who was pretty shocked that his daughter was here.

Stolas brought her in for a silent hug but looked over at Blitz with a curious smile.

“I thought she’d wanna be with our..I mean her family you know…and we can all eat together tonight and have pizza and stuff.” Blitz said, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. “If you want. It is your birthday tomorrow after all, right? We can call it an early celebration.”

Via looked at Blitz with surprise, but gave him a small nod and smile.

She was surprised the Blitz even knew when her birthday was, let alone that he had made plans to help celebrate the night before.

Stolas gave Blitz a silent smile over Via’s shoulders as he hugged her tightly to his chest.

“Sorry. I didn’t bring anything. I came right from the apartment.” Via said nervously to Millie and Moxxie as she turned towards the new parents.

“Oh it’s no trouble dear. We are just glad you could join us.” Millie said.

“Would you like to meet the babies?” Moxxie asked, gesturing towards the hand sanitizer that Via figured she should use before she touched the infants.

Via looked up at her father as if to get his approval, but Stolas just nodded and let go of his daughter allowing her to go rub her hands with the sanitizer and sit in the seat next to Moxxie as the new father gently placed the baby in her arms.

“Hi.” Via said, smiling at the sleeping infant. “You are really cute. Maybe one day I’ll have a kid like you.”

“One day.” Stolas laughed and then went very serious in his tone of voice just as quickly. “In the future. The very very very distant future.”

Everyone laughed, including Via, but then she realized something.

She had not come out to her dad and told him she was asexual.

She knew he was gay though he’d never told her himself, but Via pondered whether she would tell her father about being ace or about Orion or her plans to adopt.

Not that her feelings for Orion had anything to do with her hopes to adopt in the future.

Though those past fantasies of adoption had come back more recently once she’d begun to have Orion in her life.

Again, not that those were connected.

Via was adamant of that…or was she?

Octavia’s thoughts were interrupted though when suddenly two reapers raced into the hospital room.
The moment went by so fast that barely anyone had a moment to process that Blitz was suddenly finding himself in handcuffs for the second time in less than a year.

“Blitz Buckzo. By order of demon law you have been arrested for harboring a runaway as well as kidnapping.” one of the reapers said as they cuffed Blitz.

The rest of the hospital occupants looked on in shock as they watched Blitz begin to be taken away.

“I WASN’T KIDNAPPED I CHOSE TO GO WITH HIM! IT’S MY BIRTHDAY TOMORROW. I’LL BE 18 AND CAN DO WHAT I WANT. PLEASE LET HIM GO.” Via exclaimed.

Via had not totally warmed up to Blitz yet, but she knew that what they were doing was wrong and that she blamed herself.

She had run off with everyone during the almost wedding.

She had been hiding out at Blitz’s apartment even when

She had chosen to answer Blitz’s text and come here today.

Octavia wanted to practice what she was preaching and it had to begin with her stepping up when she saw injustice being done.

That is what made a good and fair ruler.

The kind Via wanted to be.

However, before she could try and stick up for Blitz more and maybe convince the reapers to let him go, Octavia’s uncle and Stolas’ ex brother-in-law sauntered in.

“Ah child, that is exactly the problem. You see if we’d been unlucky enough to find all this information out tomorrow then the imp may have gotten away with his vile acts against the crown. But you led us straight to him and gave us all the evidence we needed that you’d been taken by this creature who just again could not know his place.” Andrealphus said with extreme smugness as he made sure to emphasize the last few words of his statement.

Via suddenly looked extremely ashamed.

How could she not have known she’d been followed?

She really thought that Vassago covering for them would work.

How wrong she had been to keep her guard down.

As the boss of IMP was being taken into custody and rushed out of the hospital room, Blitz turned back to look at Via as if to try to say that “this isn’t your fault” through just a look in his eyes.

Via understood what the man wanted to say, but she had a tough time truly believing Blitz.

“Wait!” Stolas screeched as he held his daughter tight. “Where are you taking him?”

Stolas wanted to help Blitz, but he could not rush to try and grab him or make more of a scene than what was already happening.

Not with Via there and not with innocent lives around especially the newborn implings currently sleeping in their visibly stressed out parents’ arms.

The reapers did not answer though as they just just continued to push Blitz towards the exit of the hospital.

Loona leapt up and raced after her father only to be met with Andrealphus’ ice powers pushing her back into the hospital room and onto the floor before she could even make it to her father.

The last image she had before hitting the ground was of Blitz’s eyes tearing up and widening in fear..

She could tell he had been about to scream at the reapers (along with the man who Blitz just thought of as “that ice queen mother fucker”) regarding not touching his daughter under any circumstances, when Andrealphus snapped his fingers and magically put a muzzle over the imp’s mouth.

Via rushed over to Loona to try and help check over the hellhound while Stolas began to frantically text Vassago to see if he had been let out of wherever he’d been held by Andrealphus and Stella.

While Stolas never really had bothered before with thinking about where the prisoners who royalty had deemed criminals were kept, he suddenly felt intense emotions of guilt, shame and anger.

Not only for Blitz’s potential fate, but for the ignorance he’d displayed back when he had so much magic that he could have tried to use to help others beyond hosting the Harvest Moon Festival in Wrath or showing up for a photo op every now and then.

Stolas did not have time to dwell on his past failings though as he had to find out where Vassago was and what he could tell him.

Maybe if Vassago had been let go already he’d be able to help them or at least know exactly where Blitz was being held.

Unless he wasn’t going to be held anywhere at all.

Last time, they’d taken Blitz right to court to be put on trial for his crimes.

This was the second offense Blitz was being accused of though.

Would Hell’s court system even allow him to say anything at all?

Just then, Stolas got a text from Vassago informing him that he’d been let go and asking to meet with Stolas ASAP.

“We need to go meet with Vassago immediately.” Stolas exclaimed to the group.

Sallie May held her girlfriend close as she could feel Barbie begin to shake a bit in her arms.

Barbie Wire remembered how she’d felt when she’d seen the trial footage before.

This felt 1000% times worse.

She’d just gotten her brother back in her life finally and now he might be gone forever.

Before anyone else could say anything, a nurse marched into the room and grumpily looked at the display before her.

“I don’t know what is going on here, but I have had it with this commotion. Visiting hours are over and you all need to leave.”

Except for Millie, Moxxie, Maria and Max, the occupants of the hospital room filed out in a small cluster and began to discuss what their next move would be.

Stolas did not know what was going to happen to Blitz.

But he did knew two things:

He had to find Vassago to be able to help get to Blitz or figure out their next move &
Stolas wouldn’t be choosing this time. He would make sure his daughter and the man he loved were safe.

And nothing was going to stop him.

Chapter Text

Blitz could not believe he was trapped in an honest to Satan dungeon.

He knew that royals and upper class liked to be extra, but he had not expected them to have an actual dungeon like in the children’s books that his mother had read him as a small child.

Blitz nibbled on the small piece of bread and sipped the water he had been given before being shoved into this tiny cell under what he assumed was the courthouse he’d been brought to last time.

Blitz heard footsteps and braced himself for whoever was coming to get him.

Would it be Stolas’ conniving and stuck up ex brother-in-law?

Would it be one of the royal guardsmen or reapers taking him to a trial that he was not sure he would be able to make it out alive this time?

Neither of those things were true though as the door opened and before Blitz stood a tall hooded figure.

At first Blitz was worried as he had no idea who this stranger could be.

His fear turned to feelings of instant relief though when the being before him took off their cloak and was revealed to be none other than Stolas.

“Stolas!” Blitz exclaimed, rushing over to embrace the bird.

The former demon prince hugged Blitz back and almost did not want to let him go.

But they did not have much time.

“Loona and Via are upstairs safely in their seats. So is your sister and her girlfriend. I think the trial is about to begin.” Stolas said, looking down at Blitz.

Stolas usually saw Blitz as someone who was small who he knew could protect himself, but who he still wanted to protect no matter what.

But for the first time when Stolas looked at Blitz he saw someone who was more vulnerable than ever.

He saw instances of fear in his eyes that Stolas had not seen since he’d put his own head on the chopping block in place of Blitz several months ago.

Stolas could still hear Blitz’s screams of absolute terror as he begged and pleaded with him to use his magic to get himself out of the situation he’d put himself in.

A situation he’d gladly do again to save Blitz.

However, this time was different.

He had to think of not only his feelings for Blitz, but his feelings and responsibility for his child.

Regardless, though he would still do all that he could to get Blitz out of this predicament.

“Stolas…please don’t risk your life to save mine this time.” Blitz said with deep sadness in his voice.

Stolas' eyes widened and he pulled Blitz back and knelt to make sure he was looking his companion in the eyes.

“Whatever do you mean?”

“You have Octavia.” Blitz said. “She doesn’t deserve to lose you, especially for me. I saw that she already felt guilty enough for accidentally leading those royal fucks to me when she shouldn’t. I just don’t want what happened at Sinsmas with Octavia to happen again.”

Stolas could not believe that Blitz was about to possibly have his head chopped off for the second time in his life and here he was worried about his daughter, her emotions and her life.

Satan, he loved this man.

He could try to deny it.

He could try to ignore it.

But at the end of the day he truly loved Blitz.

And it was about time he showed him.

“Blitz.” Stolas began. “The only thing that I want is for you to be safe at the end of today. And I will do everything in my power to make that possible. Let me worry about Octavia and you just focus on getting out of this in one piece. I will do all I can though. I promise you that.”

Blitz looked at Stolas.

He could not believe that he’d been lucky enough to not only meet a prince and feel the way he did.

He truly was Blitz’s heart.

Blitz had experienced life without Stolas and he did not want to go through that again.

Blitz admired Stolas for everything he did.

He admired Stolas for everything he knew from trivia about Moxxie’s musical crap to facts about much more interesting topics like horses.

He admired Stolas for how even though he made some mistakes in the past he was willing to learn from them.

He loved how much he cared for Octavia as well as the others in Blitz’s life.

And finally, he loved how he felt when he was just near Stolas.

And he wanted that feeling to last for as long as possible.

“Stolas…” Blitz began with a small smirk. “I know I’m facing potential decapitation here, but on the chance that I make it out of this situation alive. What if we had a do over at Ozzie’s.”

“Are you… asking me on a date Blitzy?” Stolas said with a similar speech pattern, but a tone that was more light and hopeful compared to the last time he had said those words.

Blitz’s response thought this time wasn’t one baked in annoyance or defeat.

It was full of love.

“I am Stolas.”

Before the former royal had a chance to respond though, they heard footsteps coming.

This time, it was probably the guards coming to take Blitz to court.

Stolas gave one last smile to Blitz and Blitz gave one back.

Then Stolas stormed out of the dungeon and up the opposite staircase before any reapers or guards could find him and figure out what he had done.

Millie and Moxxie were getting ready to leave the hospital with the babies.
“We should go right to the courthouse.” Millie said, holding Max in her arms as she sat in a wheelchair.

“Are you sure you and the kids are alright to be going out in public now and to witness whatever is gonna happen with Blitz?” Moxxie said, kneeling next to her as he held Maria in a small carrier.

Millie nodded.

“Blitz is family and I think one of the first lessons I want to teach our kids is about supporting family when they are in trouble and standing up for what is right.” Millie said optimistically.

Though behind that optimism there was bits of fear in Millie’s voice.

What would happen to Blitz this time?

Would he be able to make it out alive like before?

She could not lose her best friend.

Her children would grow up with their Uncle Blitz.

“Knock knock!”

Millie looked up to see a familiar face in a wheelchair.

“Pamela!” Millie exclaimed. “I’m so sorry. Lucie and I…we were gonna come see you and then-”

“I know Mills!” Pamela said, interrupting her friend. “I talked to Lucie.”

“Oh.” Millie said, looking down suddenly, becoming very interested in studying the small nubs on her child’s head that would be the spots where his horns would come in.

“I think she just needs more time, Millie. But I still really wanna work on the nonprofit with you. Maybe in a few months after we have gotten situated with this motherhood thing.” Pamela said with a small laugh.

“And Lucie?” Millie asked. “Do you think she would be on board?”

Pamela suddenly froze up and looked into the distance.

“I talked to her about it and I think she might need more time. To think about the nonprofit…and you…” Pamela said.

There was an awkward silence, but then Pamela’s face lit up.

“Oh but you need to come see the baby when you can. She is so cute. We need to find time for a play date, maybe in a few months.”

Millie nodded with a sad smile.

“I have to get back to both of them. To be honest I think my wife is gonna freak out when she comes back from the nursery with June and I’m not in bed, but don’t be a stranger ok?” Pamela said, reaching to squeeze Millie’s hand.

Millie smiled and squeezed back.

Pamela then said goodbye to Millie and Moxxie and rolled herself back to her room.

Moxxie put his hand on his wife’s shoulder.

“You okay honey?”

Millie looked up at her husband.

He had been so supportive throughout her pregnancy and she was glad nothing had changed.

Not that she had expected it to.

She had heard horror stories of husbands who once their wives had kids they pretty much checked out and had no desire to emotionally support their partners let alone support them in actual parenting.

Moxxie was not like that though.

She’d made the right choice in having kids with him and she’d do it again in a heartbeat (well maybe some day they’d discuss having more…till then she’d be making sure that they were extra strict with birth control for the foreseeable future once she was able to be sexually active again).

“Yes.” Millie said. “I love you so much Mox.”

Millie was not aware of this, but while Moxxie was looking at her he was thinking similar thoughts.

He’d gone from a young anxious adult who was running away from the mafia to now being the husband to one of the most beautiful and badass women he’d ever met and a father of her children.

He was glad he never settled with Chaz or anyone else.

Millie was his happily ever after and he wouldn’t change that for anything in all the rings of Hell.

“I love you too Millie. I love you all.” her husband answered back lovingly.

And you could bet your bottom dollar that Moxxie meant every word.

Suddenly, the two new parents were broken out of their love trance as one of the nurses came into the hospital room with a few sheets of discharge paper to sign.

After everything was filled out and Millie set a follow up appointment with her OBGYN, the family of four left the hospital and headed to the courthouse to support their friend.

“Where is Via?” Stolas said frantically as he rushed to sit next to Loona in the stands who was sitting to the right of Sallie May and Barbie Wire.

Loona turned her head to face the balcony that Stella, Andrealphus and Octavia were seated.

Via had her arms crossed and looked particularly unhappy to be seated next to her mother and uncle.

“Apparently Elsa over there forgot to take Via with him when he took Dad into custody. So the moment we got here they used magic to transport Via to their ivory tower box seat while they watch everything.” Loona said with annoyance and anger in her voice.

Stolas sighed.

They could not hold her forever.

Tomorrow Octavia would be 18 years-old and she would be allowed to come back with him.

That is if she still wanted to.

Stolas shook that thought out of his mind.

Of course Via would still want to escape them…right?

Stolas hated the insecurity he had as a parent.

He knew in his heart of hearts it was bull crap what he was thinking.

Stolas knew that this was just his anxiety talking.

But telling yourself that what you are feeling and thinking at the moment was BS and actually believing it…well those were sadly separate things.

Stolas tried to focus his mind on the task at hand.

Getting Blitz safe.

Hopefully he’d be able to figure out a way to defend Blitz once again.

Blitz had not had the opportunity to seek proper counsel last time.

He knew that Satan or his former brother-in-law would not allow Stolas to represent Blitz, but maybe someone else could?

Stolas quickly shot off a text message as he cursed himself for not thinking of this before.
He then gave a silent nod to Vassago from across the room.

As Satan suddenly appeared on his throne looking bored, Stolas heard the doors open.

He turned around half expecting this to be the time that Blitz was taken before the court, but instead he saw Millie and Moxxie quickly and quietly walking in with a small stroller holding the twins.

The couple gave a small sad smile to Stolas and he answered by waving slightly to them.

He then faced the court and heard the doors open for a second time.

This time he knew that Blitz was the one being brought in.

Part of him did not wanna turn around.

He felt if he turned around, then it would make this all real.

However, Stolas knew that whether he looked at Blitz or not this was the reality they were living in no matter how much he begged and pleaded in his mind to any being or deity who would listen that he wanted this all to be a horrible dream.

And in a way, Stolas had to admit, this did feel all like a bad dream.

Just one set in reality that he could never wake up from.

As Blitz was pulled into the courtroom, he thought of begging or pleading or even trying to crack some jokes to realize the tension.

However, as he was forcefully pulled toward the small platform closest to Satan, Blitz realized that maybe doing anything, but walking along with the guards with dignity and respectful quietness would be counterproductive.

Blitz also realized something else as he passed M&M with their kids who were all currently seated in the back row of the courthouse with the children in question sleeping soundly in their strollers.

Blitz was surprised those kids had barely made a peep since he’d met them.

He was also shocked that Millie and Moxxie were at the trial at all.

They should be resting, not at a trial this time of night.

A sad realization also hit Blitz…he had not been able to hold the babies before he’d been taken away in cuffs and now…now he might never get that chance.

As Blitz was pushed past the Knowlastname family by the reapers, he saw in the stands that Loona and Stolas were sitting together (along with his sister and her girlfriend) and Via was in another part of the courthouse with her arms folded close as she was forced to sit next to Stella and “Elsa.”

He hoped Via did not blame herself for all of this.

That was the last thing he wanted.

He also hoped that Satan did not try to put any chains or a muzzle on his daughter, if so decorum be damned because he would find a way to break from his chains just to punch out Satan if they ever tried to hurt his daughter again.

Satan suddenly appeared on his throne looking more disgruntled and bored than he had during the last trial.

“Ugh didn’t we do this like less than a year ago?” Satan said disgruntled. “I was in the middle of dinner and had to come down here.”

“My apologies, your highness.” said Andrealphus smuggly. “But I feel that this is something that can be handled quite quickly which is why I am very happy that you graciously accepted my request for a speedy bench trial instead of a jury trial like last time. Though unlike last time I think you’ll find that the imp is quite guilty of everything I will be presenting.”

Satan sighed and then grumbled.

“Yes. Yes. Please present your evidence. I’d like to move this along and actually get to sleep at a decent hour.”

Andrealphus smiled at Satan and then began his monologue.

“We did a search of the imp’s apartment and did not find the kidnapped princess then, but just earlier tonight we caught the poor girl escaping that disgusting excuse of a home and luckily we were able to bring this young woman home. I mean kidnapped on her own wedding day. How dreadfully awful.” Andrealphus said with an evil grin.

“I did not kidnap Octavia!” Blitz screamed in his own defense.

Last time this had happened, Blitz had been allowed to at least say a few more words than that to defend himself.

This time was different though because with a snap of a finger, Blitz now found himself with a muzzle that, try as he might, he could not remove.

Satan looked bored at Andrealphus.

“Well it seems that we don’t need any further evidence here as the princess was found in this imp’s home and she was not of age at the time. So it seems to be kidnapping in my book. Now let’s get this show on the road so I can hit the hay.” Satan said matter of factly.

Blitz’s eyes widened as did all of Blitz’s allies in the room with him.

This could not be it, right?

Last time there had been witnesses and more questioning.

They had even broadcasted his almost execution.

How could it be over in a matter of minutes?

Before anyone could even process Satan’s verdict though, Vassago appeared in the middle of the courtroom.

“Esperá!” he yelled. “You can’t kill Blitz.”

Andrealphus rolled his eyes.

Why couldn’t Vassago just mind his own business.

“Ugh Vassago what are you going on about? Why in all of hell can’t we do this?”

Vassago glared at Andrealphus.

“Did you have a warrant when you searched the Mr. Buckzo’s home?”

Blitz’s eyebrows raised.

He did not know a ton about the law and technical legalities and all that bullshit, but he did know from the weekend two summers ago he had spent binging crime shows that you needed warrants usually to search someone’s place.

Andrealaphus suddenly burst out with laughter.

“Oh my dear Vassago. Shouldn’t you know that a Goetic demon such as myself doesn’t need useless things like warrants if they are searching for well let’s see…a missing princess.”

Vassage suddenly went very still.

That could not be true.

Could it?

“Unfortunately Vassago, Andrealaphus seems to be right. They do not require such warrants in this circumstance as they are of noble class.” Satan explained.

Blitz groaned internally.

“Fuck Me. That could not be the only thing they have though right?” Blitz thought and hoped to himself.

But the silence and stuttering from the bird demon trying to defend him told Blitz all he needed to know.

He was completely and utterly screwed.

Up in the balcony, Octavia Goetia sat next to her mother in silence.

Fear and guilt consumed the princess as she watched with horror as the love of her father’s life was about to be killed.

She blamed herself.

Why had she not been more careful leaving the apartment?

Should she have just sucked it up and married Orion after all?

She was happy she’d stuck to her guns and had been able to get out of that sham wedding when she did, but was it really at the cost of someone else’s life?

Suddenly, Octavia remembered something.

She leapt out of her seat and flew down to the middle of the courtroom.

“Octavia! Get back here at once!” Stella screeched at her daughter.

But Via refused to listen.

After what she was about to expose to everyone she hoped that she would never have to listen to her mother again.

“I have evidence that my mother was the one who tried to have my father killed. That she has been planning things from behind the scenes all along.” Octavia yelled.

Everyone stared at Octavia.

Stolas did not know whether to be scared for his daughter or incredibly proud.

Though he did know one thing.

He was extremely curious.

What could his daughter possibly have to possibly have Stella now be the focus of scrutiny in this court and would it be enough to exonerate Blitz.

Via played the video where her uncle stated:

“You really thought that Wrathian low life gunman was hired by that stupid Imp to kill Stolas…” the video played on.

Via made sure to not play any part of the video that had Vassago talking to not get him in trouble.

The room was quiet as Satan sat back and thought to himself.

“Hmmm… well this changes this doesn’t it.”

“What! Absolutely not!” Stella yelled.

The older princess flew from her box and began to try and defend herself.

“If you could see the agony I was going through being married to someone like Stolas. You would see my side of things. He never did anything by the book and was tarnishing the Goetic name. If anything I was doing our race a favor.”

“So you admit to it then?” Vassago said smugly at Stella.

Stella froze.

“I mean…well..yes…but.”

“But nothing!” said Satan. “Now I’m very tired and would like to go to bed. Now Princess Octavia is all of this true?”

Via nodded.

“Yes sir. If anything Blitz was saving me from my mother’s wrath. If she could hire someone to harm my father. Imagine what she could do to me?”

Satan may be well…Satan, but he did have a soft spot for the young princess and took her word above almost anyone else's words here.

And this court was running later than he had wanted to anyhow.

Suddenly with the snap of his fingers.

Stella was in chains.

“Stella Goetia. For facilitating the attempted murder of a Goetic demon your punishment shall be 6 months of house arrest.”

If Blitz’s mouth wasn’t muzzled at the moment, his face would have dropped.

Were they serious?

6 months for orchestrating a hit on a prince.

Something he was almost killed for.

It was even better than the punishment Stolas had received for letting Blitz use the book.

“What about my uncle?” Via asked. “I mean he was on tape admitting he knew the truth behind the attempt on my father’s life.”

Satan thought for a moment.

“While I admire your tenacity Princess.” Satan said. “I don’t see why I need to punish your uncle so harshly. If anything how do you not know he wasn’t working behind the scenes to help free you? The imp just seemed to get there first.”

Via gave Satan a confused look.

What type of work around answer was that?

How could Andrealphus not be punished?

“Now I do agree there needs to be some sort of punishment for he did know of information such as this and did not come forward right away with it. So I say we give you 6 months probation. You will be allowed to continue your duties as usual Andrealphus, but there will be an internal investigation into you as well as frequent meetings with my assistant Yogirt. He is good with all that mediation stuff.”

Stolas froze in his spot angrily clutching the bench he was seated in front of.

Really?

That was it?

Stella was only getting less than a year of house arrest where she would basically just have to stay in the palace and not do anything (so not much different than before) and now Andrelphus wasn’t even truly being punished for what he’d admitted on camera to knowing.

“Court adjourned!” Satan said quickly and suddenly everyone had been kicked out of the courtroom and the door were closed.

Andrelphus was probably back at the palace scheming.

Stella was probably just taking a bath trying to not get her new magical ankle monitor wet.

Stolas sighed frustrated.

He could not believe that they’d gotten off so easy.

Satan really did seem to care about sleep more than a fair trial.

But when Stolas turned to his right and saw Blitz in a conversation with Vassago, those feelings of anger and annoyance seemed to magically disappear.

He suddenly did not care about the lack of punishment for his ex wife and her irritating brother.
Blitz and Octavia were both safe.

That is all that mattered.

Blitz walked up to Stolas.

“What did Vassago wanna talk to you about?” Stolas asked curiously.

“Oh the bird said he was sorry he could not be of more help and also something about some dictator-like stuff coming down on us all in the future because of some vision he had.”

Stolas’s eyes went wide.

“Blitz! You do realize Vassago has psychic abilities. He can tell the future and that does not sound like something we should take lightly.”

Blitz flapped his hand in the air and smirked.

“Relax Stols.” Blitz said nonchalantly. “He also told me that someone brave is gonna help fix all this. So whoever that fucking unlucky bastard is can deal with that later on. Let’s just focus on us now.”

Blitz then took Stolas’ hand and began to walk hand in hand with the bird he loved.

The group of friends and family convened in the lobby as various conversations continued.

“Blitz. I was surprised how much you kept your cool in there.” Stolas said impressed by his friend.

Blitz smirked and folded his arms together.

“Yeah well…I guess I am just really more mature of a person than you expected, huh?”

“Would this more mature Blitz like to hold Max while I go to the bathroom?” Millie asked as she walked over holding her son.

Moxxie was off in the corner near the men’s bathroom in the courthouse lobby holding Maria while Sallie May and Barbie looked in awe of the baby girl.

“You sure Mills?” Blitz answered suddenly, very self conscious.

He could not remember the last time he held anything so precious and innocent.

What if he dropped him?

Millie seemed to be able to read his mind as she rolled her eyes and placed her son into his uncle’s arms.

“You won’t drop him. You better not. Besides I think someone wants to meet their Satan Father while Mommy had to pee.”

Blitz looked up in awe of his best friend.

Satan Father? Him?

He knew that Sallie May had been referred to as the Satan Mother a few times, but he had figured one of Millie’s brothers had been selected for the Satan Father role.

Millie seemed to read her friend’s mind again as she rolled her eyes and placed the baby in Blitz’s arms.

“Yes! I said Satan Father. I can't think of anyone better for the job.” Millie said with a smile as she finally rushed off after depositing her child in his uncle’s hands.

Blitz did not know much about babies, but as he made sure to support Max’s head at Stolas' urging while the child was situated in Blitz’s arms…he made a promise.

A promise that went to both him and his sister now being held awkwardly by Barbie Wire a few tens of feet away while Sallie May and Moxxie side eyed her in amusement.

“Hey kid. I am your Uncle Blitz. The O is silent.” Blitz began. “I promise I am gonna be the best uncle in all of Hell. When you and your sister are older and need someone to buy them beer without their parents knowing, you come to me and I will hook you up.”

The imp laughed, but then suddenly got real quiet and serious as he said this next part.

“I just hope you know that you have the greatest family ever. We work at IMP, who knows maybe you will work there someday too? But whether or not you do, me and your parents and your uncle, aunts, cousins, and who knows who else in this giant ass family unit of yours will do anything they can to keep you safe and make sure you know you are loved and matter. Because kid, you may not know it yet but the love that me and everyone else shares for you and your sister is so effin monumental that you two will never know what it feels like to grow up unwanted and unloved. I will make sure of that.”

As Blitz finished his monologue and cooed at the baby, Blitz turned his head to see Stolas standing with a shocked look on his face.

“What I said effin instead of fucking? No cursing around this kid till they start talking…then all bets are off.” Blitz said with a laugh.

That got a small chuckle from Stolast too.

“No. It is not that.” Stolas said. “I am just really happy and excited about that Ozzie’s date.”

Blitz looked over at his future date.

“You…You still wanna go with me?”

Stolas nodded.

“Only if you do.”

“Hell yes!”

As the two demons met with everyone else at the front Lobby, Blitz noticed to his side stood the princess.

“Via…thanks for that fast thinking back there.” Blitz said, gesturing behind him at the courthouse doors. “Now where do you wanna get breakfast to celebrate your birthday? My treat.”

“You don’t need-”

“Oh I abso-fucking-loutley have to do that.” Blitz stated as he quickly checked his watch. “It seems to be after midnight so you are now officially an adult. I was thinking we could maybe find a 24-Hour diner. I know this great place downtown we could…”

As Blitz trailed off, talking Via’s ears off about dinner plans and handing Max to his mother who just arrived back from the women’s room, Stolas looked at the display before him in complete wonderment.

How had he been so lucky to be surrounded by such wonderful people?

If you had asked him years ago if he could see himself getting ready to go to celebrate his daughter’s 18th birthday at a 24-hour diner with the man he loved along with that man’s friends and family (and really his friends and family too now), Stolas would have never believed you and thought that you were joking.

But this was no joke and Satan was Stolas grateful for that.

“There is something I still don’t get though.” Via asked as they all headed out of the courthouse and Moxxie began to orchestrate different cab rides (one to take him, Millie, Sallie May and the kids home after a long day and another to take everyone else to the diner).

“What is that starfire?” Stolas asked curiously.

“Why didn’t Satan wanna broadcast the trial. Was it just out of carelessness?”

The group thought to themselves until Stolas thought of a possible answer.

“Perhaps the ruler of Wrath decided that it was not worth the risk of another potential uprising. You all saw the praise and exposure Blitz received after making it out alive last time. He probably feared what it could inspire again.”

Blitz laughed out loud.

“I don’t think any revolution is coming soon so they can cool their tits. Let’s not dwell on why Satan didn’t put me on blast on live TV. Let’s just head to the diner to get some waffles and celebrate Via’s bday! Alright?”

The group all agree and soon goodbyes were being said and Blitz soon found himself in a cab along with Stolas, Loona, Via, and Barbie.

Blitz looked around at the occupants of the cab and as they began to drive away, he had a sinking feeling.

He had not been able to stop thinking about what Stolas said regarding Satan not wanting to inspire an uprising.

He also could not stop thinking about what Vassago said earlier about his psychic vision.

What was coming and who would be the one to save them?

Blitz decided to put that all out of his mind at least for now and try to focus on what was important.

He was going to celebrate Octavia’s birthday along with his sister, his daughter and his potential boyfriend.

What could be better than that?

All those worries he had…well they could wait for another day.

“Blitz is something wrong?” Stolas asked him as if he could read Blitz’s mind.

Blitz just looked back at Stolas though, held his hand and said:

“Nothing is wrong Stolas. Absolutely nothing.”

Chapter Text

“Now make sure you don’t lose it this time.” Asmodeous said, obviously annoyed with having to give Blitz a crystal again.

“Come on Oz, you can’t act like you don’t have an unlimited supply of these babies.” Blitz said as he situated the new crystal onto his wrist.

It had been a week since the trial and Blitz had found himself at Ozzie’s factory getting fitted for another crystal since he’d lost the last one.

Blitz had put IMP on a small vacation as he got everything situated with Stolas as well as working out a new system with Millie and Moxxie at home with their newborns.

Tomorrow was the first time they were reopening since that impromptu hiatus and while less employees on staff for the time being meant less jobs they could take (though Blitz knew Millie and Moxxie would be back at work in a few months), till then he could make do with him, Loona and Sallie May - three employees on a mission just like the old days - till M&M returned to work where it was decided Stolas would watch the babies when their parents were on missions.

Millie and Moxxie would also take turns switching off from time to time with one of the parents watching the children while the other went on a mission.

That way Stolas wasn’t alway being used for free babysitting services though it seemed he was looking forward to taking care of the kids as he did miss when Via was that young as many parents did when their children were beginning to get older and older.

The first order of business though was making sure he had a crystal again so that he could actually complete the jobs he was hired to do.

“I can’t be giving these out to just anyone who wants them. A lot of work went into having to disconnect the last one to make sure that it did not fall into the wrong hands.” Asmodeuous went on. “You are lucky that Fiz…I mean you’re lucky that you got this the first time.”

Blitz rolled his eyes and smirked.

He wanted to say something snarky about Fizzarolli or about the crystal, but then he saw Oz’s face when he mentioned his former partner.

Blitz could tell with just one look that Ozzie really missed his ex.

Blitz looked around at the empty take out boxes conveniently pushed under a few towels lying around and the 5 o’clock shadow on Oz’s face, that told him that Ozzie was not coping with the breakup as well as he wanted everyone to think he was.

He felt sort of bad for Oz.

He knew what it was like to go through something like that and he knew what a catch Fizz was.

While it hadn’t worked out with himself and Fizz and he knew that Fizz was focusing more on his new business venture, he was sure that somewhere deep down Fizzarolli did probably miss Ozzie too.

He wondered if he should say anything, but Oz beat him to it.

“Have you…have you heard from Fizzarolli at all?” Asmodeous asked, not looking at Blitz in the eyes.

Blitz sighed and gave a sad smile.

“He has been pretty focused on this new business he is trying to start.”

“New business?” Oz asked, surprised as this seemed to be the first time he’d heard of such a thing.

Blitz nodded.

“Yeah. Look. I can’t speak for my friend, but if you want my advice…if you miss him so badly you should reach out and see what he says. The worst he can do is say he doesn’t want to speak to you.”

Ozz nodded.

“That is what I am afraid of.” he mumbled.

Blitz was not sure if he should continue the conversation or not, but then he noticed the time.

“Oh shit!” Blitz exclaimed as he got up from where he was seated. “I’ve got to go. Thanks for the crystal and for help with getting those reservations tonight!”

As Blitz ran off towards the exit, he gave a thumbs up to Asmodeus when he called back reminding Blitz not to lose the crystal this time and that he was welcome for the table.

About an hour later, Blitz found himself at Ozzie's, once again seated across from Stolas.

“It’s funny how much has changed since we were last here.” Stolas said, nervously playing with his silverware.

Blitz nodded.

Stolas was absolutely right.

Last time he’d been here with Stolas he’d been focused on spying on M&M while they celebrated their one year anniversary.

Now Millie and Moxxie were at home with kids.

How things had changed indeed.

“Stolas…I’m sorry for how I treated you last time we were here. It wasn’t right to play with your feelings like that.” Blitz said, genuinely apologetic.

Stolas gave him a small smile.

“I forgive you Blitz. And I do have to take some blame…if I had never come up with that deal in the first place you probably would not have called me at all.”

Blitz nodded again.

“That’s true.”

Stolas cleared his throat.

“Seriously though, Blitz. If we are on the subject of apologies…I must say again how sorry I am for that deal. It really was not right of me to use my power to allow you to use the book in exchange for sexual favors. It never was and though it wasn’t my intention…I did take advantage of your predicament and for that I am truly sorry.”

Blitz reached out to take Stolas’ hand.

“Look we all make mistakes, hell knows I have. But the important thing is how we deal with that shit when we realize what we’ve done wrong. I’ve had to do a lot of that this year and I’m not saying how everything went down was perfect, but things happened the way they happened and we’re here now, right? So let’s just say we both did things we were not proud of and just try to learn from it all. ”

Stolas smiled at Blitz even bigger.

“Okay. Now what are you going to get because I’m treating you tonight.” Stolas said proudly.

Blitz laughed.

“Well seeing as I sign your paycheck now birdie, I am technically treating you.”

The two playfully fought about who would pay for their dinner (in the end it was agreed upon that Stolas would pay this time if Blitz paid for the next date).

Their topics of conversation soon shifted to everything from jobs they had lined up to predictions for the season finale of Hella-Novela tomorrow night (Stolas thought Alejandro was going to die and Blitz threatened to never watch the show again if that happened) to Stolas’ trip to the pharmacy today.

“I didn’t get my pills thrown at me like last time which was an improvement I suppose. And only two people gave me dirty looks in line compared to what felt like the whole store last time I went.” Stolas commented as he recapped his morning trip to pick up his Happy Pills.

After the trial, Stolas and Vassago decided it was best to try and distance themselves from the fact they lived secretly together for so long.

With Andrelphus having not only the power he currently did but also the fact that he was probably wanting to seek revenge on Stolas and his allies more than ever before, the two had decided it was probably best to cut out any proof they had previously of Stolas living with him for that short amount of time.

This meant that Stolas was now back to trying to get his pills the way most lower class demons in Hell did.

A positive side of more money coming in was that Blitz could now offer health insurance to his employees now.

The downside however was that the Insurance was not great and Stolas did find himself having to pay for a good chunk of the medication cost out of his own paycheck.

However, did experience did offer him another life lesson since he’d lost his powers and status.

He really never had realized how much he’d taken for granted when he was a prince.

After their date, the two walked back to the apartment.

They’d finally settled on a new apartment that was actually close to where Fizz was living now and were planning to move into their new place in a few months.

Best of all, this new apartment had two bedrooms. One for the girls to share (they’d said they did not mind as long as Loona got to borrow and listen to Via’s Limited Edition Fuck You Dad albums when she wasn’t around and in return Via could borrow anything from Loona’s closet as long as she informed her before taking it) and another for Blitz and Stolas.

In actuality while this arrangement was not something they’d expected (they had just started to officially date and were now going to be sharing a bed together), it was what Blitz could afford and he was kind of excited to be getting to have a room and a bed in his own apartment that was not only his…but Stolas’ too.

“Well I should probably wash up before I head to sleep. We do have work in the morning.” Stolas said gleefully.

Blitz smirked.

“You want me to join you birdie?” he asked with a devious grin.

In the past, Stolas would have jumped at the chance to shower with Blitz.

However if they were gonna do this right and take things slow (at least in departments they could as they were still living together and were going to soon be sharing a bed soon) Stolas wanted to avoid too much intimacy with Blitz at least in the beginning.

He really wanted to make this work and he believed Blitz felt the same way.

So if that meant showering alone and avoiding anything extremely sexual between the two (at the very least compared to their previous arrangement), then that was how it was to be.

“I think I will pass, but if you are not too tired after I am done I was thinking we could maybe rewatch the last Hella-Novella episode before the finale tomorrow. If you are up for it. Then we can go to sleep.”

“Sounds great! I’ll make some popcorn.” Blitz said as he began to march into the kitchen.

“Wait Blitz!” Stolas said, causing Blitz to turn around.

Stolas then walked over and gently began to move his lips closer to Blitz’s lips.

Blitz quickly sped up the process of what they were doing and soon the two were sharing a sweet kiss.

Similar to the one that they’d had at Sinsmas, this kiss was light and meaningful compared to their past makeout during sex which were usually more lust based and not as intimate.

Stolas was the first to pull away and Blitz couldn’t say he wasn’t at least a little disappointed for the kiss to have seemingly ended as quickly as it started.

However, as he watched Stolas walk into the bathroom and close the door instead of a desire to have a meaningless non-attached hookup with the former royal or even just a heavy make out session, he found himself really just looking forward to sitting on the couch and eating popcorn with Stolas as they rewatched one of their favorite shows while they theorized about the next episode and commented on what they were watching.

Was this what being in love was like?

Was it just sitting on the couch watching your favorite show with the person you care for and not caring really what was happening as long as you were happily together?

Blitz never thought he’d say this, but he seemed to really like that kind of life.

As Blitz waited for the popcorn to be finished he checked his phone.

He saw that M&M had sent a cute photo of the twins sleeping.

He quickly texted back commenting how Max and Maria were so adorable when they slept and that their looks absolutely came from Millie.

Blitz also saw a text from Loona letting him know that she and Via were at the movies and they’d be back with plenty of time for Loona to get sleep before work tomorrow.

He was thrilled that the two were getting along so well. Blitz had not known what to expect when Via moved into their place and had started to share a room with Blitz’s daughter, but Loona had not only taken the new arrangement in stride but seemed to have adopted somewhat of a big sister role with Octavia.

They’d started listening to music together, going to see movies like tonight and Loona had even taken Octavia to a small party Russ had thrown last weekend (with a promise to Stolas of course to keep an eye on Via and make sure to take her home right away if anything got too much for either Loona or Octavia).

Blitz sent her back a thumbs up emoji and was about to put his phone away when the device began to ring and an unknown number appeared on the screen.

He thought about letting it go straight to voicemail and getting back to it later as it was either a telemarketer or someone asking for a job at IMP or wanting to hire IMP for a hit (which in that case he’d have Stolas deal with those calls tomorrow).

However, something told Blitz that this was an important call he would not want to ignore.

So he clicked accept and put the phone to his ears.

“Hello! This is Blitz the O is silent.” Blitz said into the phone.

“Blitz? This is Orion. I am friends with Octavia.” the voice on the other line said.

Blitz remembered briefly hearing about an Orion character being mentioned by Via as both her friend and the man she’d been almost married to.

Blitz had questioned her about if he’d been respectful or if he needed to pay this guy a visit with his gun, but Via had just laughed and told Blitz that Orion was nice and someone who she related a lot to.

Blitz had wondered if there was anything more there that Via was not saying, but had decided to drop it and allow Via to tell him more later when and if she wanted to.

Now though Blitz was able to put a voice to the name.

“Oh yeah. Octavia mentioned you.”

“Oh my really…and um…what did she say?” Orion asked nervously. “Ugh well I mean…nevermind that. Sorry.”

Blitz had to bite his lip to keep himself from laughing out loud.

This guy seemed to have it bad for Via and while part of him wanted to go into protective dad mode with Octavia (even though he wasn’t her father or anything), a large part of him trusted Octavia that Orion was not someone to be worried about and that the young man had to be calling for a reason.

“Can I help you with something Orion?” Blitz asked patiently.

“Yes! Sorry. My apologies.” Orion stated. “I wanted to ask you if you’ve heard of something called Project Renegade?”

“Kinda a dumb name, but no. What’s that?” Blitz asked as he began to open the newly popped bag of popcorn and dump it into a large bowl.

“We are a small group that is trying to change Hell for the better. Octavia has been working with us and we wanted to ask if you’d be interested in helping to lead.”

“Lead what?” Blitz asked, genuinely confused.

“Why a revolution of course.” Orion said

From then on Orion spent the remainder of the phone call talking to Blitz about the history of the group, Octavia’s involvement, and what he hoped Blitz could do as a co-leader beside Octavia.

After getting off the phone with Orion with the promise to think about what was asked of him, Blitz sat in silence as he listened to Stolas turn off the shower and finally leave the bathroom.

“Is something wrong, Blitz?” Stolas asked as he walked out into the living room.

Blitz turned to Stolas with a contemplating look.

“I think I was just offered a co-leadership role in a revolution with your daughter?” Blitz said in awe of the conversation that had just happened.

Stolas had about a billion questions after that, but he had one thing to ask him first.

“And what did you say to this offer?”

Blitz looked at Stolas.

“I said I have to think about it.”

And that was where Blitz would leave it…that was until a few months later when he finally made his decision.

Chapter Text

“WAHHH.” cried Maria as Moxxie gently rocked her back and forth.

“Please go to sleep honey. You’re all clean, you’re not hungry…I don’t know what you want. Could you please tell me?” Moxxie said, looking pleadingly at his screaming daughter.

Millie and Moxxie had really thought they’d lucked out.

The first few hours after their births they seemed to sleep fine.

They even slept mostly through Blitz’s second trial and when they were awake that night, they’d been genuinely calm.

However, a few hours later after getting home that night the twins revealed their true colors.

They were actually infant insomniacs.

That had to be it, because those kids have not slept through the night once since they were brought home weeks ago.

“Sweetie.” Millie said, holding Max straight out so she could look right in his teary eyed face. “I will give you a million dollars if you go to sleep. We don’t have that money currently, but I will spend the rest of my entire life saving it up if you can just let mommy sleep for a few hours.”

“Is that where we are at now, Mills…bribery?” Moxxie said looking equally as exhausted as his wife as he patted the couch cushion he was currently seated parallel to.

Millie slowly lowered herself down onto the couch beside her husband.

“Listen. I don’t care. Whatever will make them stop.” Millie said with as much strength as she could muster.

“I’m not judging.” Moxxie admitted. “I just want to know if it will work.”

Finally, after hours, the children had seemingly calmed down and were able to fall asleep.

“Where is your sister tonight?” Moxxie asked exhaustively as he got into bed next to his wife.

They both looked over at the digital clock situated on Millie’s night stand.

If they were lucky, the new parents could maybe get at most 4 hours of sleep before they had to wake up again to feed the kids.

That was if they did not wake up again.

“She decided to spend the night at Barbie’s place in Lust.” Millie answered with a yawn.

She curled up against her husband and Moxxie pulled Millie into an embrace.

“I know she has been a big help and all and I feel selfish for saying this, but I do wish she was here.” Moxxie admitted shamefully.

Millie nodded against her husband's chest.

“Just think soon they should sleep through the night…at least that is what the books say.”

Moxxie hugged his wife even closer and kissed her on the forehead.

“I hope so.” Moxxie said as he began to fall asleep alongside Millie.

Unfortunately that night, the pair would only get two hours of slumber before Maria woke up hungry and Max woke up needing to be changed.

“Alright!” Blitz said, bringing in the last box.

Blitz looked around at his new apartment with a smile on his face that soon turned to concern when he saw the occupants of the apartment surrounding him.

Stolas was half awake on the bean bag chair, Loona and Via were barely sitting up on the couch looking grumpier than he’d even seen them before, and Fizz was sitting on top of a stack of boxes while he flipped Blitz off.

“Guys what the hell is wrong?” Blitz asked, genuinely confused.

“So tired…” Loona groaned as she and Via began to take out these phones and scroll through Sinstagram.

“You promised me pizza for helping you jackass.” Fizz said angrily. “Where is it?”

Blitz rolled his eyes at his friend.

“Wow! Come on everybody. It wasn’t that much stuff.”

The various arguments of the others in the apartment vocally disagreed with Blitz’s assessments.

Blitz sighed.

“Okay. I will go order three extra large pizzas cause you all did great helping out today, especially you Fizz. Thank you so much for coming by.”

“No problem Blitz…though I was promised FREE FOOD!” Fizz said with hints of anger in his tired voice.

“I’m going to call now! Hold your horses!” Blitz said as he began to look up the pizza place’s number.

Once the three pizzas were ordered, Blitz went over to where Stolas was seated and gently crawled onto his boyfriend's lap to cuddle with him.

Boyfriend.

That was something new that they’d recently gotten used to saying, but ever since their do-over Ozzie’s date and many more dates afterwards..the pair referring to one another as boyfriends just felt right to both Blitz and Stolas.

Blitz almost could not believe it and neither could Stolas.

But they were happy, currently tired from the work they’d done to finally move into their new place but happy nonetheless.

“Why don’t Moxxie and Millie have to be here?” Loona complained.

“Looney, they are new parents and from how tired Mills sounded when I spoke to her last…I do not think she would have been much help anyhow. Besides we all did this together and it’s finished now which is what’s important.”

Loona could not argue with that and just went back to looking at her phone.

The group sat in silence as they worked up the energy to actually eat the pizza once it came.

They did not have to wait too long though as in only about half an hour the group was now much happier as they each nibbled on a slice of various pies.

“Ohh are you texting Orion?” Loona teased as she tried to sneak a peek at Via’s phone.

Via held the device close to her chest as she let out a playful laugh.

“Oh my Satan. Stop it! So what if I am?” Via said as her cheeks became a tinted red.

Loona just chuckled again to herself as she took a bite off of her second pepperoni slice.

Blitz and Stolas just stared at one another.

In any other instance their stares would be ones of light mutual teasing of Via or stares of protective “dads” regarding Octavia.

These stares between the couple were neither of those things though.

These were stares that said there was much more to discuss as Blitz still had not talked to Octavia about what Orion had asked of him nor had he given Orion an answer.

Blitz had been planning to talk to Via, but he just kept saying that with the move and everything he was focused on getting everything ready and not anything else.

Stolas saw right through his partner though and knew that Blitz was not being honest.

He knew that Blitz was avoiding making a decision because he was scared.

Scared of what exactly…Stolas was not sure.

After dinner, Loona and Via retreated to their new room to work on moving some furniture around and getting more of their stuff situated.

Blitz volunteered to walk Fizz back to the bus stop so he could catch the next bus over to his apartment.

Usually he would walk, but Fizzarolli was so beat that Blitz offered to cover his few dollar bus fare as the next stop after the one outside of Blitz and Stolas’ new place would take Fizz basically to the door of his apartment building.

“Sorry if I was a bit cranky earlier.” Fizz said apologetically to his friend.

Blitz gave him a playful punch on the arm and laughed.

“No problem buddy. You’re getting older and all. It is not so surprising you don’t have the same amount of energy you once did.” Blitz teased.

Fizz rolled his eyes.

“Shut up asshole. We are like almost the same age.” Fizz laughed. “I gotta get home and hit the hay though. Looking at some more places for my school tomorrow.”

“How is that going by the way?” Blitz asked.

“It has been…okay. I thought I had a few things lined up, but so far nothing. Though I have a good feeling about tomorrow’s meeting.” Fizz said with hope in his voice.

Blitz knew the bus was going to be coming soon, but he had to tell Fizz something he’d been keeping from him for a while.

“So when I went to get a new crystal from Ozzie after I lost the last one…he asked about you Fizz.” Blitz said looking anywhere but his friend’s face. “I think he misses you a lot. Do you miss him? Would you ever consider…I don’t know talking to him again?”

Fizz looked like he was deciding whether or not to answer Blitz’s question.

But the bus seemed to make that decision for him as it suddenly pulled up next to the two imps.

“Thanks for the pizza and good luck with settling in and all.” Fizz said as he rushed onto the bus.

“You too buddy.” Blitz called back with a wave as Fizz sat down on the bus, the doors closed and Blitz was left standing alone on the sidewalk.

When he got back upstairs he saw Stolas was starting to unpack some of the kitchen utensils, Blitz opened a box of plates and began to help his boyfriend reorganize everything.

“Did Fizzarolli get on the bus okay?” Stolas asked.

“Oh yeah. He said thanks for the pizza and wished us well and all that.” Blitz said as he placed a ceramic plate in the kitchen cabinet.

Stolas was off in the corner of the kitchen organizing different utensils into the drawer.

He sighed as he knew he had to talk to Blitz about it.

He couldn’t avoid it forever.

Stolas turned his head to look at the door to Loona and Via’s room.

He could just barely hear it, but the girls seemed to be playing some rather loud music from their room as they worked to reorganize what sounded like their dressers.

On another night, he might be tempted to ask the girls to lower the volume on Via’s speakers, but tonight he was grateful for the blaring singing creeping out into the kitchen.

It meant that the girls would not accidentally overhear what Stolas was about to bring up to Blitz.

“Um Blitz. Can I ask you something?”

“Uh huh.” Blitz said as he began to put one of his many horse mugs in the next cabinet over from where the plates now were all situated.

“Have you come to a decision about what was asked of you by Orion?”

Stolas had his head turned, but could hear Blitz now fumbling with one of the mug’s he had been trying to stack on top of another in the cabinet when he had asked his boyfriend that question.

Stolas was glad that Blitz had not broken the mug, but he was sure the question he’d asked Blitz might have broken him.

“Listen Stols. I wanna say yes. I do. You know how much I’d love to kick it to those upper crust assholes like your dickwad ex brother-in-law! But I…well I guess I am just worried about…well…everything that comes with that.” Blitz finally admitted.

Stolas now had his full attention to Blitz as he was looking directly at him when he asked this next question.

“Do you mean asking Octavia her thoughts?”

“Well yes, but also….also what if I can’t do it?” Blitz said.

Stolas looked surprised at Blitz.

“What do you mean?”

Blitz sighed.

“Stols…I know I come across as this big bad ass guy who loves to stick it to the upper class for what they have done to imps like me. I mean it is part of why I started IMP in the first place.” Blitz said with a tone of self doubt. “But it is one thing to say all that stuff when I thought I was gonna die in court and another to lead a whole revolution. I just…I just don’t know.”

Stolas walked over to Blitz and held him close.

“I don’t know how much my words are worth to you regarding this Blitz, but I do know that if anyone can beat my terrible family members and all the rest of those upper crust worthless arrogant asses who want to hurt the likes of you…it’s you. Blitz, you’re one of the bravest and strongest beings I have ever met. There is no doubt in my mind you can do this. I do think though you need to speak with Octavia first.”

Blitz took a deep breath and smiled at his boyfriend.

“You are right. And Stolas?”

“Yes, Blitzy?” Stolas said with a small smile.

“Thank you.” Blitz said. “Oh and just know your words mean so much to me Stols. Never doubt that.”

“As do your words Blitz…never doubt that.” Stolas said as he went back to placing the silver spoons in the kitchen drawer.

Blitz did not forget what Stolas said as he finished up with the last of the ceramics.

He knew what he had to do next…he just had to work up the courage to do it.

Blitz was sitting up on the couch scrolling through social media on his phone.

It was about 3 am and Stolas had fallen asleep hours ago.

He’d meant to join him in bed, but had ended up not being able to sleep.

Blitz thought about getting up and finally hitting the hay when he heard a door behind him open slightly.

Blitz turned his head to see a wide awake Octavia standing before him.

“Hey. Can’t sleep?” Blitz asked.

Via shook her head.

“No. You?” she asked.

“Nope.” Blitz answered.

The imp then gestured the princess over to the cushion next to him on the couch.

Via slowly walked over and sat down on the opposite side of the furniture.

The two then sat in silence with only the sounds of the city from below to give them some background noise.

They sat like that for a few more moments, before Blitz sighed deeply and decided to finally ask Octvavia the question he’d been putting off ever since he got Orion’s phone call.

“Octavia…I need to tell you something.” Blitz said with a twinge of guilt in his voice.

The princess looked both confused and concerned at Blitz as he began to explain about what happened when he had gotten that phone call from Orion a while ago.

“I know you have been working with Project Renegade for a while now - still think the name could use some workshopping - but I’d really love to help so with your permission I’d-”

“Yes.” Via interrupted him.

Blitz looked up at Octavia to make sure that he had heard her right.

“Yes? As in…yes?” Blitz asked.

Via nodded.

“Yes. We could use all the help we could get and I get what it is like to want to fight for something you believe in. I know our situations are not the same at all, but when I become ruler I wanna also change the lives of my descendants. I want anyone to be able to marry or not marry whomever they wish and to stop this dumb law about marriage and bio kids.” Via said.

Blitz nodded along.

Suddenly Via realized who she was speaking to and felt extremely embarrassed

“Oh I am really sorry, Blitz. I did not mean to imply…I mean I know you and the lower class demons have it way worse than a royal and I did not…I didn’t mean to…”

Blitz put up his hand to stop Via from speaking and just started to laugh.

“Via don’t worry about it. I’m happy you at least acknowledged the difference in our situations and to be honest that does really suck for you and Orion. I am sorry about all that shit you had to and well still have to go through.”

“And I am sorry about what you need to go through with dealing with my uncle and mom and any others who want to keep the status quo.”

Blitz smiled at Via.

“Look, our situations are different and we both have different types of issues we wanna combat.” Blitz began. “But I think that is why working together will be a good idea. We can bounce ideas off one another, help see different sides to best figure out how to defeat this whole thing…so what do you say?”

Blitz then held out his hand to Via.

“Co-leaders of this fucking rebellion?” Blitz said with a hopeful grin.

Via gave him a small smile back and shook his hand.

“Co-leaders of this fucking rebellion.”

After sitting in silence a little more and checking their individual phones, the new co-leaders realized that they were exhausted and really needed to hit the hay.

So Blitz and Octavia went off to their separate rooms to finally get some much needed rest.

It was the best rest that either of them had had in a very long time.

“So it looks like me and Via are gonna be working together on this rebellion stuff after all.” Blitz said the next morning as he opened up another box.

Stolas was currently rifling through a cardboard box labeled “Picture Frames” while Blitz was working on going through a box of horse figurines to put on a shelf in the front hallway of their apartment.

“That's so wonderful to hear, Blitz!” Stolas said cheerfully. “I am so glad that you and Via are getting along and working together for a noble cause.”

Blitz nodded and smiled to himself.

“Yup. You know we have not really talked much about…well what happened before and her feelings about me and all this stuff yet” Blitz admitted. “I know we really need to, but we just did not have time to talk about it this morning and now she and Loona are out Satan knows where.”

“They went to pick up some new stuff for their room I believe.” Stolas said as he pulled out a photograph from the box.

Stolas stared at the frame and then picked up another from the box and then another.

Stolas had noticed these markings on Blitz’s photos before, but had not had time to mention them.

Now though, especially since they were officially a couple, he knew he should ask Blitz about why so many of his pictures had what looked like black marker scribbles covering Blitz’s face in particular.

“Blitz…can I ask you something?” Stolas asked for the second time in the last 24 hours.

“Anything Birdie.” Blitz asked with his back turned as he carefully placed his collection of plastic horse figures on the hall shelf.

“It’s about these photographs. I could not notice that there seem to be markings over your face in particular on many of these pictures. Do you happen to know why that is?”

Blitz turned around quickly and then rushed over to where Stolas was sitting.

He snatched the picture frames from Stolas and began to put them back into the box.

“We can take care of these later.”

“But Blitz I-”

“Just drop it Stolas…please!” Blitz interrupted his boyfriend in a harsh tone that sounded louder and sharper than he’d originally intended.

Stolas was about to say something, when the door to the apartment swung open and Loona and Via walked in.

“We’re back!” Loona exclaimed.

“You have to see what we found dad!” Octavia said bringing over two large shopping bags.

Soon the pictures and what seemed to be the beginning of a small argument for the romantic couple went to the wayside in exchange for Via showing off a cute rug and jewelry holders that Loona had found at the mall up the street.

Stolas did briefly look over for a moment at the picture frame box, but he decided to leave it alone.

Blitz would tell Stolas about all of that eventually when he was ready.

When that would be though…who could say.

Stolas knew one thing though.

When Blitz was ready to discuss the contents of the box and reasoning for the sharpie over his face, Stolas would absolutely be ready to listen.

There was no doubt in his mind.

Chapter Text

Millie looked at herself in the bathroom mirror of her apartment and sighed.

She’d just taken a shower and stepped out when she noticed something.

Her body did not look like it used to.

This wasn’t exactly a new observation for Millie.

Ever since she’d given birth she had noticed things like stretch marks that she could not seem to make disappear or how her stomach just did not seem to be the size it once was and she was not sure if it would ever be again.

Today however was different as it seemed like all those little changes were on full display as Millie analyzed her reflection.

Millie had never really dealt with body image issues before.

She’d always been fine with the way her body looked and moved and never really felt any dislike for her image before.

But today for the first time, Millie had looked at herself naked in the mirror and had not liked the image staring back at her.

She was proud of what her body had helped to create and her unusual dramatic birth story did make her seem pretty bad ass in Millie’s eyes, but looking at herself now made her feel somewhat ashamed.

She’d never felt this way about her body before and this new feeling scared her…

“Millie! Sallie May is gonna help me get the twins situated in their car seats. Are you ready to go hon?” Moxxie called to her from outside the door.

Moxxie calling to her snapped her out of her trance and she suddenly realized what she should be focusing on.

Today was the first day back after her maternity leave was up.

She was going to be back on the job doing what she loved.

Not that she did not love spending time with her kids, but coming back to this job and being able to go back to swinging her battle ax again after she had not done so for almost a year…it was just a really important day for her.

Millie looked at herself one more time in the mirror before calling back

“Coming right out!”

Today would be a good day…she would make sure of that.

“Can you hang it a little higher on the left, I think it’s crooked?” Blitz asked Stolas.

Stolas moved the one end of the banner over and used a tack to set it in place.

“Is that okay?” Stolas asked.

Blitz gave Stolas a thumbs up.

“Perfect! Though are you sure it is spelled correctly? I thought it was w-e-l-c-u-m.” Blitz asked curiously as Stolas walked back towards his boyfriend to analyze his handy work.

“I’m sure Blitz!” Stolas said with a chuckle.

Blitz could be somewhat dense in Stolas’ eyes sometimes, but that was just the many things that made his so charming and irresistible to him.

Though it could also be equal parts frustrating at times.

There was no time to dwell on that though.

Today Millie and Moxxie were coming back to work and also bringing the twins to the office for Stolas to watch.

Stolas was looking forward to not only seeing his friends at work again, but he was also really excited about getting to spend time with the little ones.

He had not been around many infants since Octavia was a baby, but he’d been reading up on imp childcare and reminding himself of certain things he did to take care of Via when she was in her first few months of life.

This was going to be a new part of his job and a big responsibility, but it was one he felt he could handle with no problems whatsoever.

He had the experience and knowledge to be perfectly fine watching Millie and Moxxie’s kids while they were out on a mission.

“They are coming!” Loona called as she glanced at her cell phone.

Sallie May must have texted her the moment they got into the building.

“Places!” Blitz screamed as he quickly got into position under the banner while Loona just continued to sit at the front desk looking bored.

Stolas was able to walk over to the other side of the banner and turn to face the door just as Millie, Moxxie, the twins and Sallie May entered the room.

“Surprise!” Blitz and Stolas cheered under the banner that read:

WELCOME BACK MILLIE & WELCOME MAX & MARIA!

Millie honestly almost got choked up when she saw the banner.

This is what she needed…to feel appreciated in her job.

That is exactly what would help her get her mind off of her body.

“Sir! Thank you so much for this banner…but do you think you forgot to add someone?” Moxxie asked Blitz with a tone that was meant to relay to his boss that he had obviously forgotten to add a name to the banner.

Blitz turned around, looked up at the banner, turned back to Moxxie and shrugged.

“I don't know what you’re talking about, Mox.” Blitz said as began to walk toward Sallie May who was pushing the sleeping babies in their stroller.

“And how are the mini M&Ms doing today?” Blitz said in a baby-like voice.

Millie giggled.

“They are great B. Actually managed to allow us to sleep through more hours than we have in month last night. We think it might just have been a fluke, but we are hoping this is a positive sign of things to come.”

Oh yes it is!” Stolas said enthusiastically. “I remember once Via began to sleep more and more hours into the night it was just a matter of time before she was on a regular sleep schedule and I was able to actually begin to go back to my own average sleep schedule”

Stolas smiled at the babies and began to coo at them.

He had not realized how much he missed helping to take care of young ones until Millie and Moxxie had their kids.

He could not wait to watch them.

Blitz led the team into the conference room and had them all sit at the table.

“Now! I just want to first off welcome back Millie and welcome the mini M&Ms. I can’t wait to one day pass on this company to them.” Blitz said.

Moxxie rolled his eyes.

“Blitz. We do not know what they will grow up doing. Maybe they won’t wanna join the business or go into anything assassin related at all. We will love them no matter what.” Moxxie stated as he smiled down at the twins.

Maria was currently fast asleep while Max was currently sucking on his pacifier.

Moxxie loved his kids and really did not care what career they went into or if they were interested in joining the assassin business at all.

He really did just want them to be happy.

Blitz did not seem to care though what his employee was saying and ignored Moxxie completely as he went on with the meeting.

“Next, today our mission is a simple one. Mills I wanted to give you something nice and easy to help get you back in the game. So we’ve got a classic. The wife cheated on the husband, the husband died and wants revenge, and now we just have to kill the bitch and we will be all set. And this lady works at a stable so I get to see some horses. Everyone wins!”

“Blitz, I fail to see how everyone wins?” Moxxie commented.

Blitz did a face palm.

“Really Mox. Do I need to spell out everything for you? Mill gets an easy hit and I get to hopefully pet one of the best animals ever. What is there not to get?”

Moxxie sighed deeply.

He knew he was not going to win this argument and just had to pick his battles.

So he just kept quiet.

“Blitz! I really think I am ready for something a little more challenging.” Millie commented. “You really did not have to give me something like this on my first go back. I’m really ready. I promise.”
Blitz gave Millie a soft smile.

“Mills. I trust you I do. But you have not used your ax in so long and have not even been in the field in months.”

Millie gave her boss a frustrated look.

Blitz sighed.

“Look. I really am not trying to baby you I promise. Just let’s get this job done and over with and then if I see you can handle it then the next job I’ll get for us will be more challenging, Okay?”

Millie thought for a moment.

While she was a little offended Blitz just expected her to need an easy job off the bat, she also knew deep down he had somewhat of a point and to be honest she wouldn’t mind something like this her first day back.

So Millie just nodded in agreement and told everyone to get ready to go.

“Oh wait!” Blitz said as the gang stopped in their tracks. “I have one more surprise.”

Blitz led the team over to Stolas’ desk where next to the desk sat something that none of the crew had noticed or mentioned earlier.

“I put these together last night with the help of Stolas.” Blitz said as he pulled off the tarp.

Millie and Moxxie’s eyes went wide as they saw the display in front of them.

Loona was just playing on her phone so she did not seem to care, but Sallie May looked just as impressed and in shock as her sister and brother-in-law.

Before them were two beautiful bassinets, each with a small blanket and miniature horse plushie tucked inside.

“Blitz…I don’t know what to say…” Millie said breathlessly.

Blitz just smiled and bent down in front of Max and Maria.

“How about Uncle Blitz is the best uncle in the whole world.” Blitz cooed at the twins who were now both relatively active.

“Thank you Blitz. Those will be perfect for the twins.” Moxxie said.

The new father then turned to Stolas.

“Thank you again so much Stolas.” Moxxie said, picking up Maria and slowly placing her in the bassinet. “We promise it won’t be like this forever. We will try to take turns and figure out maybe a better arrangement in the future.”

“Yeah!” Millie said, picking up Max and placing him in the bassinet next to his sister. “Are you sure you can handle two babies at once?”

Stolas just chuckled and looked adoringly at the children.

“Oh we will be fine. Don’t you worry. Just focus on the job today and I will focus on watching their adorable little demons.”

“You heard Stolas!” Blitz said. “Let’s move out!”

Sallie May and Moxxie went to go get their guns ready.

Blitz and Loona made sure to double check the location and their exact target.

That left Millie to walk over to the corner of the office waiting area and pick up her ax.

The ax that had been sitting in the same spot for months now.

The moment Millie picked it up, she felt a wave of emotions.

Part of placing the metal handle in her hands felt like reuniting with an old friend you’d not seen in a while, but another part of her felt something different.

Her ax felt strange in her hand.

Like as if it was heavier or something was just off while picking it up.

Millie decided to ignore those feelings and focus on what was important.

She was back at IMP and ready for her first mission post pregnancy.

“Let’s go!” Millie said as Blitz opened up a portal.

“Wait!” Moxxie said frantically rushing over to the bassinets that held the children. “Be good for Uncle Stolas you two. I love you both so much.”

Millie jumped when she realized that Moxxie had thought first to kiss the babies goodbye before their mission and she had not.

She felt mildly ashamed that she had forgotten something so simple.

How come Moxxie had remembered to tell their children goodbye before a mission and she had not.

Millie brushed it aside and categorized it as her nerves and excitement getting to her regarding the mission.

Still Millie ran back and quickly kissed the foreheads of both babies.

“See you both soon. I love you so much.” Millie whispered.

Moments later, the crew minus Stolas was heading through to the portal to hopefully get this hit over and down with quick.

“Shh Max. Please go back to sleep. You were so calm a few moments ago.” Stolas said softly as he tried to calm down the screaming infant.

Barely 5 minutes had gone by since the rest of the IMP employees had left for the living world when Max began to cry bloody murder for Satan knows why.

Maria began sobbing too and now Stolas began to officially feel over his head.

He’d really thought he could do this.

He had not remembered Via crying this much…or had he just forgotten.

In some odd twist of fate, suddenly the door to the IMP office opened and Stolas’ daughter walked in.

“Via dear! What are you doing here?” Stolas asked frantically as he began to shush the babies to try and get them to calm.

“Orion could not get away from his parent’s home and I was bored at the apartment, so I thought I would see how things were over here but… ummm….” Octavia trailed off looking worrisome at her father.

“Dad?” Via asked. “Is everything okay?”

Stolas sighed as picked up Max and began to gently rock him to get him to go back to sleep.

“I am afraid not. The twins seem to be relatively grumpy at the moment. Do you mind picking up Maria for me?” Stolas asked his daughter in a distant and distracted tone.

Octavia cautiously walked over and picked up the baby.

Funny, she had barely been around any children as young as these two were and now she was once again holding a baby in the span of a few months.

How times had changed.

Once she was settled in Via’s arms, Maria began to calm down almost instantly.

Stolas smiled at his daughter.

“That reminds me of when you used to fall asleep in my arms.” Stolas said.

He then picked up Max and began to walk towards the bathroom.

“I am just gonna change him quickly, are you okay with Maria by yourself?”

If you had asked Via a year ago if she’d been ok holding a baby with no supervision whatsoever, then she would have fought you tooth and nail at the horror of that idea…but at this moment Octavia felt like she would be fine.

I mean the child was already asleep, how much trouble could she really be?

“Yeah. Sure. We will be fine.” Octavia said nonchalantly.

Stolas nodded and then headed to the bathroom with Max.

Via looked down at the small child and sighed.

How innocent this baby was.

She did not know about the pains and horrors of hell, she did not know about the class system or how different races of Hell were treated differently.

All she knew was resting and being taken care of by those who loved her.

She suddenly understood people who talked about wanting this children to stay young forever.

They did not always mean that they wanted their babies to babies forever, but they wanted them to be young and innocent and not experience the harsh realities the world would unfortunately inflict upon them.

This was part of why she was doing what she was doing.

To help not only herself, but the next generation to not know the type of Hell that she currently lived in.

The question was could she make that difference.

“You are lucky to be a baby and not know all this crap that is going on. I hope I can help everyone to live in a better world than we are currently living in. I just don’t know if it will all work out, you know? I mean I almost got Blitz killed. What kind of leader of a rebellion does that?”

“What are you talking about Via?” a voice behind Via said.

Via looked behind her to see her father had returned with Max as quickly as he had arrived.

She guessed Max was easier to change than she’d expected or maybe she’d been sitting for longer than she had thought.

“Via! What do you mean getting Blitz almost killed?” Stolas said

Via sat in silence.

How could she explain this to her father?

“I am gonna go to the bathroom.” Octavia said as she placed Maria carefully back in her bassinet and then headed to the women’s restroom without daring to glance at her father’s concerned face.

“Alright Sallie May, you can head over to the front barn doors and Loona will take the back.” Blitz stated, pointing to different parts of the stable in front of them. “M&M you need to get situated at the top so if that bitch comes back you can get her before she even steps into the barn.”

“And what will you be doing, Blitz?” Moxxie asked with his eyebrows raised already being able to guess the answer.

“I will be doing the most important job of all, Mox! I will be protecting those precious horses from that horrid monster that probably doesn’t take care of them half as much as she should.”

With that answer Blitz rushed inside the barn and everyone else got into their positions.

“He’s just gonna pet the horses isn’t he?” Moxxie asked his wife.

Millie laughed.

“Of course he is.”

Moxxie began to jump up onto the roof with Millie following behind him.

Though when Moxxie turned around he realized Millie was already out of breath climbing up.

“Millie. Honey. Are you alright? If this is all too much we can-”

“MOX!” Millie hissed trying to not bring too much attention to them. “I am fine.”

Though Millie being slightly more out of breath than usual was telling a different story.

Moxxie decided to trust his wife.

He did trust her, but at the same time he just wanted to help and support her too.

Millie was taken aback by her anger and took a deep breath.

She had not had an outburst like that since last Sinsmas when her mood swings had unknowingly caused her to lash out at Moxxie when they did not kill that cheating husband.

“I’m sorry Mox…I just…I’m fine. I just need you to please trust me on this and not treat me like I am made of glass.” Millie said.

Moxxie nodded.

“Of course honey. Just let me know if you need anything, okay?”

Millie nodded.

The two sat in awkward silence for a moment as they watched for their latest hit to come home. Apparently she would be home soon from the trail and they had to keep an eye on the driveway.

Moxxie suddenly felt his pocket vibrate and took out his phone.

He unblocked it and began to laugh at a photo that someone had sent him.

“Millie! Look how cute this is!” Moxxie showed his wife the phone.

Millie quickly glanced at it to see it was a photo Stolas had taken of the babies sleeping in their bassinets.

Millie gave a small smile as she looked in awe of her kids.

Suddenly though she heard a car pull up and quickly got her ax ready.

A red headed woman wearing a checkerboard flannel shirt and dirty jeans walked out of the truck with her one hand holding a grocery bag.

Millie took this moment to rush out and pull back her ax.

“Millie! Wait!” Moxxie exclaimed.

Millie didn’t hear her husband though.

She was ready.

As she flipped through the air Millie suddenly felt freeing.

She was moving around and doing what she loved.

She had been spending so many months at home with the babies and while she loved being with her kids, she also really loved this career.

Swinging her ax to chop off the heads of humans was maybe odd to some, but for Millie it felt just as good as tucking her kids into bed at night or helping to feed them their favorite foods (they both seemed to enjoy mashed carrots at the moment).

Millie pulled back and was almost near the woman’s head when she felt one of the muscles in her legs tense up and felt like her timing was off.

Usually Millie was impeccable in terms of determining when to strike and with what force.

But for some reasons her arms were just not moving with the exact strength and agility that they typically did.

She’d always swung her ax this way and it worked most of the time.

So why wasn’t that the case now?

As Millie landed on the ground with a thud the red haired woman in question began to walk up to her curiously and then quickly took out a pistol from her bag.

Millie quickly rolled out of the way and was able to dodge the bullets just barely.

Millie could hear Moxxie take multiple shots at the woman as well, but this bitch was fast.

Just as the woman was about to get out of Millie’s line of vision, the fast thinking imp was able to swing her ax just enough to cut the back of her legs.

She screamed as she fell down and Millie got up to deliver the final blow.

This!

This was what she loved.

It was messy and sometimes could be chaotic and tiring, but when Millie was able to swing her ax and get a kill like this she felt excitement.

She’d have to figure out what that fluke was with her timing and strength and all that, but the fact that she was able to get that last hit in and on her first day back made her feel like the top of the world.

“Nice going Mills!” Sallie May called out as she rushed over from her spot behind the open barn doors.

“Yeah! I really wasn’t sure you’d have it in you on your first day back.” Loona said giving her a friendly pat on the back.

Millie rolled her eyes at the hell hound, but had to admit she truly was not sure about it either.

But she’d proven herself today right…hadn’t she.

“I can’t wait to show them the photos.” Moxxie said.

“Who?” Millie asked innocently.

Moxxie gave her a strange look.

“The kids, honey. I wanted to show them what a badass their mommy is.”

Millie suddenly froze in place and put her head down so that no one in her surrounding area could notice the guilt and shame she felt.

Of course Moxxie was talking about Maria and Max.

What kind of mom was she?

Who would forget their kids like that?

Millie hoped her guilt stricken look had faded as Blitz called for them to come over to pet the horse friends he had made and then promptly renamed.

“Come meet 66 and Taco.” Blitz called his team.

As the gang began to walk towards the barn, Millie suddenly froze and collapsed as she felt a sharp pain in the back of her left thigh.

“UGHH.” Millie shouted.

“Oh Satan!” Moxxie exclaimed fearfully. “What is wrong Millie?”

“My back leg. I think it got cramped up or something.” Millie said embarrassed.

“Might be a charlie horse Mills.” Sallie May said, bending down to look at her sister’s leg. “Great Aunt Mandy used to get them all the time, remember?”

Millie did not say anything.

Great. Now she was being compared to an 89 year old woman.

Moxxie picked Millie up bridal style and began to carry her back towards Blitz.

As Sallie May began to explain to Blitz that Millie had a charlie horse and that her condition had nothing to do with actual horses, Millie just silently looked away and off into the sunset to make sure no one saw the tears in her eyes.

Usually Moxxie holding her like this felt romantic and made her feel loved and cared for.

But in this moment it just made her feel like a failure.

A failure as a mother to be so happy at her job that she wasn’t thinking of her kids and cooing at photos of them the same way her husband was.

A failure as an assassin for not being able to use her favorite weapon to destroy that woman’s skull the way she’d originally planned.

A failure just all around.

And the worst part is she felt scared to go to Moxxie with this.

Maybe it was silly to think so, but she was nervous Moxxie would think less of her after she admitted all of this.

Or maybe he’d lie to her and tell her that everything would be alright and nothing had changed about her.

Millie did not know what to do.

But she did know what she wanted to do.

She wanted to just curl up in a ball and sleep for Satan knew how long.

So that is what she did in her husband's arms.

When Via finally walked out of the bathroom, Stolas was watching over the babies as they both seemed to be lying quietly in their bassinets.

“Octavia. Sweetie. Are you okay? Can we please talk?” Stolas asked his daughter cautiously.

Octavia nodded and sat down next to her father.

She had decided after hiding in the lavatory for almost 20 minutes that she needed to face the music sometime.

Octavia took a deep breath and explained.

“I feel really guilty for coming to see the babies at the hospital and that being the reason Uncle Andie and his henchmen found Blitz. It was my fault and he could have died because of me. What kind of leader can I be if I get the person who is supposed to be my co-leader killed.”

Stolas held his wings out to allow Via to embrace him, she obliged and cuddled close to her father.

Though she was an adult now in this moment, she felt like an owlet who was being held by her father while she cried due to a bad dream or a scraped knee.

“Octavia. Please listen to me sweetie.” Stolas said gently pulling her back so that she could look at her father with her tear stricken eyes. “While I do admit I am a little worried regarding you being a rebellion leader. I am not at all worried because I think you will get anyone killed or that you have done anything wrong so far.”

“But Dad.” Via said with a slight sniffle. “What about Blitz?”

“Blitz wanted you there for your surprise birthday dinner. It is not your fault you left for the hospital whether it was willingly on your own or due to Blitz texting you. It’s your uncle's fault for being scared.”

“What would Uncle be scared of?” Octavia asked with confusion in her voice.

“Why you of course.” Stolas said as though it was obvious. “He is scared of you fighting back against a system that has worked for him and against others he looks down on for so long that he is fearful that you will actually be the one to help change things. And you know what I think he is right to be afraid, you know why?”

“Why?”

Stolas grinned as he began to get a little water worked as well.

“Because you, my dear daughter, have more bravery and strength in one feather than your uncle has ever seen in his entire life. He is scared for the first time ever of this realm actually changing into something more fair for everyone. He sees fairness and empathy as weaknesses rather than strengths. I never could have imagined doing what you are trying to accomplish…no… what you are going to accomplish at your age. I can barely believe it now. But I want you to know I will help you in any way I can Via and while I do fear for your safety, I only do so because you are my precious star fire. Not because I don’t think you can beat that asshole of an uncle of yours and all the others on his side that try to stand in your way.”

“Dad! Oh my Lucifer! I can’t believe you said that.” Via said with a laugh.

“Well it’s the truth.”

Octavia hugged her dad again and the two began to coo at the babies while waiting for the team to get back.

Via smiled at the kids and then at her father.

Stolas wasn’t always right about everything, but she really felt he was right about this.

She was going to fight and make a difference.

And not just for herself and the other Goetia, but she was going to make a difference for everyone.

That included the little bundles of joy right in front of her.

“Hey Millie. What’s up? I finally got June to go to sleep.” Pamela said when she answered Millie’s call on the third ring.

Millie usually would be in bed at this time as well, but instead she was hiding in the bathroom with her phone calling Pamela.

Millie knew it was a little late and she hoped she was not disturbing Baby June, Pamela’s wife Jackie or Pamela herself.

But she needed to talk to someone and she felt a new mom was the best to get how she was feeling.

“Pamela. You and Jackie have been outlining another book right?” Millie asked.

“Umm yeah.” Pamela answered with confusion in her voice.

She had no idea where Millie was going with this.

“And when you’re working…do you ever get so lost in it you only think about being authors and not parents?”

Pamela giggled on the other end and although this was a phone call Millie knew that Pamela could tell that Millie was scowling on the other end.

“I don’t mean to laugh Millie, but honestly whenever we are writing a book we are just so in the zone that we forget about any other role we have in this realm besides crafting worlds of magicians who fall in love or princesses who run off with seamstresses.”

“Yes.” Millie answered. “But do you ever feel guilty when you’re working? Like you forget you are a parent for a moment or you love so much what you’re doing that you're not putting the effort into parenting like you should?”

“I mean that can happen when the both of us are in the zone writing something and we hear the baby crying for milk. That usually reminds us that we are moms. But I am sure that is a universal experience for new moms. But you do not have to feel sorry or ashamed for loving what you do for work. Listen, do you love your kids?

“Yes.”

“Do you love your job?”

“Yes.”

“Do you love your family and friends?”

“Yes.”

“Do you Moxxie would get this type of question about being able to balance fatherhood and his work.”

“Well…no. I guess not.”

“Well then.” Pamela said. “There you go loving more than one thing at once. Maybe this new life will take a bit of getting used to for all of us. But that doesn’t mean it is impossible for us as moms to feel more than one feeling and love what you do in the moment. Never let anyone make you feel less for being able to balance being a mom and an assassin Millie. Cause I think from what you’ve told me you’re kicking ass at both.”

Millie smiled as she thought back to the photos she had sent Pamela lately of the babies as well as some stories she told her of her assassin work.

“Another thing about being a new mom, has it impacted your writing at all. Like how you can write or your typing or stuff like that?” Millie asked.

Pamlea thought for a moment and then answered.

“Now that you mention it, it has in a way. I have to nurse June sometimes when I am typing and I had to switch to a new chair because of how the old chair hurt my back now due to some small impacts from the delivery. Hell even our writing schedule has gotten turned on its head. But we’ve found ways to make it work.”

“Really?” Millie asked hopefully.

“Sure. Now I do not know much about the assassination biz. But I do know that it probably takes a lot of strength and energy. So I’d say talk about this with your husband or your boss and find a new way that works for you. I know you can do it.”

“One more thing Pamela,” Millie asked. “Has your body looked different to you at all in the mirror? Like you don’t hate what your seeing entirely, but things just look different and not just feel different.”

“Oh absolutely. I can’t begin to describe the stretch marks on my side from my pregnancy. And I can’t say I love them or that I am not gonna try to lose at least some of the baby weight soon, but I guess I don’t really look at them as imperfections but more proof of my love for my daughter. I did this for her. I grew her in my body and this is just how things are now due to it. I can’t say it does not exactly suck or that your attitude about that will change on a dime or that you need to see things the same way as I do, but maybe you could talk to your mom about how she felt about her body after giving birth? I mean she did have like 5 kids, right? Maybe she will have tips for you if you really are feeling self conscious. Though between you and me Millie, I really just see all that stuff as my battle scars. I’m not saying it is going to be easy, but maybe you could try to see it that way too? If you can. If it helps.”

Millie smiled and brushed away a few stray tears.

“It does.Thank you Pamela.”

“Hey. That’s why we created this support group and everything with the non-profit we wanna do, remember? We want to help new moms in hell and that is exactly what we are doing now.”
“I wish Lucie felt the same way.” Millie sighed.

“Hey…she will come around. I know she will. And soon we will all be working together to make all 7 rings a better place for new mothers.”

“I hope so.” Milie said.

“I know so.” Pamela answered back. “Now I think we both need rest.”

“You’re right.” Millie said with a smile. “Goodnight Pamela.”

“Night Mills.”

That night Millie went to bed with a smile on her face.

Tomorrow she would talk to Moxxie and Blitz about maybe switching back and forth between the gun and ax on her next mission.

Tomorrow she’d see if Sallie May wanted to help her with exercising and finding new ways to spar so she could practice for when she was back next in the field as well as look up some new remedies for leg cramps.

Tomorrow she would talk to her Mom about how she dealt with her figure changing after giving birth and maybe look up what some other moms online had to say about dealing with that sort of thing.

Tomorrow she’d spend some time with her babies and send funny photos to her Mom through text and tell her kids stories about the different times their parents fought off humans or even enemies in Hell like Striker or Via’s Uncle.

Tonight though it was time for Millie to rest and fall asleep alongside her husband who was currently passed out beside her.

Tomorrow there’d be time to find a new normal.

So that is exactly what Millie did.

Chapter Text

“Don’t worry Mills.” Sallie May said into the phone. “The kids are in perfect hands. Barbie and I are fine watching them. You just enjoy the retreat.”

Barbie Wire was seated at the kitchen table of Millie and Moxxie’s home feeding Maria mashed bananas while Max was sleeping in the nursery.

Sallie May hung up the phone and sat down next to her girlfriend.

“She is not gonna enjoy that trip at all.” Sallie May said with a laugh.

“Oh I don’t know what my brother is gonna make them do, but I would feel lucky if I were you to not be there.” Barbie said as she started to wipe off some stray banana from Maria’s face.

“Oh trust me. I am.” Sallie May said. “Blitz also before I left asked me to be a permanent member of IMP so I’d say that is also a cause for celebration.

“Really.” Barbie said happily. “That’s awesome.”

Sallie May thought back to the last several hours of her life.

Her plans for this weekend had not originally involved being in charge of her niece and nephew all weekend, but that all changed when Blitz had decided to make everyone but Sallie May go on a team building retreat in Wrath.

The babies had been on and off in terms of if they wanted to sleep through the night or not which was causing Millie and Moxxie to turn their sleep deprivation into anger against one another as well as others on the team.

Stolas was still getting used to dealing with customers and trying to get his medications refilled in a timely manner, which was causing him stress and not allowing him to gel with the others like he had worked so hard to do in the first place.

Loona was still getting used to sharing a room with Via and while they were getting along fairly well as roomies, they still had occasional arguments like Via texting Orion with her sound on at all hours of the night or Loona using up the hot water in the shower when Via had called it first.

It wasn’t anywhere near how bad Barbie and Blitz had argued when they were sharing a room (and they had to do so with Fizz as kids), but Blitz still joked around that it was somewhat of sibling rivalry…a statement that had made Stolas almost choke on his coffee when heard heard it.

Basically, everyone at IMP was pretty much out of sync and Blitz had decided enough was enough.

So since Sallie May had been the only one who had not been causing Blitz problems and cause someone needed to watch the babies while everyone else was off in the Wrathian desert camping, she’d now found herself at her sister and brother-in-laws for the weekend (though it was her home now technically too) watching Max and Maria.

Luckily though, Sallie May had an awesome girlfriend to help her babysit.

Sallie May looked down at a new text on her cell and laughed.

“Oh my Satan. They are doing trust falls and Loona did not even try to catch Moxxie.” Sallie May said with a chuckle.

Barbie chuckled along too.

“What did he expect?”

“I know right.”

Sallie May suddenly pulled up a chair and sat next to Barbie.

She then gently grabbed her girlfriend’s hand and squeezed it.

“I am really glad I did not have to go to that retreat this weekend.” Sallie May said.

Barbie smiled.

“Me too.” Barbie replied.

The two sat in domestic bliss for what felt like hours though it was only a few minutes before Sallie May said something that would shake Barbie to her core.

“It’s been real fun.” Sallie May said as she made cute faces at Maria to try and make her laugh. “I love playing house with you.”

Barbie Wire froze in her seat.

Had she heard Sal right?

Barbie looked at Sallie May directly.

“Play house?” she asked anxiously.

Sallie May picked up Maria from her height chair and started to dust off some crumbs from her onesie in the sink.

“Yeah. Like it is just fun sometimes to imagine having little ones like these two adorable implings.” Sallie May said as she tickled Maria’s tummy.

Maria giggled back in response.

Barbie began to rub the back of her neck nervously.

“Why…why would you say something like that?”

Sallie May looked at Barbie confused.

“What do you mean?”

Barbie got up from her chair.

“I mean we’ve only been dating each other for a few months. Why bring up something like that?” she said defensively.

“Sorry. I just like to imagine the possibility someday.” Sallie May.

“Well you shouldn’t!” Barbie argued back.

There was a tense quiet in the air between Barbie and Sallie May.

Suddenly they could hear Max crying from the other room.

“I’m sorry…I…I’m gonna go get him and put Maria down for her nap. She honestly should have already been sleeping by now anyway.” Sallie May said as she left the room.

Barbie Wire sat down and put her head in her hands.

What had she done?

Sallie May walked up the steps with Maria in her arms to bring her back to her brother.

As she placed the baby girl in her crib, Sallie looked down at her niece and nephew.

“I should not have said what I said to Barbie, huh?” Sallie said gently pushing the small tufts of hair on Maria’s head back.

Max had fallen back to sleep soundly and Maria looked not too far behind.

“It wasn’t like I was proposing or anything or asking her to have kids. I am not even sure I 100% wanna have kids someday. I just meant it was fun to pretend.”

Sallie May watched as Maria’s eyes slowly dropped and she began to slowly drift off to dreamland.

“Sweet dreams you two.” Sallie May said as she turned around, walked out of the nursery and shut the door behind her.

Sallie May was about to walk down the steps again, when her phone vibrated again.

Sallie looked down at the new text from her sister and smirked as she read that Blitz had run off into the desert after he was frustrated no one was taking his trust exercises seriously and they were currently on a search party for him. Millie then added that maybe this was the team building exercise all along seeing as this was the first time in hours they had not wanted to bite one another’s heads off.

“At least they are all feeling like a team.” Sallie sighed as she began her walk back down the steps to face her girlfriend.

It was calling to her.

Barbie had not taken a sip of alcohol in so long.

She had worked hard her last time in rehab, truly actually worked hard to stay clean.

And she’d finally done it.

She had taken group therapy seriously, taken her one on one sessions with the counselors seriously, and had taken her sobriety seriously.

But the bottle on the end of the counter was haunting Barbie.

She had not felt this way in so long, but the stress of thinking of the future and kids and all that type of stuff when it came to Sallie was…stressful to say the least.

It wasn’t that she did not think that kind of stuff was nice to think about in theory, especially with a girlfriend like Sallie May.

However, she was nowhere near ready to take that step with Sallie or really anything near it.

She liked the pace they were going.

Why change it?

Barbie slowly walked over to the counter.

She grabbed the bottle and felt the cold glass in her hands.

One sip would not hurt right?

Just something to take the edge off.

It could make the pain stop.

That is how it used to be at least.

She used drugs and booze to stop feeling pain from losing her mother, losing the circus, losing her job, losing her father’s attention, losing Blitz…

She’d lost so much and anything from pain pills she’d stolen from an ex- friend to cheap liquor she’d scraped dollars up to purchase was the solution to that loss.

Or at least that is how it felt when she used drugs or drank.

For so many minutes to days, if she had something to make her forget then she would take it.

That way she would not be forced to confront all of the stuff in life that made things complicated and messy for her.

The stuff that really hurt.

Barbie looked down at the green glass bottle and shook her head.

She couldn’t do it.

She almost did it.

She almost ruined her entire sobriety journey and because of what…cause she could not just be honest with her girlfriend.

Without thinking Barbie dropped the bottle and the glass shattered on the floor.

Barbie bent down without thinking and began to try and clean up the broken pieces.

“Fuck!” she cried out as her hand cut on a piece of glass.

“Barb!” she heard from behind as Sallie began to rush over.

She’d been so distracted trying to pick up the glass that she had not realized Sallie May had rushed in moments after hearing the glass shatter or that the salty water droplets currently blanketing her cheeks were her own tears.

“Here let me help you.” Sallie May said as she grabbed a few paper towels to help clean up the wound on her hand.

It took a few minutes, but Sallie had been able to get the first aid kit from under the sink and patch up her hand quite easily.

Barbie admired her girlfriend’s careful bandaging of her cut.

“I grew up with 4 other siblings on a farm, trust me I’ve helped with much worse accidents than this.” Sallie said as she got up and began to sweep up the broken shards of glass.

Barbie just stared off into the distance.

She felt ashamed, guilty and just tired.

Maybe it was naive of her, but she had thought that sobriety meant that she could be around alcohol and stuff like it and not be impacted.

For hell’s sake, she worked in a pharmacy and had not once felt the urge to steal any prescriptions or anything of the sort.

Tonight though, the stress of thinking about a future with her girlfriend had caused all of this.

This caused a great deal of fear in the young woman as she glanced at her girlfriend now mopping up the liquids contents of the bottle.

Would Sallie May not want to be with Barbie now that she’d seen her like this?

“This was not alcohol, you know?” Sallie May said as she continued to clean the floor.

Barbie looked at her girlfriend perplexed.

“It wasn’t”

Sallie gave a small smile as she finished mopping.

“Nope…just some sparkling water.”

Barbie looked even more ashamed than before.

The bottle wasn’t even champagne like she’d originally thought.

It was sparkling water.

Now Barbie felt even more pathetic.

“I’m sorry Barbie.” Sallie May said discouraged as she did not dare to look Barbie in the eyes. “I thought I’d gotten rid of all of it.”

Barbie looked at Sallie May.

“What do you mean?” she asked.

Sallie May then took a deep breath and began to explain what she had done earlier.

That morning, Sallie had went around collecting any alcohol bottles to hide or get rid of or even stuff that looks like alcohol.

She’d hidden them away in the garage and was gonna put them back before Millie and Moxxie noticed, but after Barbie left as she figured there would be no reason for Barbie to look in the garage.

She must have not noticed the bottle on the counter.

“I just thought since I knew you had issues with addiction in the past that it was good to be in a temptation free environment. I’d tried reading some stuff online and there were a lot of former addicts who did their best to avoid places that had a lot drugs and alcohol and I couldn’t find many drugs here, but my sister and brother-in-law seemed to like their alcohol and I did the best I could and I hope that it was ok, but I guess I forgot the bottle that looked like champagne and well I am really sorry.” Sallie May ranted apologetically to her girlfriend.

Barbie Wire nodded in awe.

She’d been in relationships with various people in the past.

No romantic partner had ever gone out of their way to do something like that for her.

No one had ever tried to help her or even cared enough in the first place to think about Barbie’s addiction or her recovery.

So many of them in all honesty had actually done the opposite and fed her addiction or even introduced her to new substances she had not tried before.

Sallie May was different.

Sallie May cared.

“I think…I think even though it was water after all…I still wanna go call my sponsor if that is ok with you?” Barbie said slowly walking off into the hallway to make a phone call.

“Of course.” Sallie May said. “Whatever you need.”

Barbie Wire took off down the hall, took out her cell and called her sponsor.

Her sponsor said she was proud of her that she had realized last minute she did not wanna drink and after talking for so many minutes it was decided they would meet in-person to discuss this all one on one tomorrow morning.

Barbie agreed, made arrangements for their meeting tomorrow and then hung up.

“Everything alright?” Sallie May asked.

She gotten the last of the contents covering the floor cleaned and was now seated at the table with her hands folded.

Barbie nodded and informed Sallie May of her meeting tomorrow morning.

“I can walk you over if you’d like? Then maybe we could grab some brunch after if you’re hungry.” Sallie offered.

Barbie nodded.

“Yeah…maybe.”

There was an awkward silence between the two.

“Sal, I am sorry…I didn't mean to get so defensive about the whole kid conversation. I was just scared and I’m not really sure if that is something I am interested in and I just felt like things were moving too fast…I’m sorry.” Barbie admitted while looking at Sallie May with worried eyes.

This was it.

Sallie was gonna say she could not handle her baggage and had to move on from her.

The whole brunch thing was just to be nice.

Instead though Sallie May said the opposite of what she’d expected.

“I am sorry too.”

Barbie gave her a bewildered look.

“You are sorry? For what?”

“I made assumptions about what you wanted and did not ask you about it. I know we have not been dating long, but honestly I really can see a future with you and I am not tryin’ to scare you or nothin’. And to be honest, I don’t really know if I want to have little ones or not someday. It was just a possible fantasy of mine and one of a bunch of different ones.”

Barbie gave her a small smile.

“You don’t need to be sorry. I should have just been open about everything instead of basically picking a fight. I really appreciate you caring enough about my addiction recovery to even think to make sure there was not any alcohol nearby. I’ve never had someone do anything like that for me before.”

“You don’t have to thank me. I care about you Barbie. Whatever you need…you can tell me and I will be there to help.”

Barbie walked over and kissed her girlfriend on the lips gently.

Sallie May smiled into the soft kiss and continued to smile at Barb as she pulled back from their embrace and stared into her eyes.

“Sooo…” Barbie said. “We have until tomorrow and If you do not mind I’d love to hear more about those other fantasies. You know, the ones that involve things other than kids.”

Sallie May nodded.

“For Sure!”

The two began to walk to the couch, when Sallie May’s phone vibrated again.

Sal opened up her phone and started to crack up as she read the latest text from Millie.

“What’s so funny?” Barbie asked as she sat down besides her partner on the couch.

“Blitz got stuck in a tree and they had to work together to get him down.” Sallie May said, cracking up.

Barbie rolled her eyes at her brother’s antics.

“How the hell did Blitz end up in a tree? Where did he even find a tree strong enough or tall enough to hold him in the Wrath ring?”

Sallie May shook her head in amusement.

“I don’t know. But Blitz decided that the team building retreat was a bust and just told everyone that if they all figured out their shit by Tuesday he’d give them Monday off with pay.”

Barbie whistled.

“Wow!”

Sallie May nodded.

“Yeah. It looks like they will be home in a few hours.”

Barbie was about to suggest that Sallie May and her enjoy the time they had left together when all of a sudden both babies could be heard crying from upstairs.

Sallie May got up.

“I’ll get them back down.”

“Let me come help.” Barbie offered with no hesitation.

Sallie May looked at her and paused for a moment.

“Ya sure?”

Barbie laughed.

“Yes. I mean we are both babysitting after all.”

The two girls grinned at one another, held one another's hands and rushed up the steps to help calm Maria and Max down.

Barbie was still not sure if she did or did not want a future that involved children.

Sallie May was not sure if she would have or desire kids one day either.

However, there was something that they were both sure of.

Whatever the future held, Sallie May and Barbie Wire wanted to be in one another's lives for as long as possible.

Chapter Text

Loona looked up at the building she’d just paid a cab driver to take her to.

It looked exactly as it had months ago when she’d stood outside Beelzebub’s or Bee’s home for one of her famous parties.

She was not here though for a celebration or to get drunk or anything like that.

Loona was on a mission and her first step was to have a meeting with Queen Bee herself.

Loona knocked on the door and was let in by a slender & smaller hellhound dressed in a tux.

“Beezelbub should be with you momentarily.” said the hell hound as they left the room as quickly as they’d appeared.

Loona looked around the area she was standing in.

She remembered being here last time.

She remembered talking to Tex and almost leaving the party entirely.

She remembered meeting Russ and Gigi.

She remembers Blitz getting drunk off his ass and her having to take him home.

And of course she remembered Beezelbub herself.

Loona knew Bee was someone who was always focused on the next party and seemed to be caring about just making those bigger and bigger.

However, she also recalled during the trial when Bee along with Asmodeous stood up for her dad.

Maybe if she told Bee directly about how the Hell Hound population was being treated in the pounds in Gluttony, then maybe Bee could help.

This had been something Loona had been thinking about for some time.

Ever since Millie had mentioned in passing a non-profit she might be starting with a friend for mom’s needing help in hell, she thought back to what she’d been through in her life in the pound and foster homes.

Could something like that have helped her birth mom or maybe it could have helped match her to better foster homes that would have actually given a shit about her?

Loona was happy and grateful for how her life eventually turned out.

She had Blitz and her job and an actual family and now even some friends.

But she wanted to use the power she had to help make things better for other hellhounds who grew up like her.

She was acquainted with Bee so Loona figured going right to the source of power in the Gluttony ring was exactly the best place to start.

“Hey Sweetie Pie! How are ya?” said a voice behind Loona.

Bee walked in holding a gauntlet filled with from what Loona could smell some type of pungent alcohol.

“Hi Bee.” Loona said, as the Queen of Gluttony walked slowly over to her and pulled Loona into a very forceful one-sided hug.

“So I was surprised you wanted to set up a meeting.” Bee said as she poured herself another glass from a bottle Loona could not decipher the brand of. “So professional. What can I do for you?”

Loona took a deep breath.

“I wanna talk about the issues in Gluttony specifically concerning the hellhound population in the pounds. Did you know how many people grew up in disgusting places like that? I really think you should be doing something about it.”

Bee gave Loona a peculiar look.

“Hon. I think it is all very noble of you to wanna help all those poor hellhounds in the pounds here. I really do. But I don’t know why you came to me?”

It was Loona’s turn to look confused at Bee.

“Ummm…you are the Sin of Gluttony. You are the leader of this ring. The queen. You ought to have some say in how things run right?”

Bee gave Loona a smile that seemed to be part genuine and part patronizing.

Like this was some sort of game.

“Listen sweetie. I hear you. I really do.” Bee began as she walked around the perimeter of the room they were currently in. She seemed to be setting up for another party as she grabbed some plates from a counter and began to place them on a table. “But…well I’m just not really invested in all that stuff. I’m more going with the flow. You get me?”

Loona crossed her arms in anger.

“No! I don’t get you.” she exclaimed. “You stood up for my dad at that dumb trial. You are literally the leader of this ring! How can you be so nonchalant about issues happening in your own ring?”

Bee looked annoyed at Loona.

“Look. This is hell. There are always gonna be problems here. And many hell hounds I know are here for a good time and not a long time. So I do my best with my parties to make things not so shitty. I really don’t like to get involved in all political BS. I go to court when I have to and say my piece here and there, but between you and me this is what I really care about.” Bee said as she extended her hands to show off the area that would soon be filled with dancing, drinks and maybe some drugs.

Loona could not believe it.

“So you’re just apolitical then? You don’t care what is going on in your ring or anyone else's for that matter.”

Bee shrugged.

“Things are always gonna be crappy. We live in Hell. It’s just the way things are and we need to get used to it. If I was able to work to what you’re asking then I need to look at all my requests for changes to laws and better conditions and that is just not my style. I’m here for the parties, not politics.” Bee stated.

Loona looked like she was about to say something, but could not stand to even look at Beelzebub anymore.

“Just whatever Bee…whatever.”

And with that, Loona left in a hurry and walked outside and called a cab.

While she was waiting, she looked up from her phone to see Tex walking up the driveway carrying what looked like a pack of beer.

“Hey Loona. What’s up? Did Bee invite you to this awesome get together she is planning tonight? If she didn’t, you know I can get you on the guest lists. She thought you were great at the last one.” Tex said as he halted in front of Loona.

Loona stared at Tex in bewilderment.

“No Tex! I wasn’t planning on partying tonight.” Loona stated. “I would not wanna party with your uninvolved and careless date anyway.”

Loona knew she was saying this about the Queen of Gluttony and to her boyfriend no less.

However, she could not help it.

Her anger was festering and Tex was the closest person she could let it out on. Plus if you were asking Loona at the moment, he wasn’t the worst person to get her anger out on seeing who he was associating with.

“What’s going on Loona?” Tex asked calmly, as if he was worried if he was not to choose his words carefully or have his tone be exactly as he planned then Loona would snap.

Loona may have been pissed in the moment, but Satan did she have a reason to.

“I just got done with talking to your girlfriend about trying to change shit in this ring. To make it so no one or at least less hellhounds have to grow up the way I did. And you wanna know what the Queen Bee of Gluttony said. Basically that she doesn’t give a crap and is only worried about her next party.”

Tex sighed.

“Maybe I can talk to her for you, but to be honest Loona…I don’t know what to tell you. Do you really think anything she does could make a difference?”

Loona looked like she wanted to chew Tex’s head off.

“Of course it would! Why the hell would you think otherwise?”

Tex lifted his hands up as if to surrender.

“Look, all of us here are hellhounds and get what it is like to be -”

“NO!” Loona yelled, interrupting Tex. “You don't get to try and be on my level. You don’t know what it was like in those pounds. In those foster homes. You told me once that you lived a pretty cushy life here and now you’re the bodyguard of a popstar and are dating a Sin.”

Tex suddenly got very defensive.

“You are right. I don’t know what it is like to grow up in places like that and I do have a good job and great girlfriend. But you don’t think I haven’t experienced the same type of prejudice you have?”

Loona suddenly got in Tex’s face.

“Well you could have fooled me.”

Tex backed away in a huff.

“You know I don’t think I am gonna go talk to Bee after all.”

“Really? Just because of that. I guess you and your girlfriend’s pride are more important than helping a worthy cause.” Loona said as she began to leave. “I took you for a lot of things Tex, but a traitor to your own species wasn’t one of them.”

Before Tex could respond, Loona’s ride pulled up and she quickly hopped in.

She thought she could hear Tex calling after her and trying to say more, but Loona just ignored him and told the driver to please step on it.

The driver obliged and raced off to bring Loona back to her home.

She turned around to see if Tex was still there trying to get her attention, but from the distance she could see that he had already gone inside.

Part of her wanted him to call or text her.

Not due to any lingering feelings for the hell hound as she had long since moved on from her small crush on Tex, but she had hoped he would contact her to tell her that she was right after all or had a point or that he would talk to Bee or something.

She thought about texting him to apologize for snapping and that maybe she judged him too quickly.

But instead she just put her phone away in her pocket and watched the world go by as she stared out the window on her long ride back to Pride.

The weekend was here and it was the perfect day to be outside.

This is what inspired Millie to spend this gorgeous day with her babies inviting them to the park along with Blitz and Stolas.

Moxxie had recently been offered the lead role in a local community theatre musical. It was an original that while mediocre at best (at least according to Mox’s critique of the material the last few nights at dinner), he was really having fun with and was excited to perform for an audience.

Moxxie had offered to skip rehearsal to spend the day with his wife and kids, but Millie had encouraged him to go to practice while she spent some time with Stolas and Blitz along with the babies.

“You go enjoy yourself at your play practice sweetie. I’ll have a fun time out with Stolas, Blitz, and the kids.”

Millie had not spent much time with the couple, alone or individually, since the implings had been born or since Stolitz had officially become an item.

So this was the perfect opportunity.

“I’m so happy we are getting to enjoy this day out y'all.” Millie said as she gently pushed the stroller holding Maria and Max through the park pathway while Blitz and Stolas followed behind her, hand in hand.

“You betcha Mills!” Blitz said happily looking around at his company.

He wished Loona, Via, Barbie, Sallie May and even Moxxie were here to enjoy the gorgeous day at the park with them.

But Loona was doing something in Gluttony, Via had gone to talk with Orion about some rebellion stuff (she’d told him she would fill him in later), Barbie and Sallie May were spending the weekend at Sallie May’s family ranch in Wrath, and Moxxie was at his theater practice.

Blitz though was glad he got to spend time for now with his boyfriend, best friend, and the cutest little implings Blitz knew.

Millie was about to say something, when all of a sudden the gang heard a scream.

The trio turned their heads and gasped.

At the far end of the park stood a mugger trying to grab the purse of a park goer.

But that was not any average park goer.

Millie recognized that person right away.

It was Lucie and she was in trouble.

“Stolas, stay with Max and Maria.” Millie yelled as she rushed over to help.

Blitz followed swifty behind his best friend.

“Hey!” Millie screamed as she and Blitz leapt into action.

Blitz slid over to the man and did a sweep of his foot causing the robber to trip as Millie was able to throw one powerful punch to knock the guy out in only a matter of seconds.

Millie looked up at Lucie who was shaking and clearly in shock.

Millie picked up the purse that had fallen on the ground and began to slowly walk up to Lucie.

“Lucie… Lucie it’s me…Millie.” she said as she held out the bag to Lucie. “You’re okay. You’re safe.”

“Millie.” Lucie said, coming slowly out of her trance.

Millie gave a small smile and nodded.

“Thank…Thank you.” Lucie said to Millie as she began to cry.

“Let’s go sit down.” Millie said, leading Lucie over to a park bench.

Millie looked back at Blitz who had discarded the robber onto the sidewalk near some trash cans and was now heading back over to Stolas and the babies.

Blitz looked at Millie and gave her a nod to let her know he would stay with Stolas, Maria and Max while Millie comforted her former friend.

Once the girls were alone, Mlillie grasped Lucie’s trembling hand.

“Are you alright?” Millie asked.

Lucie nodded.

“I finally had a day to myself and just wanted to go for a jog. I’ve been trying to lose the baby weight when I have a moment of peace, but then that fucker…he just snuck up on me. I can’t believe…I just…”

Lucie began to cry again.

“It’s not your fault.” Millie said, grabbing a tissue out of her own purse to give to Lucie.

Lucie nodded.

“My mom is with Oliver now. We still are not on great terms, but at least she is fine watching the baby.” Lucie began as she finally started to breathe normally. “I really thought that things would be better. I love my son, but it’s really hard, you know?”

Millie nodded.

Millie was more exhausted in the past few months than she had been in her entire lifetime.

But Millie also had her husband, her friends and her family to lean on and help her.

Who did Lucie have?

It seemed like her current relationship with her mother was still strained and was mainly a last resort.

So who was truly helping Lucie in all this?

Millie put a hand on her former friend’s shoulder.

“Do you want me to call her for you?” Millie asked, trying to think up ways to be helpful.

Lucie shook her head.

“No thanks. To be honest she will probably just turn the situation around on me and say I wasn’t being careful enough or aware of my surroundings or thinking straight or something like that.”

Millie huffed.

She didn’t know much about Lucie’s mother, but from the little information she did know about the woman she could safely say she wasn’t a fan.

“I’m so ashamed.” Lucie said so quietly that Millie had barely heard her.

“No!” Millie exclaimed, trying to comfort the woman. “That could have happened to anyone.”

“Not just for that…” Lucie said as she turned her head away from her former friend. “I am ashamed for how I judged you. I made it seem like you had this lifestyle like Lucas had that was all dangerous and that nothing good could come of it. I should have realized sooner and it should not have taken you saving me today for me to get to this point. It wasn’t your fault the last time we got attacked and I should not have blamed you. I should have thought more about everything and Satan Millie I am just so sorry.”

Millie just stared at Lucie in shock.

“Lucie…it’s okay. To be honest I wasn’t sure if I should call you or give you space…so I chose the latter. But I really missed you.”

“I missed you too Millie.”

The two women hugged as droplets of salt water rolled down both their faces.

“I don’t even know where to begin.” Lucie said, wiping away her tears.

Millie smiled and wiped away a few of her own.

“I think I know…do you wanna meet the babies?”

Lucie perked up immediately and smiled.

“I’d love to.”

Millie brought Lucie over to where the stroller was parked next to Stolas and Blitz who had each purchased a snow cone from a street vendor.

After some quick introductions, Millie peered down at the baby carriage holding her children.

“This is Max.” Millie said as she ruffled the small tufts of hair on her son who was currently teething on a ring shaped rubber toy.

“And this is Maria.” Millie stated, gesturing to the little girl in the other carrier on the stoller who was currently smiling up at the sky and kicking her tiny blanket away from her feet.

Lucie smiled down at the little implings.

“Hi you guys.” she said as she took turns cooing over each baby.

“You know there is one more thing I think we need to do to make this reunion complete.” Millie said to her friend.

“What is that?” Lucie asked.

“We need to call Pamela and talk about something very special.” Millie said with a smile.

Hours later, Millie was seated on the couch in her home with Pamela and Lucie.

Moxxie was currently watching the babies upstairs and giving the girls time to get reacquainted and begin planning their something special.

That thing being the non-profit.

Once they had fully explained everything to Lucie, she was on board immediately and soon the women were throwing ideas out left and right.

Millie had grabbed a notebook to report the different thoughts and suggestions on.

“We could offer infant parenting classes and CPR certification.” Pamela suggested.

“We could team up with local food banks to help provide baby formula and other meals that a new mom and their child might need.” Lucie called out.

“What if we talked to the landlord on 5th avenue about renting the abandoned office building over there. It’s not too far from my work so I could meet up with you two after business hours or during lunch time on Monday.” Millie said as she began to write everything down.

Before the women could continue, Millie heard a knock at her door.

The young imp woman looked curiously at the source of the interruption and then the wall clock in the living room.

No one had ordered dinner yet and Sallie May wasn’t supposed to be back from Wrath till tomorrow.

Millie hesitantly walked over to her front door (even though the neighborhood was relatively safe at least by Hell standards, you could never be too careful) and slowly opened it.

Millie breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Loona in front of her.

That relief immediately turned to concern though as she was pretty sure this was one of the first times Loona had ever even been in their new neighborhood let alone their new house.

“Loona! What are you doing here? Is everything alright?” Millie asked with worriment in her voice.

“Oh yeah. No. Everything is all good. Blitz and Stolas mentioned something earlier when they got back about you wanting to do some new mom non-profit thing and I just had somethingI wanted to pitch. If that is okay.” Loona said hesitantly as she surveyed the room to see Millie’s friends were now looking over at the hellhound both with perplexion and intrigue. “But if you have company I can-”

“No!” Millie said, reaching her hand out to help Loona into the home. “You actually had perfect timing.”

After some quick introductions and a small summary to Loona of what the non-profit was all about, the women offered the floor to Loona so that she could explain her idea.

“I was thinking you could do something for people who want to adopt or who have to give their kids up for adoption, but want better lives for them.” Loona started. “It is especially rough for hell hounds in Gluttony where I grew up. I just wonder if my birth mom had been given something like that or any of the foster parents I was assigned to had been looked into more…I don’t know I think it could be just really helpful.”

“That ‘s a great idea Loona!” Millie said, writing everything Loona had explained down on the notebook in front of her.

“Are you interested in joining our non-profit as an employee?” Lucie asked.

Loona shook her head.

“Nahh Thanks. But I am really good where I am right now with my job situation and am not looking to change that.” Loona said matter-of-factly. “Although, maybe I could be some kind of consultant for things I have personal experience with like the foster care system and being a pound kid and all that.”

Millie smiled at her co-worker.

“That’s terrific Loona. We could definitely use the help.” Millie said as she jotted down more pieces of information.

“If you do not mind me asking,” Pamela inquired, raising her hand slightly. “Why come to us?”

Loona paused for a moment, gave a small nervous chuckle and finally shook her head.

“I mean my dad had mentioned it off hand and this was just something I was thinking about for awhile…so I thought I could help, you know?”

Millie looked skeptically at her hellhound coworker but Pamela and Lucie nodded, seemingly taking Loona’s answer exactly at face value.

She could not blame them as they had not worked with her for a few years, thus not being able to notice the hesitancy in Loona’s voice and strange bodily reaction when Pamela questioned why Loona was offering this idea to them.

Millie and Loona may not see eye to eye, but she definitely could tell when Loona wasn’t being 100% honest.

However, any awkward silence quickly passed and Loona began to ask a few questions and actually seemed involved in what they were doing.

After a few more minutes of ideas floating around, Loona looked at the time and alerted the group that she should be on her way.

They’d offered her some take out that had been ordered moments after Loona had arrived and also said she could stay for the meeting to listen to more ideas and maybe start her consulting early, but Loona declined and stated that she was ready to head to bed anyhow.

“I will walk you out.” Millie offered as she and Loona headed out the door following a few quick goodbyes from Lucie and Pamela.

As Millie followed Loona over to the bus stop not far from her house, she finally got up the nerve to ask her colleague for the truth behind why she had come tonight.

“Loona…” Millei began hesitantly. “Not that I don't appreciate the help cause trust me I really do, we all do, but I was just wondering…why did you really come to us tonight? I know you said it was just ‘cause you heard Blitz talkin’ about our project, but it feels like there is something you aint sayin’.”

Loona sighed and sat down on the bus stop bench next to Millie.

“It’s….look don’t take this the wrong way or anything, but you were not exactly my first pick to deal with me wanting to help with the hellhound foster system and all that. I went to Beezelbub to try to get some answers or something to help. I don’t fucking know. But she seemed to not care much about the politics or it all or her duty as a Sin…she just cared about the next party. So I came here. Like not that I don’t think you can eventually maybe do something or I hope you can but-”

“Loona!” Millie interrupted the hell hound’s ramblings.

Loona suddenly snapped her mouth shut and looked at Millie.

“It’s fine, I get it. If I had an opportunity to get a meeting with a Sin and could possibly fast track all this work we are doing and have even more of a guarantee, hell I’d do that in a heartbeat. But I think the fact that you even went to talk to her shows a lot of -”

“Stupidity?” Loona huffed interrupting Millie’s speech.

Millie put her hand on Loona’s arm.

“I was gonna say guts.” Millie corrected with a small grin.

Loona gave a similar facial expression back.

“Thanks…Millie.” Loona said.

“No problem…Loona.”

Before either woman could say anything else, the bus pulled up next to the duo ready to take Loona closer to Blitz’s new place.

Loona got on the bus, peeked out the window and gave Millie a small wave before the large vehicle pulled away from the stop and headed down the block.

Millie waved back and waited until the bus was out of sight before turning around and heading back to her home.

Today had been a day filled with surprises from making up with Lucie to making official plans for their non-profit to this unexpected help from Loona.

But Millie wouldn’t have had it any other way and she could not wait to see what the future held.

So she got back into the house and spent the rest of the night planning on how to help mother’s across hell with her friends, both old and newly reunited.

When Loona arrived back at the apartment, everyone else seemed to be in bed sleeping.

In fact, she had to sneakily tiptoe throughout her shared bedroom to put on her pajamas and get ready only by the light of the moon so she wouldn’t wake up a fast asleep Octavia.

When Loona crawled into bed though, she decided to check her phone messages one more time to see if Tex or even Bee had sent her a message, whether it be something as simple as a small apology or something as elaborate as an actual plan for the foster system in Gluttony.

She opened her phone and saw no such messages from Tex or Bee.

But while she did not see anything like that, Loona did receive a text message from Millie a few seconds after unlocking her cell.

The message contained a photo of Millie’s meeting notes from tonight and also the phone numbers of the other two women who’d been at Millie’s home and were working for the organization.

Loona smiled, quickly sent a thank you text, put her phone on the charger located on her nightstand and proceeded to try and fall asleep.

It had been a long day for Loona and an unexpected one at that, but while it hadn’t been exactly what she’d expected…it wasn’t all a burst either. .

Loona was however exhausted to say the least.

So she got comfortable in her bed sheets, closed her eyes and gently drifted off to sleep.

Chapter Text

“Absolutely Fucking Not!” Loona exclaimed with her arms crossed.

Blitz along with M&M were looking at Loona with desperation.

“Looney, sweetie. I know Stolas usually does this, but he is out sick today. You know that.” Blitz said.

“Then why can’t Via come here and do it? She seemed to enjoy bonding with the little rugrats.” Loona said as she side-eyed the twins who were currently sitting happily in their individual bassinets, oblivious to the fact that their usual sitter was at home experiencing the mortal joys of being ill for the first time.

Blitz sighed.

‘Via volunteered to help nurse Stolas back to health and since this is some kind of demon bird flu you only get once and Octavia already was exposed years ago, she thought it was best for her to help Stolas get better and us to all be at work.”

“What about Sallie May?” Loona asked.

“My sister decided to cash in one of her vacation days to go to the beach with Barbie on her day off. And we just made her watch the twin last weekend so even if she’d been available we would have wanted to give her a break.” Millie explained.

“And what!” Loona argued. “I don’t have a life so I need to watch your snot nose crotch goblins.”

“Loona, no offense but usually you would not be the first choice I had for childcare for my children.” Moxxie began as he patted both of their heads while the children giggled at their father’s affection.

“Gee you’re really helping to sell me on this.” Loona responded sarcastically as she looked at her phone.

“But!” Moxxie said a bit louder. “We really do need the help today and you did great taking care of me when I was dealing with the money issues last year during Blitz's spiral.”

“So you’re saying you're worse than your literal babies.”

Moxxie groaned and bit his tongue.

“Look, we believe you can do this and it won’t be hard at all.”

“Mox is right!” Millie added as she checked the diaper bag to make sure everything Loona would need was there. “The kids are gonna go down for their nap and this mission should be over pretty quickly.”

“Loona!” Blitz began. “If you could just stay here, man the phones for a bit and watch the twins, then I promise I will make it up to you.”

Loona pondered what her dad had just told her.

“Can I have the first pick of any mission we go on for the next month and I get to come along with you no matter what?”

“Sure.” Blitz said.

It was a fine arrangement if it meant Maria and Max were being looked after today and that the phone would not be left unanswered in case any new clients called.

“And…” Loona said mischievously “I get to pick where we eat on family dinner night Friday plus I get to pick the movie.”

Blitz held back a groan.

It had been his turn to pick the new movie this week and while he thinks Via, Loona and Stolas may have been getting tired of watching Spirit once again, if this is what it took to get done today’s job quicker then so be it.

He just hoped that Loona’s movie choice wasn’t as scary as last time as that film had resulted in Stolas curling up in his arms and hiding from…well maybe Loona’s movie pick could work in his favor.

Blitz would have more time to think of all of this later though.

For now, they were already running behind on their job today.

“Alright Loona.” Moxxie began. “Everything you need to know about taking care of Max and Maria can be found in this organized notebook.”

Moxxie presented Loona with a large spiral bound notebook that included tabs sticking out between various pages.

What was written on these tabs varied from “Dietary Needs” to “Sleep Schedule” to “What To Do If…” to “Emergency Contact Information.”

Moxxie handed Loona the notebook and Millie passed Loona the diaper bag.

“Don’t worry. They should go right to sleep for you. I just fed and changed them so you shouldn’t have any issues.”

“And we are a phone call away.” Moxxie said.

Loona took a deep breath and tried to remember what she was fighting for.

“Think of how funny it will be when you make Blitz watch a horror movie about horses being slaughtered.” Loona said under her breath.

“What was that Looney?” Blitz asked.

“Nothing Dad. Have a good mission.” Loona said quickly with a fake grin.

Blitz did not seem to notice her sudden shift in tone and just nodded to his daughter as he opened a portal allowing M&M and then himself to hop through.

Moments later, Loona was all alone with the babies.

Loona had not mentioned it before, but she did have some experience with childcare.

There were times when she was the oldest in the latest foster home she’d been sent to and if the parents were neglectful (as they sadly often were), then she’d have to be in charge of the younger kids.

She’d cook them meals, try to distract them from their new shitty life with any toys she could find that had not been broken, and even help get some of them to sleep if the parents were still not back from their day of binge drinking or even if they were and had already passed out from the alcohol consumption.

The saddest times were when she’d have to protect one of the younger kids from getting hurt whether it be taking the blame for something she did not do or even sleeping outside the children’s bedrooms to keep watch and make sure no one tried to enter when the young pups were sleeping.

If Loona could survive that, then she figured Millie and Moxxie’s kids could not be too bad.

After all, they did seem to sleep through the few phone calls Loona had to take and even a client walking in to schedule an appointment for later next week.

However, it was almost lunchtime when all of a sudden Maria began to cry rather loudly, waking up her brother who soon followed his sister’s lead.

“Oh no. No! No!” Loona mumbled as she got up and tried to get them to go to sleep.

“Look, I get you two having Moxxie as a dad must suck…but it’s not worth crying over…this much I mean.” Loona joked wishing that the implings could understand her humor and laugh instead of the screaming they were doing at the moment.

Loona proceeded to try and feed them the food that Millie had left in the fridge for the kids, but they were not hungry.

They were also both dry and not interested in drinking any milk from the bottles that were also taking up space in the I.M.P. refrigerator.

Loona was about to call their parents and Blitz to help, but then she remembered that dumb notebook that Moxxie had left.

Loona had thrown it onto the desk earlier, but she quickly found the book and began to skip through the pages, skimming each sentence to try and find something that could be useful.

Finally in the “What to Do if…” section, Loona found some information about what to do if the babies were crying and did not seem to be wet, hungry or thirsty.

The passage explained that one of the easiest ways to get the kids back to sleep or at least settle down if they’re cranky, was taking them for a little walk in their stroller.

Loona looked at the clock.

It was about lunch time anyway so she could put a “Be Back Soon” sign on the door and walk the twins throughout the office building.

Maybe a quick tour of the structure that Loona was forced to spend at least 40 hours a week in would be just what Max and Maria needed to calm the fuck down.

So Loona got the kids situated in the double stroller, put the sign on the door, and headed off throughout the office.

Loona figured that she could go grab a slice of pizza down the block and hopefully by the time she got to the pizza parlor the twins would have fallen back to sleep.

But as she pushed the stroller through the office building, she noticed looks of both annoyance and pity from the other building residents.

“For Satan’s sake, please go back to sleep.” Loona moaned to the tykes as they continued to cry.

“Did you try taking them to the park’s fountain down the block?” a voice said from behind.

Loona turned around and saw a hellhound about her height with beautiful golden fur, black dyed hair and a green velvet vest over a white tank top with matching green skirt.

The woman in question wore glasses and was carrying a small red crossbody bag around her shoulders featuring pins that said things like “she/her” and “bi pride” on them as well as a few singers and bands that Loona didn’t recognize as they did not look like the types of groups she normally listened to.

But for some reason she wanted to ask this woman about the story behind every one of those pins and why she chose those exact ones.

Loona did not know why, but she was having this sudden fascination in this woman whose only words that she’d spoken to her had been unsolicited advice.

Though unsolicited as the advice was, that did not mean it was not helpful.

“Ughh…we were just headed in that direction actually.” Loona said.

“Fantastic! You should definitely stop there for a moment and face the stroller towards the water. That always helped the kiddos I babysat back in Gluttony. There was this fountain right near my old house and they’d get entranced by it. I am telling you those two should be out like a light in a matter of moments with just a few seconds of staring at the fountain.”

The woman then stuck out her paw towards Loona.

“I’m Cleo.”

Loona took the woman’s paw and shook it.

“Loona.”

Cleo then bent down to tussle Maria and Max’s little hairs.

“Awww are you two being grumpy. Why the long faces?”

Cleo then proceeded to make some funny faces at the kids to try and help stop their tears.

It actually seemed to work for a moment and Loona could finally hear herself think.

It’s funny, usually someone so cheery and silly would have Loona rolling her eyes.

There was just something about this woman before her though.

She made things that Loona usually found cringe-worthy at least seem honestly pretty adorable.

And Loona finding anything adorable was as rare as finding a needle in a haystack.

Unfortunately, Cleo’s antics and baby talk only seemed to pause the babies’ cries for a few minutes and soon Max and Maria were back to their wailing.

Cleo just looked at Loona and shrugged.

“Sorry. It is not an exact science, but I tried my best. Luckily the daycare owner I just interviewed with did not see that or I probably would have failed my interview. I am already nervous about not getting the gig as is.”

“Daycare?” Loona asked as the elevator finally reached the lobby and the two hellhounds got out.

“Yeah.” Cleo said, perking up again. “I just interviewed for this new daycare opening on the 8th floor. I guess it is for employees in this building who have kids.”

Loona’s ears perked a bit.

That was only one floor above where the IMP office was.

Too bad that it wasn’t open now as Loona would have been tempted to dump the babies there and carry on with her childcare free day.

“Oh well. I hope you get the job.” Loona said.

Cleo smiled.

“Well if I get to see someone like you around here then that is just another reason I hope I get this job as well.”

Loona giggled and then clamped her mouth shut.

What was wrong with her?

Loona did not giggle.

It wasn’t in her nature.

As the two walked outside and headed towards the fountain, Loona noticed how pretty Cleo was as the sunlight would beat down on her fur causing it to have an almost tinted yellow glow.

Loona couldn’t remember the last time she found herself crushing so hard?

Maybe it had been with Tex when they’d met going to confront Verosika?

Or someone else in the time between Bee’s party and now?

Regardless, Loona could not stop looking at or thinking about Cleo.

“Hey this is it!” Cleo said, breaking Loona out of her trance.

Loona suddenly came face to face with a giant stone fountain that was actually situated halfway to the pizza place she’d been heading to anyway.

“Gorgeous! Isn’t it.” Cleo said enthusiastically.

“Yeah.” Loona responded, obviously distracted.

Cleo may have been talking about the water.

But Loona…well Loona was talking about something completely different.

Or should she say someone.

Not only had Cleo taken her to this great spot on the way to get lunch, she’d also seemingly done the impossible.

Her idea actually got Max and Maria to calm down and drift back to sleep.

“Wow! I thought they’d never get down.”

“They don’t call me the baby whisperer for nothing.” Cleo said with a chuckle. “Well actually they don’t call me that, but you get what I mean.”

Cleo had stated that last sentence a little awkwardly and with a small nervous laugh.

But instead of Loona finding her joke corny or too forced, she found it honestly quite endearing.

What was with her today?

She definitely would need a glass of Beelzebub juice to help her deal with all these complicated feelings she was having.

Cleo suddenly looked down at her phone.

“Oh crap. I’m late for lunch with my dads.” Cleo stated, frustrated at her accidental ignorance regarding the time.

“Where are you headed?” Loona asked.

“Some new diner on 5th.”

“Take the trail this way and cut through the alley, it will get you there in half the time.” Loona said, pointing towards a park trail a mere ten feet away from the duo.

Cleo nodded with a grin.

“Thanks! Look at us. I helped you and you helped me. I just moved to this ring from Gluttony not too long ago so I am still learning my way around.” Cleo retorted.

Loona gave a similar grin back.

“You know maybe I could give you a tour sometimes?” Loona offered.

She began to mentally kick herself.

Did that sound lame?

Did she sound desperate?

Would Cleo just find a polite way to decline her advances?

None of those things happened though.

“Sure!” Cleo said happily as ever as she quickly handed Loona her phone to put her number into while she did the same with Loona’s phone.

Cleo handed the phone back to Loona and Loona did the same with Cleo’s cell.

She smiled as she looked down at Cleo’s name in her contact list that featured multiple flower emoji tacked on the end of it.

Cleo was probably the only person in Loona’s contact list who had any emojis next to their name.

And Loona actually didn’t hate that.

“I’ll hopefully see you around Loona!” Cleo called out.

Loona waved and smiled down at the sleeping babies.

“Thank you two…for helping me out.” Loona mumbled to Max and Maria.

Loona may not have wanted to babysit today, but it sure didn’t end up being so bad after all.

Dare she say…she actually had a good time.

“I hope they were not too much trouble for you.” Millie said as she looked down at the sleeping children.

Loona shrugged.

“Nope. They were perfectly fine.”

“Really?” Moxxie asked suspiciously. “They did not cause any fuss?”

He wasn’t sure what it was about Loona’s demenear change since they’d left for the human world earlier, but something told Moxxie that he wasn’t getting the full story here.

“I mean they did cry a little, but I took them down to the fountain to watch the water and they went back to bed.” Loona responded nonchalantly.

Moxxie perked up.

“Really! Ohh I need to add that to the notebook.” Moxxie said as he enthusiastically headed off to grab the notebook and a pen to update the handwritten instructions.

“Thank you again Loona for babysitting. We know it was spur of the moment, but again it was really appreciated.” Millie said as she continued to look down at her children fast asleep in the stroller.

“No big. Just please try to ask anyone else to do it before me next time…if you can.” Loona said, trying to see if she could weasel her way out of any future time with the implings.

Though, if she had to be honest even the time when she had been completely alone with the children hadn’t been all bad.

On the other hand, the times with Cleo had been the best part of her day so maybe it was a good thing she would hopefully not be babysitting any time soon.

That reminded her of something.

“Hey Millie!” Loona said, alerting the young mother.

Millie turned her head to face Loona and looked at her curiously.

“I found out today about a daycare they are opening for parents in this building. It is one floor above us. That’s all I know right now and I don’t know when they open, but I thought maybe you might wanna talk to them. You know, for your mom organization thing. Maybe you could work out some kind of deal with them and they could help? Or you could bring the twins there if Stolas is out sick again in the future and no one else can help?”

Millie’s eyes brightened as Loona could see the wheels turning inside the Wrathian mother’s head.

“Oh that is a great idea. I need to go tell Pamela and Lucie about this and add it to our next meeting’s agenda. Thanks!” Millie stated and began to take out her cell to text her friends the news.

Loona just nodded and gave a small smirk.

“Aww look who is taking initiative at this company. I am so proud of you Looney.” Blitz said starry eyed at his daughter.

Loona rolled her eyes.

“Ughh dad. Just stop.”

“What can’t a dad be proud of his daughter?” Blitz said innocently.

Loona was about to roll her eyes again when instead a mischievous smile appeared on her face.

“You won’t be so proud after you hear the movie I have picked out this week.”

Blitz suddenly got very stiff and rushed over to Loona’s side as she headed out to the door so that they could go home.

“Wait. What? What do you mean? Loona…Looney?” Blitz called as she began to fast walk to the elevator.

Loona cackled as she watched her dad continue to panic while yelling out possible movies he thought she might be picking (none were the ones she had chosen).

As the two demons traveled down in the elevator (with Blitz still shooting out the names of random movies to Loona regarding what film she had picked for family movie night), Loona felt her phone vibrate in her pocket.

She took out the phone and saw there was a new text from Cleo.

CLEO: Hey! Are you free on Sunday? I thought maybe I could take advantage of that tour offer.

Loona smiled as sent back a possible time on Sunday when they could meet.

Cleo text back moments later.

CLEO: Cool. 12 P.M. works for me. It’s a date. Maybe we could get lunch down the street after too? I’d love to find some new sushi restaurants to eat at if you are game.

Loona was not a huge fan of sushi and she still had to figure out what she was gonna show Cleo and wear to this outing and even what she might say.

But the point of the matter stood as so.

Cleo and Loona were going on a date this weekend.

And if news like that puts a little more spring in Loona’s step, then so be it.

Loona had been extremely against babysitting the twins from the beginning.

However, those kids did help her to meet Cleo and even learn some new things.

So she guessed she had that to thank Max and Maria for.

But that was about it...maybe.

Chapter Text

Millie looked around the space they’d just rented and smiled.

She could not believe it.

If you had told Millie that she’d be a mom, a wife, an assassin, and a co-owner of a nonprofit helping pregnant moms in Hell with advocating through their pregnancy as well as help with caring for the child after they are born…well Millie would have looked at you like a two-headed hell hog.

This was no joke though.

This was real and moments ago they’d signed on the dotted line.

Now they’d barely been able to scrap the money together for the first month’s rent, but then Lucie had an idea to crowdsource online and word ended up getting around.

It turned out a lot people wanted to better help with how motherhood is looked at and handled in Hell. So those people showed their support with so many generous donations, that in less than a month Millie, Lucie and Pamela now had the space they were looking for.

It was a run down abandoned library not too far from the IMP office and though there were definitely rats, bugs and tons of dust that needed to be dealt with…it was the start of something new and better.

When the landlord left after giving the women the keys and taking the signed papers with them, the friends looked around in awe.

“So what do we do now?” Pamela asked.

Millie smiled and turned to her friends as she reached for a broom lying in a corner.

“Now…we get to work.”

And that is exactly what Millie and her friends did.

For days after work, between jobs, on weekends, into the night, and any other hours of the day that they could garner, the three women split their time up between their personal jobs as well as worked together 50% of the time to actually clean up the space.

Moxxie, Blitz, Sallie May, Stolas, Barbie and even Loona came by to help as well throughout the weeks on various occasions along with Pamela’s wife, Jackie.

One of the first things they did was make sure that the space would be safe for their children to be around when the moms were working. So they cleaned up and decorated the room that would now be a nursery for babies to stay in while their parents had meetings or were at work or job interviews or whatever reason they were reaching out to their nonprofit. They also made sure to turn the adjoining room to the nursery a playroom for older kids to hang out in.

Once it was deemed safe for the children, Millie would allow the twins to spend time there while she cleaned.

Pamela and Lucie also brought their babies who seemed to thankfully get along with one another and the twins.

Millie loved that her friend’s children could potentially grow up to be lifelong friends someday.

There were days when they could not bring the kids to the nonprofit office due to doing something potentially dangerous or unsafe like painting or using power tools.

In that case, everyone always had a sitter usually in the form of family or friends.

“It’s like we are already doing what we wanted to do with this nonprofit, but for ourselves.” Lucie remarked one day after a long Saturday of painting.

“Haven’t we been since the beginning?” Pamela answered, biting into the dinner that Moxxie had cooked and left for the women to reheat when they finished painting after taking the kids home as it was deemed potentially dangerous for the implings to inhale the paint fumes.

Moxxie even helped sometimes with watching Oliver along with Maria and Max, something that Lucie could not be more grateful for.

As weeks went by, the women slowly but surely were able to fix up each room one at a time.

Some spaces were easier to renovate like small offices that could be used for private meetings between the volunteers and parents.

Other spaces in the building took a little while longer to convert like turning the basement into two separate rooms, one being a food pantry stocked with various formulas, baby foods and meal prepped dinner and lunch options to help feed families who may be in a pinch regarding time and money.

The other half included a few washers and dryers so that parents who needed to do their laundry could do so for free if they reserved a time online.

Pamela had been able to help with setting up a website and not only were they already receiving donation to expand and continue their services and renovation work, but it also allowed them to set up a waiting list that was already semi-decently long with new moms and just parents in general who wanted to use their services (originally the mission had been for helping mothers in Hell who needed it, but the women decided that they wanted to offer help to any parent or parents who needed extra help regarding their circumstances)

Although their services would still be women centered.

Loona’s ideas even ended up helping a lot.

First off, they were able to find some volunteers who were employed in social services as well as adoptees themselves to work together to help those who wanted to give up their children for adoption and/or keep contact if they so wished.

Second, Thanks to Cleo, Loona’s possible new romantic partner (Millie was not sure if they were girlfriends or not, but she definitely saw Loona blush the last time Millie had spoken about her efforts with Loona), the daycare in the building where the IMP office was now open to not only kids for people who worked in the office, but they’d also worked out a deal to take children who were a part of the nonprofit.

Everything was finally coming together after weeks and weeks of hard work.

To be honest Millie could not believe how fast things had ended up going.

She’d figured that it would be even harder to get loans and approvals and other actions completed especially because they were lower class demons.

Money seemed to talk though and with the campaign going semi-viral thanks in part to Pamela’s efforts online, they were able to get everything they needed completed and ready to open in a little over a month.

That is what brought them to today.

A few days before the doors to Hell’s Little Village: a nonprofit for expecting or new mothers was to open, there was a disturbance at the front door.

It was a Friday after all of their respected businesses or day jobs were closed or not being worked on.

Moxxie was currently at home with Sallie May helping to watch not only the twins, but Oliver as well (something that Lucie could not thank them enough for as it meant she did not have to deal with her disapproving mother nearly as often as she had worried she would).

Jackie was at home with little June.

And Millie, Pamela and Lucie were currently seated at the front office desk eating one of Lucie’s latest cupcake creations she’d brought from the bakery to celebrate.

“I can’t believe Monday we are opening.” Millie said in awe.

The schedules had worked out that they could switch off on different days and at different times.

For instance, Pamela would usually be helping to manage everything during the weekdays and mornings when Millie and Lucie were at their jobs.

After hours though, Lucie and Millie would switch off on different days to help out.

To start, they were just focusing on a few cases here and there of some new mothers who wanted some job searching assistance and free daycare services as well as at least one expecting mother who was going to need assistance with advocating for herself as she too was from Wrath and was dealing with unfortunately a lot of the same prejudices that Millie did during her pregnancy.

This was just what they had scheduled this week as the list of interested parents seemed to grow more and more each day.

They were also lucky to have a few volunteers that had gone through a few weeks of training to know how to help a variety of people needing help with a variety of requests.

Things were not perfect and they still had ways to go, but Millie and the others were just so excited and ready to help the new and expecting mothers.

Their dreams were coming true.

The thing about dreams though is they can be dashed just as easily as they were conceived or even when they came true.

And moments after Millie had finished off a delicious chocolate cupcake, the embodiment of dream ruining walked into their office (though it was more like he’d magically appeared out of thin air).

“Ahh well look at this dreadful place.” Andrealphus said as he appeared before them in a puff of smoke.

The three women coughed and looked visibly shocked and irritated to see the Goetic demon standing before them.

“What do you want?” Millie asked angrily. “I thought you were being investigated?”

The higher class demon scoffed at Millie’s question.

“Why little Imp, do you not understand that me being investigated means barely anything has changed in regards to my royal duties currently. Speaking of which, that is why I am here.”

“What do you mean?” Lucie said with a bit of timidness in her voice.

Besides the few times she had met the former demon prince Stolas, Lucie had very little interaction with someone who was so high class and powerful as Andrealphus.

She wanted to say that she wasn’t intimidated or even a tiny bit frightened, but that would be a lie.

Andrealphus sighed as he looked around as if to be both annoyed and tired of the fact that he had to be in such an establishment.

“By order of the Ars Goetia, it has been decided that we will be taking over this establishment permanently.”

Pamela, Lucie and Millie were speechless.

This could not be happening.

“Why the hell are you doing this? This is a nonprofit organization. What does it have to do with the monarchy?” Millie yelled.

Andrealphus just laughed.

“It’s come to our attention that some of what you may be doing may not be up to our standards and we’ve decided that taking over this organization would be in everyone 's best interest.”

Millie looked at Andrealphus with

What kind of bullshit response was that?

“You cannot do this!” Pamela argued, her voice slightly trembling when doing so but managing to get louder and more powerful with every word.

“I already have.”

And with the snap of the bird’s fingers, the three women found themselves outside the building they’d worked so hard to help renovate.

Millie ran over to the now locked glass doors and pounded on them.

“Millie.” Lucie said, concerned.

Millie continued punching.

“Mills you can’t keep hitting the door. It’s no use.” Pamela added, sounding just as defeated as Lucie.

Milie did not stop though.

She continued to hit the door over and over again till she thought it might break.

“Millie Stop!” Lucie yelled as she grabbed her friend’s wrist to pull her back.

Millie suddenly snapped out of her trance of anger and looked down at her knuckles.

They were bruised and even looked like they might start to bleed if she’d continued any longer.

Millie looked up at her friends who had tears in their eyes as they realized that in mere minutes all of their plans had been reduced to nothing.

No, not nothing.

The exact opposite of what they had been trying to do.

Millie just held her friends and the women cried together before deciding to recovine at Millie’s home and try to figure out what to do next.

“Wow Fizz…this is…” Blitz said walking inside the studio space.

“I know. I know. It’s a little small, but it is a start and I already have a few students signed up. One of them is even a kid who I met when I was still doing Mamon stuff.” Fizz said proudly as he sat down on a bench in front of a wall mirror.

The space was a small recently on the market dance studio that Fizz had been able to secure after a successful meeting with an investor not too long ago.

Ever since then, things had been going from zero to a hundred in terms of getting all of this set up, students enrolled, etc.
Things were just going to be basic at first.

A few classes different times a week with various age groups and interests from clowning to improv games and more.

Fizz knew he wanted to grow this company more and more, but for now he was really happy with how things had worked out.

Blitz chuckled to himself as he took out a bottle of champagne, removed the cap and handed it to Fizz.

“It’s funny.” Blitz remarked. “We went from mediocre circus kids to full grown men owning our own businesses. When did that happen?”

Fizz rolled his eyes and took a swig of the liquid from the bottle.

“Speak for yourself asshole. I was a star from the time I started in show business and have only been going up.”

Blitz just laughed again in response.

There was a bit of an awkward silence and then Fizz cleared his throat.

“Hey Blitz…can I ask you something?”

“Of course. What’s up?”

“Do you…do you think I can actually do this?” Fizz asked nervously, rubbing the back of his neck.

Blitz looked at Fizz confused.

“What do you mean? Of course you can. You’re Fizzarolli!” Blitz said confidently.

“I mean I know I was successful when I was a kid and then when I was working for Mammon, but…like does that mean I can be a good teacher? Like what if this all goes to crap and the kids who look up to me…well they end up worse than if they’d gone on to work for Mammon?”

Blitz stared at his friend in shock.

“What are you fucking talking about Fizz?” Blitz asked standing up to look his friend directly in the eyes. “You can’t seriously say that they’d be better off going to Mammon. You made this school to give all those kids a chance at doing something and learning about something you loved in an environment that won’t eat them up and spit them out. Now I don’t know what will happen when all those students of yours graduate and go out into the showbiz world, but right now. With this school. You’re trying to give them a chance to explore all this clown stuff in a place that isn’t like the crappy circus we grew up in or anything you had to deal with when you worked for that overpriced sell-out jester of a sin. If you just keep remembering that then I know you’ll be a fantastic teacher.”

“You really think so?” Fizz asked.

“You bet your ass I do.” Blitz said.

Fizz then leaned over to hug his friend.

Blitz returned the hug and the two friends began to chat more and more about Fizz’s plans for the school.

Their conversation was interrupted though by Blitz’s phone ringing.

Blitz groaned when he saw who was calling him.

“Moxxie this better be pretty fucking important I was in the middle of…wait what…they can’t…he did…where’s Mills…okay, I will be right there.”

Blitz hung up the phone and began to gather his stuff.

“Is everything ok?” Fizz asked concerningly.

Blitz shook his head.

“No…it’s not.”

“They can’t do this! Can they?” Lucie exclaimed as she gently rocked her son in the middle of Millie’s living room.

“Unfortunately they can.” Stolas answered as he held Maria on his one lap and Max on the other lap. “I recall many times when my father would travel to shut down various small businesses or charitable organizations that he deemed detrimental to the way things were supposed to be done in Hell according to his and many other upper class standards.”

Lucie looked defeated at Stolas.

What could they do?

“I just got off the phone with Jackie.” Pamela said as she walked back into the living room from the kitchen. “She talked to one of her lawyer friends and they said that even with all our paperwork in order and everything seemingly legal, royal fucks like him can just come in and do whatever they want.”

Millie groaned as she sat on the couch next to her husband.

This wasn’t possible.

How could this be happening?

There was a knock on the door and Moxxie got up to let in the person outside.

That person being Blitz.

“Mills, I’m so sorry.” Blitz said, rushing to sit down on the couch next to his best friend and hug her.

Blitz knew how much effort and time Millie had been putting into this along with her fellow mom friends over the past few weeks.

Hell, all of the people in this room (besides the babies) had a hand one way or another in helping to renovate that space and make it a susceptible place for the base of Hell’s Little Village.

Blitz partially felt he was to blame.

Maybe if he had not had a hand in Andrealphus’ current “punishment” (if you could even call it that), then maybe he would not have been alerted to Blitz or his friend’s efforts to change these 7 rings.

Millie pulled back from their hug and gave Blitz a stern look.

“Don’t you go blaming yourself. This doesn’t have to do with you. It is that no good stuck up birdie’s fault and that’s that.”

Blitz smiled softly and just pulled Millie into another hug.

This was just one of the many reasons they were best friends.

The friendly embrace was interrupted though as Lucie frustratedly threw down her phone onto the chair cushion she was currently seated at.

“I'm already getting text messages from some of our scheduled parents. At least two moms are asking for clarification and another is saying that apparently they are being asked to pay some big fee for the services and they are not anywhere near what we were offering.”

Millie groaned.

They were not the only ones being harmed by these actions.

The people they made this nonprofit for in the first place were getting harmed the most.

“What do we do?” Pamela asked in defeat leaning up against the living room wall.

Millie wanted to have the answer.

She wanted to say that everything would be ok and that they could still help.

But she did not know how or what to do.

Then something struck her.

“Wait, we can still use our phones, right? We have the client list in our inboxes. They haven't shut down those yet, right?” Millie asked.

Pamela quickly pulled up the inbox on her cell and grinned.

“It’s still there!” she exclaimed.

“Perfect. Let’s forward it over to one of our personal inboxes” Millie said.

“Oh we should print it out to be safe.” Lucie added.

Millie nodded giving Pamela permission to print the list from Millie’s home printer.

“Wait what’s going on?” Stolas asked.

Millie grinned.

“We can’t do work out of the renovated office.”

“But we can answer questions through email and help remotely.” Lucie added in.

“Are you sure that’s safe?” Mox questioned.

They already had a target on their backs via the royals, would doing something like this secretly eventually unravel and cause even more issues.

Millie grabbed her husband’s hands and looked him in the eyes.

“Mox. You need to trust us. You need to trust me. This…this is something I need to do.”

Millie’s husband smiled and gave her a quick kiss.

“Okay, honey. I understand. I trust you.”

Millie nodded happily and then turned to Pamela and Lucie.

Let’s set up an anonymous mailbox and send out messages to all the people we had booked to help in the upcoming weeks as well as the volunteers. We can answer remote questions and try to organize and answer questions when we can.”

Pamela nodded.

“Making the email now.” she said, picking up her cell.

“What if those we are helping don’t believe the email or we can’t do something remotely?” Lucie questioned.

“We are just gonna have to try our best. We don’t have a ton of moms asking for our help at the moment, but if we start now then we can still help those who are interested and then when we eventually get our office back we can advertise again.”

“Do you think we can actually get it back?” Pamela questioned still setting up the email.

Millie looked at Blitz with hope in her heart.

He was co-leader of a future rebellion.

If anyone could help to bring the upper class down and eventually help get Mills and her friend’s project up and running again under their thumb…well then he was the man for the job.

“Oh you are definitely getting your nonprofit back. I am willing to bet my life on it.” Blitz said confidently.

Everyone nodded and then proceeded to work through the night to find a way to make their charitable organization work remotely.

It was hard and not everything they originally promised was able to be done via email or over the phone.
.
But in the end, the group throughout various hours of the night worked to make this new direction with Hell’s Little Village work.

Sallie May left and came back with some pizza for everyone.

When handing her sister the slice she’d requested, Sallie May made sure to whisper to Millie how amazing this was and how proud she was of her big sis.

That had made Millie smile, but also feel simultaneously worried as she remembered not only her friends, husband and family in Wrath but her kids.

What if they got caught?

Would this not only put her own life at risk, but also the lives of her children as well as her husband, parents, siblings and friends.

They were all accomplices in this.

Millie brought this up later to Moxxie when they were putting Max and Maria down for bed.

Max was out like a light, but Maria took a few lullabies from their parents to coax to sleep.

Millie was expecting Moxxie to argue and say he was even more worried than he had been earlier.

He’d seemed on board with the idea at first, but now that she was showing doubts that could completely help change his mind.

She would not have blamed him if he told her that this might be too far and to maybe close the anonymous email account at least until a later time when they could maybe analyze the situation with the Goetia more or if they could first see if there is a chance she could get the nonprofit back.

None of that was said though.

Instead Millie’s husband walked out into the hallway with her, gently closed the nursery door behind them, and then reached for both her hands so that they were facing one another.

“Millie,” Moxxie began. “Over the past several weeks, I have never seen someone so passionate or driven about doing anything like this. You worked so hard to create something to help so many people in Hell. I can’t let you give that up. So I think you should continue what you are doing and if something happens, then we will face it together. Just like we have everything in our relationship..”

Millie felt tears in her eyes for the second time that day.

But this time they were happy tears.

She loved her husband and his faith in her.

She loved the team that they were.

She loved the team they had created.

And she loved the team that they would always be...together.

That night Millie slept soundly with her husband by her side.

This day had been a roller coaster of emotions, but the calm at the end of that ride had been worth it.

She’d have to continue to fight alongside Pamela and Lucie and all of her friends and family if she could continue to offer help in secret and eventually work to be out of the shadows again.

It would be rough and even a little scary, but with her friends and family by her side Millie knew they had at least a fighting chance.

Chapter Text

“Thanks for watching the kids while I get ready, Blitz.” Millie said as she rushed down the steps putting on shiny earrings and smoothing out her new black dress.

Blitz was currently sitting on the floor in front of a play mat where Maria and Max were laying out on their tummies.

Blitz smiled at the implings as they laid out on the floor with not a care in the world.

“No problem Mills.” Blitz said. “I love spending time with the mini M&Ms”

“Moxxie is already at the theater getting ready and Sallie May should be here any-”

Millie felt her phone vibrate in her pocket and picked it up.

“That is her now.”

Millie looked down at the phone and her eyes widened as she read what was on the screen.

“Something wrong?” Blitz asked, getting up from his spot on the ground & walking over to Millie.

“No! Damn it!” Millie frustratingly said. “I…Sallie May was supposed to be here, but she is stuck in Wrath. She was visiting my parents and went to the train station, but now the trains are delayed and it looks like she won’t be back in time to watch them.”

Blitz was about to suggest that he use the crystal to go get Sallie May, but he paused and then thought of a different approach.

“What if I watch the kids?”

Millie looked up from her phone and gave Blitz a confused look.

“What?” Millie said not sure if he heard him right.

“What if I watch the kids. I have not gotten the chance to have some one on one time with them and this might be a blessing in disguise.”

“Or a curse.” Millie said through her teeth and under her breathe.

“What?”

“Nothing.” Millie said quickly.

Millie looked at the time on the living room clock and groaned.

She did not have any other option.

Stolas was apparently doing some over time (even after Blitz had told him multiple times he did not need to, but he wanted to be thorough apparently so Blitz failed at convincing him to come home earlier), Loona and Via according to a Sinstagram post she saw earlier were out to dinner with Loona’s girlfriend, Pamela and Jackie were away on vacation and Lucie was home with Oliver who was sick with colic.

She literally did not have anyone else to ask and she could not miss this play.

Millie and Moxxie got along fairly well despite their different interests and attitudes towards various activities.

As much as Milllie enjoyed loud rock concerts, Moxxie had not been able to stand them and the last one Millie had dragged Moxxie to they’d had to leave halfway through.

And though she enjoyed the musical she’d went to the night that everyone at IMP found out about their pregnancy (who knew musicals could be so violent), Millie had accidentally fallen asleep at the last musical she’d gone to with him.

She felt awful about it and apologized profusely to Moxxie after he’d gently nudged her awake.

She had to be supportive tonight.

They had not had a chance to spend as much time together lately with his rehearsals, the babies, IMP, the nonprofit work, and so much more.

She needed to be there tonight.

They were also planning on going to a cast party after with some of Moxxie’s theatre friends.

Moxxie had been talking about them a lot and she was really excited to meet them.

She could not skip this.

And she could trust Blitz…sure he didn’t have any formal babysitting experience, but as far as she knew Loona did not really either (though she did recall Loona mentioning watching the kids at the foster homes she grew up in which gave Millie and Moxxie of a belated peace of mind after she’d done well with watching the twins).

It would only be a few hours anyway.

Millie took a deep breathe.

“Okay. Emergency numbers are on the fridge, we are gonna be at the Fireside Theater in Gluttony,Mox’s notebook is ummm…somewhere in this house…I am sure you will find it, and seriously if you need anything please please text or call me or-”

“Mills!” Blitz interrupted as he reached out to place his hand on her shoulders.

Millie took a deep breath.

“I got this. You can trust me.” Blitz said reassuringly and as straightforward as she’d ever seen him be with her.

Millie nodded.

“I can.”

Millie then walked over and bent down next to her children.

“Mommy has to go see Daddy’s show, but we will be back tonight and see you at breakfast tomorrow.”

Millie bent down to kiss Maria and Max.

She then took one last look at Blitz before walking out the door.

“They haven’t had dinner yet so in about an hour they will probably be hungry for the mashed carrots in the fridge, I pumped earlier so you should have enough milk too and I’d try to have them asleep in like 3 hours or so.”

“Millie…” Blitz said with a smirk on this face.

“Yes?”

“Go.”

Millie just smiled, nodded and waved goodbye to her best friend as she went to go catch the next bus to Gluttony.

“Alright! Who is ready to have fun!” Blitz said as he clapped his hands together.

Looking down at the babies Blitz chuckled to himself.

“This will be a piece of cake. Ready to have fun with Uncle Blitz. You two are gonna be so good for me, right?”

The babies of course could only respond in gurgles and adorable looks, but Blitz felt that they were agreeing with him.

And he was proven right or at least he thought…then about 10 minutes went by and everything went down hill from there.

Stolas was not having a good time.

Usually he enjoyed the quiet after hours at the IMP office.

Barely anyone was in the building, the only noises were from the car passing below and an occasional drunken fist fight in the streets.

But those were sounds that Stolas had become accustomed to living with over the past several months and were almost soothing by now.

The work that he usually did after hours was typically fairly easy and tasks that he just liked to catch up on when he could to give himself a little peace of mind.

Stolas had been doing fairly well as a secretary.

He’d grown a lot since the Sinsmas, especially in terms of how efficient he was at being a secretary for IMP.

Tonight though, he was having issues focusing.

Maybe he was just tired or hungry.

Maybe he didn’t really want to do the work as much as he did.

Stolas was not sure exactly what it was, but tonight something just felt off to him.

Stolas’ phone suddenly rang though and was at least able to distract him from well…his distraction.

He saw it was Blitz and grinned.

“Hello Blitzy.” Stolas said into the phone.

Stolas had expected to hear something ranging from average to extremely flirty in terms of Blitz’s response.

Stolas did not expect to hear the following.

“Stolas! Please Help!” Blitz exclaimed into the phone while Stolas could hear the sound of babies crying in the background.

“Bltiz!” Stolas said getting up from his chair in panic. “Whatever is the matter?”

“Millie had to go to Moxxie’s play thing and I volunteered to watch the twins for her cause Sallie May couldn’t come and I thought it would be easy, but then they started crying and won’t stop and Maria spit up her food and I don’t know if she is sick or not and I don’t know how to care for a sick baby and I’m realizing I don’t know how to care for any baby let alone two so can you please please come to Millie and Moxxie’s and help cause I need you Stolas.”

Stolas could hear the anguish and exhaustion in Blitz’s voice and held back a small laugh.

He remembered being a new parent to Via and sounding just as scared as Blitz did on the phone when Via was a baby.

“Blitz. Don’t worry. I will be right there.” Stolas said, hanging up the phone.

Perhaps being with Blitz right now and helping with the twins was just what he needed to shake his nerves and get him invested in something besides paperwork.

“Wait Stolas I can just use the crystal and…damn it….no Max…please” Blitz said as he gently took Max’s hands off his horns so he would not pull at them.

It only took Stolas about 20 minutes to get to Millie and Moxxie’s home from the office, but to Blitz it felt like an eternity.

When Stolas was let into the home by an exasperated Blitz, he was met with three crying individuals: Maria, Max and Blitz.

“Oh thank Satan you are here Stolas. Please help me. Maria spit up again on the floor and I can’t figure out why Max is crying. He is dry and he ate food, but he won’t stop crying and Maria started to cry I think just to copy her brother, but it might just be a way to torture me-”

“Blitz!” Stolas said holding up his hands. “It is okay. Everything is fine. I am here to help.”

Stolas walked over and had Blitz pass a crying Max over to him as he directed Blitz to start cleaning up Maria and the mess she’d made on the floor.

Soon both babies had calmed down and Blitz felt at peace again.

Millie was freaking out.

She knew it was not logical to think that something bad had happened since Blitz had not contacted her, but knowing Blitz she’d expected photo updates or videos of her kids being surrounded by horse plushies or something like that.

Sure she had not asked him to directly, but she just could not shake the feeling that something was wrong.

That is why Millie was breaking Moxxie’s number 1 theater etiquette rule and currently typing out multiple texts to Blitz on her cell in the middle of the performance.

She was still paying attention to the show…well half paying attention…but she’d put her phone brightness on low so it was not like anyone could see her.

She just wanted to know her babies were okay.

MILLIE: HEY BLITZ. I WAS JUST CHECKING IN.

MILLIE: HAVE THE KIDS DONE ANYTHING CUTE YET?

MILLIE: JUST CHECKING IN…ANYWAY UPDATES?

MILLIE: BLITZ?

Moxxie knew when they got married (hell when they first began dating), that Millie and him had different interests.

Moxxie enjoyed the arts more such as a night out at the symphony or an art museum and of course the latest musical on Broadway.

Millie’s entertainment taste leaned more into hard rock concerts, violent contact sports (the more possibility of blood being drawn the better in Millie’s opinion) and the latest horror movie in theaters.

Usually the two could compromise and either take turns doing what the other person wanted together one weekend and then switching it around the next weekend or they would find something more neutral to do to spend time together like going to a new restaurant.

This show however, he was very excited for Millie to see.

Not that it had taken much time to rehearse or that he personally had thought it to be a very good play (in fact, in terms of original musicals he’d gotten parts for over the years this one was probably his least favorite), but because he had felt slightly guilty taking this part.

He hadn’t really planned to do community theater again for a while, but then one of his friends who he had been in a local production of Phantom of the Opera with him a few years back begged him to audition for this original production.

Moxxie had at first turned down his friend’s request.

“I think it is just too soon after the kids are born. I should be here with you after all.” Moxxie had told Millie that night he’d gotten the audition request.

“Baby, you should do it. It isn’t like their newborns and you said this play was pretty short anyway. You haven’t done anything like that in a while. If you think it would be fun then go for it.” Millie had told him.

So he decided to do it.

Most of the time the rehearsals at least later on were when Millie was with the kids at the nonprofit.

When he’d be with the kids, his schedule had luckily been open and did not include rehearsals.

However, he still felt guilty.

He had promised he would be there for his kids and was doing something like this okay to do?

Sure Max and Maria were not newborns anymore and the practices had not seemed to interfere too much in M&M’s daily lives, but he still felt this twinge of need to prove to his wife that this hadn’t been all for nothing.

Sure it was a community theater play that wasn't very good, but he still was proud of himself and hoped his wife would be proud of him too.

What he had not expected to see though is his wife in the front row frantically on her phone texting.

He had reserved that seat for Millie and though the mediocre stage lights were doing their job about 75% of the time, he could still see that Millie was breaking his personal theater rule to not be on your phone during a production.

The thing though is when he saw Millie doing this he did not feel angry at his wife for doing something he considered very disrespectful in the theater world or that he wasn’t paying attention to him.

But he felt disappointed…in himself.

He thought that doing theater again would be fun.

Millie had encouraged him and honestly he’d had a good amount of fun when he was practicing and even up to this point in the performance.

But the fact that he was boring his own wife with this show and that she would rather be on his phone told him that this was dumb.

He’d made a mistake.

These were precious moments that he could be spending with his kids and wife at home.

Instead he was doing this.

And this wasn’t even worth it.

Moxxie continued with the show as rehearsed, but he could not get the image of Millie with her phone out during the production out of his brain.

And that was his only thoughts over the next hour as he went from the opening number all the way to the final song.

“You know I’ve never given a baby a bottle before.” Blitz stated as he gave Maria her bottle of milk. “It ain't as hard as I thought.”

Stolas smiled at Blitz.

He was currently feeding Max his own bottle.

Once they’d gotten the twins settled down, cleaned up the kitchen and got Max and Maria their bottles, then it had been smooth sailing.

“Yes. You’re quite right. I remember doing this with Via when she was newly hatched. It brings back a lot of memories.” Stolas said fondly as he looked down at the tired impling in his arms.

Stolas did not realize it, but Blitz was currently looking at his boyfriend in amazement.

Which may have been partially the reason he said the next thing that came into his head so casually.

“Have you ever thought about having another one? You know with somebody you actually care about.”

Blitz’s eyes widened.

The words were out of his mouth before he even realized what he had said.

Stolas at first had to make sure he’d heard his boyfriend right.

“Another one?” Stolas asked curiously.

Blitz began to stammer.

“Well…umm…yes…I mean….ugh you don’t…I mean I didn’t mean-”

“Blitz!” Stolas interrupted.

The former prince gently got up, placed Max in his play pen, and then sat back down on the couch next to Blitz..

“Blitz.” Stolas began looking fondly at Blitz. “I love you and I love our life and what we’ve built so far. I’d love to be able to do more things with you. But as much as I love helping to look after these two demons here, I think I am happy being a father of one child. Octavia was and is a blessing no matter the circumstances of her birth. I love our life and I just don’t think I would desire having another child.”

Blitz nodded.

“I get that. I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable or whatever Stolas. I just-”

“No Blitz.” Stolas said. “I just wanted to be upfront about our relationship and where it is going as well as what I wanted out of this. When I was with Stella I didn’t have choices or opinions, I had rules and duties. So thank you for asking me about this, but I have to say I am quite happy with our little family the way it is and I think I’d be happy with keeping us the size we are in the long run…at least until grandparenthood.”

Blitz chuckled.

“Yeah. I don’t think Loona really is interested in kids at least based on what she’s told me. Maybe Via will someday, but….wait a minute….” Blitz said suddenly realizing something.

Stolas looked confusingly at Blitz.

“Did you say you love me?” Blitz said with an impish grin.

Now it was Stolas’ turn to stutter.

“I…well…I mean…I do…I…”

“Stolas.”

“Yes, Blitzy?” Stolas said sheepishly.

“I love you too.”

Stolas leaned down to kiss his boyfriend.

The two then played a little more with the babies before finally taking them upstairs to be put to bed.

After the performance, Millie went backstage to find her husband.

She spotted him talking to some of his fellow actors and their spouses who must have arrived there moments before Millie.

He was still in the white poet shirt and black leather pants that his character wears in the last act (the show was about pirates…for at least 50% of the musical) when Millie ran up to hug her husband from behind.

“Hi Hon!” Millie exclaimed happily. “You did fantastic tonight. I loved it.”

Moxxie looked at Millie skeptical.

While the part when she’d been texting on her phone had disappointed him initially at first, he had just gotten more and more disappointed as the performance went on and he noticed that she was frequently checking her cell.

He did not want to sound self-centered, but he just did not get the reason.

Did she not like the play?

Was she bored?

Was his performance bad?

Was any time he’d spent working on it just time he could have spent more with his family and she was resentful of him for that?

There was only one way to find out.

Moxxie took a deep breath and led his wife gently away from his cast mates and their partners.

Then he looked her straight in the eyes.

“Millie…why were you on your phone tonight?”

Millie’s eyes went as wide as saucers when she realized that her husband had seen her texting tonight.

“I’m sorry Mox. You were really good I promise. I just was worried about the kids and I was letting that cloud my manners and judgment. You were great and it had nothing to do with your performance I promise.”

Moxxie’s face softened as he took in her compliment and explanation.

He completely understood.

To be honest with as much fun as he was having up there, he did miss the twins and understood protectiveness over them.

He was their parent too after all.

“I’m sorry Mills. I was just being insecure and I completely understand wanting to check on the babies.”

“And I’m sorry about texting. I should have gone into the hallway or something to use my phone instead of doing it when you all were on stage. That was rude of me. Do you forgive me?” Millie said.

Moxxie smiled.

“Of course. And can you forgive me for letting my insecurities cloud my judgment of you?”

“Of course. Though baby I don't feel you need to apologize to me. I was in the wrong.”

"I don't care if you are in the wrong or not Mills...cause I will always love you."

"And I will always love you."

The two shared a soft kiss with one another and gazed into each other's eyes.

“I am genuinely surprised though, Millie.” Moxxie asked, walking hand in hand with his wife. “I thought you trusted Sallie May with the kids. Why would you be worried.”

“Oh I did not leave them with Sal. She couldn’t make it so Blitz volunteered.”

Now it was Moxxie’s turn to be in shock.

“Wait…so Blitz…as in our boss….he is watching our kids? The man who has had little to no interaction with infants and who could possibly be accidentally setting our home on fire right now.”

Millie’s expression suddenly matched her husbands.

“Wanna skip the after party and head home?” Millie said quickly and in shock.

Moxxie nodded.

“Yes please.”

When Millie and Moxxie got home from the theater, they were surprised to find the house was clean, the babies were sleeping in their cribs upstairs, and Blitz was sitting on the couch with Stolas watching some late night talk show.

“Hey! How was the play Mox?” Blitz said.

“The house didn’t burn down.” Moxxie stated surprised.

Blitz rolled his eyes.

“Yes. I mean I did have to ask Stolas over for some help with the twins, but we fed them and gave them their milk and got them to bed about an hour ago.”

“They were just little darlings as always.” Stolas said happily.

Millie and Moxxie looked at one another with small bits of guilt.

They’d both judged Blitz a little harshly, but it turns out he was actually a pretty good sitter.

“Thank you so much Blitz.” Millie said. “You really stepped up when we needed you.”

Blitz grinned.

“No problem, you two. And me and Stolas are happy to watch the kids any time. Isn’t that right Stolas?” Blitz asked, looking at the love of his life.

Stolas shared a similar smile to his boyfriend and stated.

“Absolutely.”

Blitz then noticed something about Moxxie’s outfit.

“Wait Moxxie why are you wearing pirate clothes?”

“Oh!” Moxxie said, lighting up. “The show I was in I am a pirate for a good chunk of it!”

Blitz hopped off the couch and rushed over to Moxxie.

“WHAT! IF I HAD KNOWN YOUR DUMB ASS MUSICAL WAS ABOUT PIRATES I WOULD’VE WENT! I NEED TO KNOW ALL THE FACTS ABOUT THE PIRATES. ARE THEY SEXY? WHO DID YOU PLAY? WHY ARE THEY PIRATES. AGAIN, ARE THEY SEXY PIRATES?” Blitz asked a mile a minute.

As Moxxie hushed Blitz to make sure he did not wake the kids and answered his multiple questions about the pirate aspect of his show.

Millie looked around at her family.

If you’d asked her years ago if she would have a husband, a house, kids, a job she loves, a nonprofit organization she is secretly running and would be friends with not only her boss but his upper class demon prince boyfriend…she would have said that you were crazy.

But looking around at everyone here.

There was no place she would rather be.

Millie then realized something.

“Wait Blitz! The fucking crystal you could have used that to get Sal here.”

Blitz suddenly stammered and looked nervously at his best friend.

“Well…umm…I mean….”

Millie gave him a look that told Blitz that she was seeing right through his bullshit.

“Well it worked out for the best, didn’t it?” Blitz argued.
Millie laughed and nodded.

“Yeah, you’re right. It really did.”

Chapter Text

It was an average night in the Buckzo-Goetia Home.

Via was on the couch eating some chips and texting.

Blitz was munching on his own snacks, some animal crackers he dipped in caramel sauce (“Don’t knock it till you try it” he would say to anyone who questioned his food choices).

Stolas was reading a book and seemingly taking notes on it for some reason (Blitz loved his nerdy boyfriend).

Loona was meanwhile in her and Octavia’s bedroom doing Satan knows what.

They were silently enjoying one another's company, when Loona suddenly burst out of her bedroom in a panic.

“Turn on the TV!” Loona ordered.

Stolas closed his book and quickly turned on the television.

Via looked up from her cell and Blitz from his food to see what was going on.

On the TV, Andrealphus was standing at a podium about to make a speech.

“My honored members of the press, I have called you all here today to discuss some issues I have been seeing in Hell. You see, since the beginning of creation we have had a system in place and lately certain kinds of demons in certain classes have been trying to take advantage of that system. They have been causing disruption, chaos, anarchy… and we just can’t allow things like that to happen.”

Blitz and Stolas exchanged a worried look as they continued to listen to the speech.

“To help combat these hideous actions by a small, but growing minority in Hell we are enacting a variety of new laws for every lower class demon to just help remind you all of your place. Overlords and above will not be required to follow these laws, but sinners, hellborns, imps and hellhounds will be required to obey these new rules or face penalties ranging from jail time to execution.”

Everyone’s eyes went wide.

What rules?

Andrealalphus was just threatening execution so blatantly and no one was going to say anything.

What about Satan, Lucifer was MIA at the moment so Satan had seemingly taken over as the next ruler of Hell?

Was he really allowing this?

The viewers would get their answers as the Goetic demon continued his speech.

“I have gotten permission from Satan himself to put these in place and I think many citizens of Hell will be pleased with these new regulations. First off, I am implementing a mandatory curfew for all lower class demons. That means anyone who is a Sinner and below will be required to be in their homes by 10 o'clock. Next, any businesses or charity organizations can and will be run through a database and analyzed by me and my staff to see if they are following the status quo and anyone differing from this will be shut down or have their services transferred to demons like myself to run more smoothly. Finally, we will be cleaning up our streets and making sure that anyone who is not helping to keep Hell in its’ existing conditions for how it has been for milenia are dealt with immediately.”

Blitz was seeing red.

What the fuck!

The rest of the broadcast Blitz, Stolas, Loona and Via watched in silence.

These had to be empty promises right?

He could not be serious.

Suddenly the interview was over and a commercial came on.

Stolas muted the TV.

“That fucking bastard!” Octavia exclaimed.

Typically, Stolas would have lightly scolded his daughter for using such language, but he held back as he had to agree with her.

There was no other way to explain his horrid ex-brother-in-law.

“That’s it!” Blitz said standing up. “Via we need to work on something starting now. Call your boyfriend and tell him we are starting things up immediately. This will not stand anymore. That Elsa Power Having Mother Fucker is going down before he can make things worse.

“I’m already on it, but he is not my boyfriend for the record.” Via said.

Blitz glared at Octavia, but Octavia gave him a glare right back.

Blitz had to smile at that a little.

For how mad he was and how serious this situation was, he could not help but feel at least somewhat proud of his and Via’s slowly growing relationship.

Moments later, Via smiled up at everyone and announced that Orion would be coming over as soon as possible.

It would take some time, so while waiting for him to come over Stolas and Blitz volunteered to grab snacks.

Orion showed up about 10 minutes after they left.

Via let him in and they all decided to head over to hang out in Octavia and Loona’s bedroom.

“By the way.” Via whispered to Orion. “I told Loona about me being sex repulsed asexual. She is cool of course and even told me she is openly bisexual. I didn’t say anything though about your sexuality so if you feel comfortable being open with her you can be. I just have not told anyone else so if I say something about it when we are just with Loona…well I wanted you to know why.”

“Thank you.” Orion said softly as he got to the door of Via’s room.

“Hey! You must be Orion.” Loona said, sitting in the corner of Octavia’s bedroom flipping through a magazine. “I’m Loona.”

“Pleasure to meet you…I’m ace by the way.” Orion said without even thinking as he held out his hand for a handshake.

Via raised her eyebrows and stifled a laugh.

She knew that Loona would be cool with it as she had told Orion moments ago, but she was both surprised and humoured that Orion would choose to tell Loona outright.

Loona smiled and nodded.

“Cool.”

Loona then took Orion’s stretched out hand, shook it, pulled him close, whispered something in his ear, smirked and left the room taking the magazine with her.

“What did she say to you?” Via said, curiosity and amusement decorating her voice.

“She said no matter what if I hurt you in any way that she will search all of Hell for a Carmine-Crafted Blessing-Tipped Rifle, hunt me down and kill me with it.”

Via laughed.

Loona and her relationship had grown so much since they’d first talked last year when she had accidentally traveled to L.A.

Slowly they’d begun to develop a big sister and little sister type of dynamic that Via could not say she hated.

Her relationships with everyone in this household was growing day by day, but they still had ways to go.

No time to think about that at the moment though.

Blitz and Stolas would be back any moment with the groceries.

Orion started to scan Via’s bookshelves.

“You have a lot of umm…explicit romance books.” Orion observed.

Via raised her eyebrows and put her hands on her hips.

“You know that is some internalized acephobia right there. Just cause I am not interested in doing it doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy reading about couples being intimate with one another.”

Orion held up his hands.

“Oh no. I apologize I did not mean that at all. I just meant that…I did not know you enjoyed romance books like this. I like…I like learning new things about you Via.”

Octavia smiled when he said her name and at the fact that he was genuinely interested in what she liked.

Via had begun reading more last year as a means to escape her mother and uncle. She found that she really enjoyed romance books, especially ones that were more dark academia and fantasy based.

The two sat in silence for a few moments, Via sitting on her bed while Orion was perched up against the bookshelf.

“I went to see Sarah.” Orion said, breaking the silence.

“How was she?” asked Octavia.

Orion let out a frustrated breath.

“Still the same. She is just in a coma. No signs of anything different. I could not stay long and have not been able to go back as often as I have wished, but I just hoped that there would be some improvements?”

Via nodded.

“I guess we just need to have faith.” Via said with a false sense of security in her voice that she hoped Orion would not pick up on.

Orion just nodded.

“I am going back there next week. Maybe you can come with me? I’m also gonna try to see Tony again?”

Via looked at Orion surprised.

“What do you mean try to see him again? You haven’t been able to yet?”

Orion shook his head in defeat.

“No. Every time I have tried he apparently has denied visitors.”

Via looked down at her bed spread and sighed.

She felt partially responsible for Tony’s lack of faith.

“Maybe you could try and talk to him?” Orion suggested.

“Are you out of your mind?” Via exclaimed, getting up from her bed. “If he is not gonna see you, he is sure as hell not gonna wanna see me.”

Orion got up and walked over to Via, gently taking his hands in hers.

“Because you’ve been able to help us so much in so little time. Even now you were able to get Blitz on our side and saved him from Satan’s wrath at his second trial. I know after everything with Polly and Patrice…” Orion trailed off.

Via looked away.

She did not wanna think about friends she’d barely had but who she’d gotten so close to in such a short amount of time who had sacrificed so much…due to her own family’s actions.

She still had the phone that Polly and Patrice’s parents had gifted her. It did not seem to have service anymore and she had gotten her own phone from Stolas shortly after moving back in with him, but she still kept it on her nightstand.

A reminder of who and what she is fighting for.

“But the point still stands!” Orion said, breaking Via out of her sad trance. “I really think that if he was able to talk to you then…well…things will be back on track more than ever before. Can you please try? I can go with you even?”

Via nodded.

“Okay. I will try. But I think this is something I need to do alone. Maybe you could visit Sarah again when I go?”

Orion nodded.

“I can try to do that. Though it also may depend on if dear old dad and mum are not trying to show me off to more princesses.”

Via’s eyes went wide.

“More princesses?”

Orion grimaced, but shook his head yes.

“Yup. The only times they have given me any attention in the last few months have been when they wanna find someone else to marry me off to so they can get more money or more nobility or whatever they want to accomplish from all of this. It’s awful.”

Via gave him a sad look though she could deny she was secretly happy that Orion did not seem to enjoy any company from the other princesses.

She hated feeling this way, but it was true.

“I’m sorry. Being around a bunch of princesses all day must be terrible.”

Orion smirked.

“Jealous?” he said with an impish grin.

Via playfully smacked his chest.

“In your dreams.”

“Don’t worry.” Orion said laughing. “There is actually only one princess whose company I immensely enjoy.”

Via smirked.

“I’m sure you say that to all the other royals you meet.”

Orion suddenly got serious and looked into Via’s eyes intensely.

“No…just one.”

Via chuckled, but then began to look just as intensely at Orion as he was looking at her.

How could someone be an awkward one minute and so charming the next.

The two young Goetic demons were interrupted when they heard Blitz and Stolas come into the apartment with what Octavia assumed was the groceries.

Via began to turn around and walk to the doro when she noticed something.

“Oh damn it.”

“What?” Orion asked.

“I put my shirt inside out today.” Via said as she noticed the tag sticking out the side of her tank top.

“Do you need to change? I can step out.”

Via thought about it and then eyed one of the books that Orion had been looking at earlier on herself.

Octavia suddenly got a deviously hilarious idea.

“Hey…you wanna play a trick on my dad and Blitz?”

Via began to ruffle her features and then ruffle Orion’s.

“Wait, you mean the ones that work for the Assasination business?”

“Yup.” Via said as she wrinkled both of their shirts as well to help make what she was about to imply to the people outside (well except for Loona) her door look convincing.

“You mean the ones I am supposed to be meeting for the first time and probably wanna make a good first impression?” Orion said anxiously.

“Exactly. Now come on.”

Orion didn’t have enough time to protest as Via dragged him out through the door.

“Oh hey guys…” Via said putting her childhood acting classes to work. “We were just talking and are just so tired right now.”

Blitz and Stolas turned to see the state that Via and Orion looked and gasped.

Blitz suddenly looked out for blood while Stolas just was in shock.

Loona was in the corner of the kitchen trying her hardest not to choke on the popcorn she’d just made and was currently snacking on.

“Umm..I…ummm” Orion stuttered.

“Yeah so Orion’s gonna go, but don’t worry we had a really really really good talk and we caught each other up on everything. But we are also both super tired now.” Via said as she put her arms around the paralyzed young bird and led him to the door.

Loona was currently slamming her fist against the fridge trying not to laugh too hard as the older adults just stood in shock.

“See you later Orion. I will miss you.” Via said, putting her hand over her heart.

“Not. Funny.” Orion mouthed to the princess as she shut the door.

Via just smirked again and gave him a hand motion that said she would call him later.

Octavia walked back in where she found Loona still trying not to choke on her popcorn as she continued to laugh into her paws, Blitz still looking both extremely protective and pissed off and Stolas just looking shocked.

“Oh!” Via said, continuing to play pretend. “Look at that? Silly me. My shirt is inside out. I guess I need to change. I will be back.”

And with that, Via finished off the performance of a lifetime and sauntered back into her bedroom.

She could not hear much, but from the sound of it Loona was still cracking up, Blitz was mumbling in a pissed off tone and Stolas had apparently left to garden out on the terrace as she heard the glass door slide open and shut which normally was a sign that her father was going to tend to his plants out on the balcony.

Via chuckled again before she pulled out her phone and texted Orion.

VIA: Good Job!

ORION: Not Funny! Again. What the fuck Via?

VIA: Come on, you need to admit it was a little funny.

Orion: Nope. Also now you are gonna have to tell me everything you and Blitz say when you talk about the next steps we should take against your uncle and mother.

VIA: Worth It!

Orion: I am so gonna have to get back at you one day for that.

Via: You can try.

Orion: Trust me I am full of surprises.

Via: Trust me…I know.

Orion: What is that supposed to mean?

Via: Don’t worry…I meant it as a compliment.

Orion: Oh well thank you.

Via: Don’t worry. I will let Blitz in on the prank and make sure he doesn’t try to castrate you or anything like that. Also, I will let you know what’s said during the conversation between me and Blitz that can help us with all of this.

Orion: Thank you.
Orion: Both for making sure Blitz doesn’t castrate me and for letting me know what you both talk about.

Via: 👍 No Problem!

Via quickly changed into a new top and walked back out of her bedroom to find Blitz at the kitchen table, Loon nowhere to be found and Stolas (from what she could see out of the corner of her eye) nervously gardening out back.

“So that was Orion, huh?” Blitz said.

“Where is Loona?” Via said with a laugh.

She’d have a little more fun till she told him the truth.

“She went to go ax throwing with Russ and Gigi. Now please answer the question.” Blitz said massaging his aching forehead.

Via chuckled.

“Blitz.”

“Yes Via.” Blitz said, clenching his teeth trying not to freak out anymore.

“It was a joke.”

“What?” Blitz asked, not sure exactly what she meant by that.

“It. Was. A. Prank. Orion and I didn’t do anything…we just thought it would be funny to trick you…well me more than him, but I promised him I would clear this up before you castrated him.”

Blitz sighed out in relief.

“Oh thank Satan…I mean I get you are an adult and free to do what you wish, but…okay I did wanna castrate him a little.”

Via just laughed.

She thought about telling Blitz about being her being ace, but she decided against it for now.

She’d tell both him and dad and even more people someday…when she was ready.

It was fun having made Blitz squirm like that.

It reminded her when she would occasionally play practical jokes on her father as a small child. She’d put fake bugs in Stolas’ tea or put plastic wrap over the toilet seat.

Her mother would scold her for being childish, but once the shock would die down her father actually would comment that he thought the jokes were decently amusing.

She’d let Stolas know later that it was a joke, but she figured that there would be time later for all of that.

Now she and Blitz had to get to work.

Via spent the next several minutes catching Blitz up on what she knew from Orion about Tony and Sarah.

“I just feel really bad you know…like it’s my fault.” Octavia said, referring to Tony and Sarah’s current states.

“Hey now.” Blitz said, reaching for Via’s hand.

She surprisingly did not pull away.

“Look I get what it is like to blame yourself for something like this. For something that caused a lot of harm to others, but I need you to know that it is not your fault. Your uncle and mother are to blame. You only want to change things for the better and that scares people like them.”

“I know.” Octavia said, looking away. “Everyone keeps telling me it isn’t my fault and that it is their fault, but I was complicit before. I didn’t even realize how much was going on. How much injustice there was in Hell until it impacted me. What kind of person does that make me?”

“It makes you someone who is growing and changing for the better.” Blitz said reassuringly. “I mean your dad has gone through changes and so have I. We are demons and like any demons we make mistakes or we don’t always realize when we are hurting others or not doing what we can to help…but the only thing we can do is move forward and try to be better.”

Via nodded.

“Oh I got you something for you!” Blitz said, walking over to the freezer and pulling out a carton of ice cream.

Blitz grabbed a bowl, opened the carton, took two scoops of ice cream out and placed them into the bowl using a spoon.

He then placed an ice cream filled bowl and spoon in front of Via.

“Wait, this is extra chunky chocolate…I love this ice cream.” Via said shocked that Blitz had thought of her.

But how did he know?

“Yeah you mentioned liking it and so I had to grab it today. Had to spend some extra time searching different brands for the right one, but your dad helped me. I hope you like it.”

Via looked at Blitz surprised.
“I mentioned it off hand one time…and you remembered?”

“Of course!” Blitz said as he got back up and decided to make himself a bowl.

Via slowly took a bit of ice cream and brought it to her beak.

She moaned in delight as the delicious cool treat slipped down her throat.

She could not believe that Blitz had remembered this miniscule fact she’d mentioned.

“Via…” Blitz began as he sat back down with is own bowl of ice cream. “I wanted to apologize. I never meant to break up your family and help your dad cheat. It just sort of happened and I do really love your dad and care for you. I just want you to know I never did this all to try and hurt you in any way and if I have…then I am sorry. I just hope you will allow me to continue to show you that.”

Loona took a gulp of her ice cream and turned towards Blitz.

“I really did blame you…for so long. I thought you were the reason that things were such a mess with my family, but I’ve started to think that things may have always been broken between them.”

“You know that doesn’t mean your dad cares any less about you, right? Just cause you and your mother didnt’ work out.”

Via nodded.

“I know. And I know that you really care about my dad and do make him happy. I don’t think I hate you anymore…the way I did last year. And I’m not saying that I am ready to go all in yet with this whole family thing we kind of have right now.” Via said with outstretched arms. “But I am trying you know…with a lot of new things.”

Blitz nodded.

“Me too. I think all we can do is try right now. Does that work for you?”

Via nodded.

“It does.”

With that, the two went back to their ice cream and then began to strategize where and how they could send a message.

Suddenly, Via got a text message and saw it was from Orion.

ORION: TURN ON THE TV. NEWS! CHANNEL 666!

Via rushed over to the remote and quickly turned the channel to 666.

On screen was a video of what looked like a rally concert being led by Verosika.

Or at least what was a concert.

Now it turned into some sort of chaotic ambush with Andrelphus having his guards place Verosika in handcuffs as well as multiple other attendees.

Blitz gasped.

“Oh no. Poor Ver.” he said silently.

“Citizens of Hell. This horrific display of disobedience will not be tolerated any longer!” Andrelphus announced at the microphone. “Anyone not leaving after my additional announcement will be immediately arrested.”

“Ughh at this point I just think he likes to hear himself squawk.” Via groaned.

“I know right!” Blitz said just as tired of Via’s uncle's bullshit.

“Since you all seem to like gathering together so much, then all of Hell can gather around on Hell’s newest holiday: Ars Goetia Day! This day happens to fall on my birthday and will be a celebration of the amazing accomplishments and opportunities that upper class has given to you all as well as a celebration of Hell’s status quo and why things are the way they are.”

Via huffed.

Of course her uncle would make up such a pompous holiday and have it be on his birthday.

“And we have something special for everyone here.” Andrealphus said. “Since everyone here seems to be a fan of music and might relate more to one of your own, then we have a special treat. A musical performance for you all from a dear friend of our family…Striker.”

Blitz gasped.

“What the fuck?” he exclaimed, staring at the TV in shock.

“Thank you. I am just gonna play a little song for you all here.”

Blitz and Via blocked out the nonsense that Striker was singing about which seemed to be all about how great Hell was as is and how he was the greatest and everyone should listen to him.

Blitz could not believe it.

Striker was a hypocrite, he knew that, but he really had expected more from him than being a class traitor and doing a royals bidding for how much he claims to hate them.

It wasn’t that though.

It was the fact that Striker was going to be used by the royals to help get the lower class on their side.

He was using Striker as a way to relate to imps especially to get them on their side…and it was working.

“Look!” Via said, showing Blitz her phone.

Blitz looked at the various Sinstagram posts that were praising Striker and calling out the people who were trying to protest.

They were calling the protests names like riots and lying about how good things actually were.

Blitz was sure some of these people themselves were impacted by the upper class rules and hierarchy…but sadly they did not seem to care.

It was like these people thought they were better or on level with the Ars Goetia and alike…but that was furthest from the truth.

Blitz closed his eyes and groaned.

“I need to talk to Striker.”

It took Blitz a few hours, but he finally found Striker in the old mine shaft that Stolas had been taken to last year.

“STRIKER!” Blitz yelled. “We need to talk.”

Striker looked like he was packing some bags and getting ready to leave his hideout.

“Blitz. What a surprise? Sorry, I don’t have much time to chat. I am actually being granted some better accommodations thanks to the Ars Goetia.”
“Yeah. I saw your little performance on TV today.” Blitz said, kicking some dirt around as he walked straight up to Striker who was kneeling on the ground packing next to what looked like a refurbished statues of Striker’s own likeness.

Blitz knelt down next to Stiker to get on his level.

“Striker. I know you hate me and I know you hate royals. So why the fuck are you working for them?”

Striker got up, looked Blitz dead in the eyes and pushed him against the cavern walls.

“You just do not fucking get it. I had everything taken from me. And if working for these royal dickheads is how I get my compensation then so be it.

“So what?” Blitz spat back. “You are just gonna screw over everyone else to help yourself. News flash asshole. Once they are done with you, do you really think you’re safe?”

“Shut the fuck up!” Striker yelled back as he pushed Blitz to the ground and rushed back to his packing.

“I thought I could reason with you.” Blitz said with a bit of defeat in his voice.

“Well…sorry to disappoint you, but if you do not get out of here in the next five second I am gonna remove your head from that skinny little body of yours. You already dodged that twice Blitz…I would not bet on making it out a third time.”

And with that Blitz left Striker’s cavern.

Blitz did not know what was going to happen next, but he did know one thing.

Something big was coming and it was coming fast.

But with the help of anyone he could find…they would fight and hopefully with enough luck…they would win.

Chapter Text

“I’m here to see Tony Vernelli.” Octavia said to the guard.

“We ‘aint having visitors now. Come back tomorrow between the hours of-”

Via gently undid the cloak she had placed over her head to hide her identity.

The guard suddenly got up from his chair and looked instantly shaken.

“Oh your highness. My apologies. I will see if he is available.”

“Please tell him specifically that Princess Octavia is here to see him.”

The guard nodded, bowed and then raced behind a wooden door to where Via guessed the prison cells were.

They had a little over a month until Ars Goetia Day.

To start Octavia, Blitz and Orion (after re-introducing the two a few days later with better results than their first meeting had been) decided that they should try to get Tony on board.

So while Orion was at the hospital with Sarah hoping that something would change, Via went to talk with Tony.

The guard came back into the waiting area she was standing in and gently opened the door for her.

“You may proceed Princess.” the guard said bowing.

As Octavia placed her hood back over her head and walked through the decrepit stone hallway and rows of cells filled with various demons of all races (though mainly imps and hell hounds), she was shocked at the conditions of these spaces.

Regardless of why reapers and the upper class were throwing these demons in prison, no one deserves to live in conditions like this.

Via promised herself that when everything with the revolution was over, she’d make reforming the prison system in Hell one of her top priorities.

Octavia was brought to a cell where Tony was sitting in the corner.

The prison guard who had taken her to Tony’s cell stood a few feet away from her.

“Can we have a moment of privacy?” Via asked.

“I am sorry Princess, but I am not sure that is-”

“Excuse Me. But I am a Princess of the Goetic Demons and I want to speak with the prisoner alone. Now I am sure you don’t want my uncle to hear about this.”

The guard held up his hands immediately folding at the princesses’ demand.

“You have 15 minutes.” the guard said as he walked to the door.

The man left the room and once Via knew for sure he was gone, she looked at Tony inside the cell.

Tony’s prison cell was just as run down as the others in the prison and Via could see that Tony was not doing well.

She had not had the chance to get to know him much before the fire and the arrest, but she knew Tony was on average a person to show a tough exterior, to be more stoic and ready for anything.

That was not the person she saw before her.

This man looked frail, weakened and defeated.

Via again did not know Tony well, but she knew that this was not like him.

“Tony…thank you for allowing me to speak to you.” Octavia stated.

Tony huffed.

“I did not believe you were even here. I had to see it with my own eyes. Don’t you have some balls to attend or fancy ribbon cutting ceremonies or whatever the hell princesses do?”

Via got defensive.

“That is not fair.”

“Is that so?” Tony said as he got up and walked up to the metal bars that were currently separating Via and him. “Well you know what I think is not fair. I think Polly and Patrice losing their lives wasn’t fair. I think Sarah being in a coma is not fair. I think my family being killed by demons like you wasn’t fair.”

Via sighed.

He was right.
None of that was fair.

Via could not change the past, but she could try to help the future become one that Via was proud to be a ruler in and one where what had happened to Tony’s loved ones would not happen again to anyone else.

“You are absolutely right.” Octavia said.

Tony looked at her surprised.

He had not been expecting her to admit that.

“I came along and then the fire happened and you were arrested and people got hurt…and worse.” Via said sadly looking away from Tony’s face. “But I am trying to fix that. I want to be the kind of ruler people can depend on. Someone who sees injustice and doesn’t just say they are gonna do something or they support fighting against it…but someone who actually does something about it. I’m a princess and that means one day I will be a ruler in Hell. I will have my Uncle’s position and while he is currently using it to try and stop what I am trying to do, I am not taking it sitting down. I am fighting back because it is the right thing to do. I get it if you do not want to trust me now. But think about what we almost accomplished and what we can accomplish…I just need your help. Please. “

Tony sighed.

“I wanna trust you fully….but it will take some time. I can work with you though…for the rebellion…for those who we’ve lost.”

“I can work with that.” Via said with a grin.

“Does that mean that you can tell your Uncle to let me out of this prison cell?” Tony asked hopefully.

Via shook her head.

“I can’t! He probably would not do it regardless if I asked or not and he’d be suspicious if I did. We need a new plan.”

Tony thought to himself and then had an idea.

“Your magic. I mean you have powers. Can’t you do something with those?”

Via’s eyes went wide as she remembered a spell her father had taught her that allowed her to transport people from one place to another with the snap of a finger.

Via stood up and tried it, but when she snapped her fingers…nothing happened.

Of course.

“Damn it!” Octavia muttered.

“What?” Tony asked.

“There must be some type of blessed materials used in these walls so that anyone who can perform magic can’t escape.”

Tony walked over to his cell’s bed and picked up his pillow.

“You’ve got the fucking kidding me.” he said yelling into the pillow now on his lap.

Then Tony looked up at Via with a smirk on his face.

“Laundry is taken in about 30 minutes.”

Via looked at Tony like he was nuts.

“Umm okay?”

Tony got up and gave Octavia a more hopeful look than she’d ever seen him give anyone.

“How good are you at disguises?”

Via thought for a second…she could not do anything related to disguising herself as her magic wasn’t working in probably the whole perimeter of the prison.

But that did not mean she didn’t know someone who could…

Via smiled at Tony.

“Let me make a call.”

“So I mean you’ve really just been doing a fabulous job here.” Via continued to say as she talked to the guard when returning from visiting Tony’s cell.

“Aww shucks princess really?” said the guard looking quite bashful.

“Why yes…” Via noticed his name tag. “Felix. Now how did you get into this position? It must be a fascinating story. Maybe one I could pass along to help get you a raise.”

Felix’s eyes widened.

“Really. Well you see my parents both worked for reapers and dreamed I would follow in their footsteps someday. Though let me tell you. My days of hunting criminals started off in mall security and that is an adventure all its own. I remember one time…”

As Felix went on and on about his life, Via just nodded along pretending to listen.

Eventually though, Octavia spotted someone from the corner of her eyes.

This person had long black hair (which Via knew was a wig), a blue and white maids dress, and was pushing a big blue fabric cart filled with towels and bedspreads…though she knew it was not just fabrics in that cart.

“Don’t mind me dearie. I am just doing the laundry like always.” said the individual in a high pitched voice.

Felix waved the maid through the door out into the laundry area, paying no attention as he continued on with his story.

“And then when I was 21 I ran a marathon…well half a marathon. But that was also where I met the love of my life. You see funny story-”

Via saw a red thumbs up through the caged window of the door that the “maid” had gone through.

Via took that as her que.

“Oh you know what Felix. I actually have to leave now. I deeply apologize. However, do not worry as I will talk to your superiors about getting you a raise. You seem to be doing a fantastic job here. You are keeping everyone safe and making sure nothing gets past you.”

Felix blushed.

“Awww why thank you Princess. Hey are you sure you don’t wanna stay to hear the part about the peanut butter? Everyone loves that part of the story.”

“Oh I sadly do not have the time, Felix. But you’ve been such a help really. I promise to see if I can make that promotion happen for you though.” Octavia said as she rushed out the door.

She barely heard Felix call out goodbye as she rushed outside and raced over to where Tony had told her the laundry area was.

Via turned a corner, opened the door to a small room connected to the prison and found Blitz, still dressed in a maids outfit, standing next to Tony who was climbing out of the laundry cart.

Blitz pushed the dirty cart to the back of the laundry room.

Then he and Tony rushed out of the small connecting room, closing the door behind them.

“Let’s go before someone sees us.” Via hissed.

The three individuals raced out of the prison and down the street.

Blitz opened a portal with his crystal and the three jumped through, now finding themselves outside Blitz and Stolas’ apartment building.

The three exhausted demons looked at one another and smiled.

Via could not believe that this plan worked.

“Thank you…for getting me out of there.” Tony said to Blitz and Octavia.

“No problemo Toony.”

Tony looked confused at Via.

“Toony?”

Via chuckled lightly.

“He likes nicknames…you’ll get used to it.”

Tony just nodded and laughed.

Blitz looked up at the apartment building and then checked his phone.

“As much as I wanna stay and help, I think I am gonna go spend some quality time with Stolas upstairs. Call me if you need anything. But not for like an hour or so…or more.” Blitz said as he rushed up the steps still in full costume.

“Ummm he is still wearing the outfit.” Tony said.

Via grimaced.

“Yeah…they are about to probably do some role playing thing I really really really do not wanna think about ever when it comes to my father. So…can we please go? Like anywhere, but here.” Via begged as she tried to put thoughts of whatever Blitz and her father were gonna be doing upstairs out of her head.

She had no ill feelings towards the art of drag or drag queens or kings or anyone using that art as part of any bedroom activities…she did however want to never have to think of her father and his boyfriend’s bedroom activities no matter how either of them were dressed.

And the more expressively creative Blitz implied…the less she wanted to think about it.

“Yes, should we go see Orion and Sarah at the hospital.”

Via took out her cell and saw that she had a missed call from Orion as well as a text from him.

ORION: Sarah is awake!!!

Via smiled and looked up at Tony as she turned her phone to show him the message.

“Let’s go see Sarah.” she said.

“You all need to spring me from this joint! I am antsier than a horse in a rattlesnake field.” Sarah said looking at Tony, Octavia and Orion.

The trio laughed and Orion got up from his seat.

“I will go check with a nurse to see if they can discharge you.”

And with that, Tony and Via were left alone with Sarah.

“In the movies, everyone can hear people talkin’ to them and stuff when they’re in a coma. But I didn’t hear anythang. Just felt like wakin’ up from a long nap.” Sarah said.

Tony nodded.

“Well even if it felt like a long nap, I think you still need some rest.”

Sarah rolled her eyes.

“You sound like Orion. He was soooo worried when I woke up. Y’all should’ve seen him.”

Octavia smiled to herself.

She knew that Orion especially had a soft spot for the young Wrathian girl and was almost like a big brother to her.

Tony, she was reminded though, was also very protective of Sarah.

“I am serious Sarah.” Tony stated. “You got lucky and I don’t think we should risk that.”

“What do you mean?” Sarah asked.

“I think you need to stay out of the fight. Go somewhere safe till this is all over.” Tony sighed.

“What! NO!” Sarah exclaimed angrily.

“I mean we could use all the help we can get.” Via said.

Tony glared at Octavia.

“She is a child. Just cause you think she can help, doesn’t mean she should.”

“Well she fought fine before so why could she not fight well now?”

“You just wanna use her for the rebellion. I thought you were sorry she got hurt and now you just wanna put her back in danger. She cannot move like she did before.”

“No. That is not what I am saying.”

“Then what are you saying Octavia cause-”

“GUYS!” Sarah yelled interrupting the argument in front of her.

Tony and Via stared at Sarah in shock as the two shut their mouths and listened to the young teen in front of them.

Sarah smiled first at Tony.

“I get you wanna protect me. You & Orion have been looking out for me since I met ‘yall. But I wanna fight. I can’t let what happened to me hold me back. I’ve been here longer than you have Tony and I know I can do this. You have to trust me.”

Tony nodded.

As protective as he was of Sarah, he knew she was one of the fastest fighters he’d ever met.

She was doing this before and if he tried to stop her now…she knew she would just find a way to work against the upper class demons anyhow.

At least if she was working directly with them he could keep an eye on her and make sure she was safe.

“Okay.” Tony said with a sigh.

He knew when to admit defeat.

Sarah then turned to Via.

“And Octavia. I get you need my help in the rebellion and all. But Tony is right a little bit. I won’t be able to move as easily. Not at first and I hope you can be patient with that.”

Octavia looked at the girl with embarrassment and shame.

She’d had tunnel vision for a second and hadn’t really thought about Sarah herself and what she might need if she did wanna continue fighting.

“You are right. I’m sorry.”

Sarah just smiled and reached out her hands to hold both of her friend’ hands.

“I forgive both of you. Now what did I miss?”

Via and Tony then spent the rest of the time that Sarah was in the hospital giving her updates on what she had missed.

Sarah had cried in Tony’ arms a bit when they confirmed Polly and Patrice’s deaths, but Sarah ultimately now seemed more determined than ever to help win in their fight.

Not just for herself and her fellow lower class demons, but for Patrice and Polly’s honor.

She, like all of Project Renegade…she would not let their deaths be in vain.

Sarah ended up falling asleep in Orion’s arms as they walked back to Blitz and Stolas’ apartment once they’d gotten off the bus.

Luckily, they’d been able to get out of the hospital with hours to spare before the new curfew set in.

“I’m sorry for fighting with you earlier.” Via said timidly.

She wasn’t taught to apologize as a princess and she had shockingly found herself doing that a lot today. But she knew that was the first step to changing how she had been and becoming who she truly wanted to be…for both herself and her people.

Tony looked surprised at Octavia and then let out a small breath.

“Yeah. Me too. Look like I said. It is gonna take some time, but I care more about this rebellion more than I do fighting with you. And I think you feel the same about me. So let’s just do our best to get through all this.”

“Okay.”

It was not much, but it was enough for now.

When they got back to the apartment, Via, Blitz, Stolas and Loona helped set up Sarah and Tony in the living room as well as fed them a home cooked meal.

Sarah was small enough to be comfortable in the large recliner Blitz had purchased for the living room and Tony was happy to take the couch.

That night, as Octavia slept in her bed she thought about the day’s events.

Things were getting closer and closer in regards to the rebellion.

They still had weeks to go till their planned strike, but she was not sure if that would be enough.

There were rumors of Andrealphus hiring more guards, getting more popular and thinking up new laws to sign into action on his new holiday.

This was not going to be an easy fight, nor will it probably be a fair one.

But while Andrealphus had fear and intimidation on his side, their side had something that the upper class could never expect.

They had hope.

And with hope Via felt that they could do anything.

Those were her last thoughts as she drifted off to bed, ready to face whatever challenges arrived the next day.

If only she knew what those challenges would be….

Chapter Text

Millie and Moxxie woke to a knock at their door early in the morning.

Millie got up looking confused as she saw that it was about 7 A.M.

She and Moxxie had the day off and Sallie May should have already been at the office.

Maybe her sister had forgotten her keys or something.

So while her husband and babies slept, Millie walked down the steps and opened the door to her home.

In front of her stood a tall possessor demon woman with a dark purple suit and a matching skirt. She held a clipboard and looked quite uppity towards Millie.

“Can I help you with something?” Millie asked, confused.

“Linda Bartlet, Hell’s Social Services. I have been asked to take a look at your residency and make sure that this is an appropriate place for your children to be living in.”

Millie suddenly stiffened and looked extremely concerned as the woman let herself into her home, pushing past the young mother and homeowner.

What was going on?

She did not even realize Hell had a social services program or at least one that did much.

Linda seemed to read Millie’s mind as she answered the question Millie had in her head, all while she swiped her scaly fingers over the mantle that hadn’t been dusted in a while.

Linda flicked the dust off her fingers and wrote something down on her clipboard.

“We are an update of an older program that the Goetic demons have decided to crack down on and invest time and tax dollars in. We are just making sure that certain children to certain parents are being raised in a certain fashion that is best for the children, of course.”

Millie’s heart was racing.

She did not know if she should run upstairs and wake up Moxxie or if that would just make herself look incompetent.

She could not tell what this woman was thinking about her or the home she and her husband had built.

Millie felt her every movement was being judged by this woman who with the flick of her pen could easily tear her family apart.

Linda began to ask Millie a round of personal questions.

She asked about her and Moxxie’s job.

The dangers that their job created for the couple and their kids.

The money they made.

Their family history.

Finally, Linda walked around the first floor of the house with Millie following not too far behind.

Surprisingly, Linda never asked to speak with Moxxie or even see the children herself.

She just took down notes and left Millie alone in her living room with a statement (though it sounded more like a threat) that she might be back for a follow up.

Millie watched out the window as the woman’s car sped away.

She waited until she knew Linda was completely out of sight.

Then Millie walked over to the couch and tore one of the cushions in half out of pure rage.

She then grabbed the other cushion and screamed into it to let all her aggression out.

Tears shone in Millie’s eyes.

Tears of fear and anger.

What the fuck had just happened?

Why would a social worker be at their home?

There were rich people who grew up with toxic abusive parents in Hell and as far as Millie knew or could at least assume they were not being investigated.

“Millie?”

Millie heard Moxxie calling from upstairs.

At the sound of her name, Millie raced up the steps of her home almost crashing into her half awake husband.

“Moxxie.” Millie cried as she rushed to hug her husband and then began to drag him towards the nursery as the babies were now crying, alerting their parents that they were both awake.

“Honey, what’s wrong?” Moxxie asked frantically.

Millie gently held Maria in her arms and Moxxie rushed over to get Max.

As Millie rocked Maria back and forth, she explained the events of the last twenty minutes to her husband.

Moxxie’s eyes went wide as he took in what his wife was saying.

“Why would they come here? We’ve done nothing wrong.” Moxxie exclaimed.

Millie nodded.

“Exactly. I think it must be some type of warning or threat from Andrealphus, but Mox…I’m really scared.”

Moxxie went over and hugged his wife from the side.

The couple huddled together with their babies hoping that their comfort was enough to magically stop what was happening, even though in their heart of hearts they knew that was impossible at this point.

Millie then heard her phone buzzing in the other room.

She gently placed Maria back in her crib and went to pick up her cell.

There were multiple new text messages.

LUCIE: DID YOU ALL GET A VISIT FROM A SOCIAL WORKER? CAUSE I JUST DID!

PAMELA: ME TOO!! He interviewed me and Jackie separately and took a few notes then left.

LUCIE: The lady who talked to me barely looked at Oliver who I was holding in my arms the whole time.

PAMELA: I am telling you the guy who talked to us was making so many snide little homophobic remarks that Jackie had to hold me back from punching him square in the jaw. He just left with an ominous warning too.

MILLIE: Same things happened just now at our house. She didn’t even wanna see the babies.

The girls continued to text for a few moments and Pamela and Lucie informed Millie that they thought it might be best to try to get away with their kids for a while.

Jackie and Pamela would be going to stay with Jackie’s family who’d retired in Envy a few years back while Lucie was going to Gluttony with her mother (she stated that though their relationship was still not the best, her mother did seem to adore Oliver and she just needed to be as far away from Pride as possible right now).

Millie was about to put her phone down and go back to the nursery, when she felt her phone vibrate again and saw this time it was a call from Sallie May.

Millie answered it and once she heard what Sallie said, she yelled at Moxxie to try and get in contact with Blitz and get the kids ready to meet everyone at the office.

“Why what’s wrong?” Moxxie said, concerned.

Millie hung up the phone and looked her spouse right in the eyes.

“Sallie said the office has a letter on the door sayin’ we need to cease business at once and Blitz doesn’t know yet.”

Meanwhile, Blitz was making pancakes with the help of Stolas.

He knew he was running a little behind schedule, but Sallie May was going to open up the office for them and with the crystal he could be there in a moment's notice.

“All right, you think this should be enough for 6 people?” Blitz said as he held up the tall stack of pancakes.

Stolas grabbed the plate from Blitz and placed it on the kitchen table.

“I am not sure about Sarah and Tony’s dietary restrictions or their normal eating habits, but I think that these pancakes will be to their liking.” Stolas said as he grabbed a few plates to help set the table.

Blitz smiled as he looked over at Stolas.

Sometimes he felt like he was living in a dream that he never wanted to wake up from.

Yeah, things were not perfect with the threat of Andrealphus, Stella, and the likes of them looming over everyone.

But he had a wonderful boyfriend, a daughter who he was closer to than ever before, the daughter of his boyfriend who he was growing closer and closer to everyday (as well as co-leading a rebellion with), a great business, fantastic friends, his sister back in his life, and hope that things would be better.

As long as he had all of that, then Blitz did not think anything could bring him down.

That was until Loona, for the second time in the last few weeks, rushed out of her bedroom and told Blitz to turn on the TV.

Octavia, Sarah and Tony all followed Loona out of the room with terrified looks on their faces.

Tony looked the most concerned.

Loona turned up the volume on Channel 666 News where Katie Kiljoy was seen sitting at her desk.

Ms. Killjoy was currently finishing up a segment.

“So as we said before our break, we have good news for you Sinners. It seems Andrealphus of the Ars Goetia has rescinded his curfew on the Sinner population.”

Blitz furrowed his brows.

“What the hell? So this guy makes a law and then wants to seem like a hero when he takes it back for the Sinners.”

“He is most likely trying to get the Sinner population on his side.” Stolas commented.

“Shhhh” Loona hissed. “Keep listening.”

“In other news.” Katie Killjoy stated. “There has been a be on the lookout order for this demon here.”

A photo appeared next to Katie’s face and everyone in the living room gasped.

It was a photo of Tony.

“Tony Vernelli, is a dangerous escape who escaped the Royal Prison yesterday afternoon around 4 P.M.”

“Not to be confused with the royal dungeon.” Blitz murmured to himself.

“There is a $100,000 reward for the capture of this man, dead or alive. Though the Goetia have requested that they prefer to capture him alive.”

Katie Killjoy went on to discuss a few more things that were happening in Hell, but no one could concentrate.

“I need to turn myself in.” Tony said as he fell into his chair at the kitchen table.

“What the fuck! No. No, Absolutely not.” Via exclaimed as she rushed in front of him.

“We’ve been contacting more and more people who wanna join the rebellion Tony.” Sarah said encouragingly. “We can fight back.”

Tony was about to argue when Blitz interrupted.

“No! No one is leaving. We are gonna figure something out. I promise you. Everything will be fine.”

Stolas at that moment felt his phone vibrate and picked up the call.

He had a concerned look on his face and then turned to Blitz.

“Blitz! We need to get to the office now! They are trying to shut IMP down.”

Blit turned wide eyed, opened a portal and led everyone through to the office.

There they saw Millie, Sallie May, Moxxie and the twins standing outside the door to IMP reading a sign (a similar one seemed to be on Verosika’s studio).

BY ORDER of The ARS GOETIA THIS COMPANY OR ORGANIZATION HAS BEEN DEEMED UNDER INVESTIGATION AND SHOULD HALT BUSINESS IMMEDIATELY OR FACE JAIL TIME AND A FINE.

IF YOU FEEL THAT THIS HAS BEEN UNFAIR TO YOU AND YOUR ASSOCIATES, THEN PLEASE CALL THE NUMBER BELOW AT:
555-555-0934

“Tried callin’ but the line is jammed.” Sallie May said sadly.

Blitz nodded and tore down the paper.

He tried to use his key to get in, but the locks had somehow been changed.

Stupid magic.

They probably used it to change the locks of anyone who they had decided to close down.

Blitz slammed on the door and pressed his head up against the glass window.

Millie placed her hand gently on his shoulder.

Remembering the similar feeling she felt when the nonprofit was taken over by Andrealphus.

“You okay B.?” Millie asked.

She grimaced for a moment thinking that Blitz might snap at her for asking such a dumb question, but instead he just sighed and turned back to the group as he quickly dried the tears in his eyes hoping that no one else noticed.

“Let’s talk back at my place.” Blitz said.

Stolas was about to try and comfort his boyfriend, but Blitz had already opened up another portal and was leading everyone back inside.

“By the way.” Blitz said looking at M&M and the mini M&Ms. “Why are you two here? Isn’t it your day off.”

The couple grimaced as they asked the group to sit down while they explained the events of their morning.

About 15 minutes later, everyone was pretty much caught up with one another’s situations.

“I can’t believe those bastards tried to say you were not good parents.” Blitz remarked.

“You know I spent weeks sometimes months in messed up foster homes and I was barely checked on. Usually it was the parents that got me kicked out no matter how unfit and disgusting they were.” Loona said with clear and justified disdain in her voice.

“My father was an Abusive Mob Boss and I didn’t know till I was older that social services even existed.” Moxxie exclaimed angrily.

Millie and Moxxie looked over at the babies who’d fallen back asleep in their stroller.

How they could sleep through so much of this, the parents had no idea.

“What are we gonna do about the bounty on Tony’s head?” Via asked.

“Yeah.” Sarah said, nodding from her seat on the recliner. “We can't just go out in public now like normal.”

“I can still turn myself in.” Tony offered from his place at the kitchen table. “Really. I can. I don’t want all of you to suffer just because of me.”

“No!” Blitz said standing up. “No one is surrendering themselves.”

Blitz then looked at his phone and had an idea.

He dialed someone’s number and quickly placed the cell phone up to his ear.

“Hey Fizz…do you remember that one place you passed on that you told me about…the one for your school…do you think you can show us where it is?”

About a few hours later after some quick packing, organizing, calling, emailing, texting and driving…the members of Project Renegade all found themselves in a dingy bunker on the outer end of Pride.

“It’s not much. But it will do for now.” Fizz said, flipping on a light to reveal multiple pullout beds, a few tables and chairs and some old gym mats and a few pieces of dusty exercise equipment.

“This used to be some kind of old storm bunker years ago that was abandoned. The owner of it was one of the few people who remembered it even existing and he died recently after showing me the place.” Fizz continued. “So we should be safe.”

The gang looked around with painted smiles on their faces.

“Umm this is great and all, but weren’t there supposed to be more people meeting us here?” Via stated.

Sarah sighed.

“I tried to contact a lot of the people we talked to, but they seemed too scared of the Goetia and all the upper class demons' wrath to try and fight back. I’ve even heard of some overlords bein’ paid to help keep things in line and intimidate anyone who is trying to fight back.”

“So that’s it?” Sallie May asked angrily. “This is all who is willing to help us?”

“Well I wouldn’t say that sweetie.” a voice said from behind.

Sallie turned around and saw Barbie Wire standing among a group of what looked to be about 50 or so other Imps, Hell Hounds and even a few Sinners.

Sallie smiled as she rushed to kiss her girlfriend.

Barbie swung Sallie May in her arms and then gently placed her down at her feet.

“Barb?” Blitz said surprised. “You did all this? How?”

Barbie sauntered over to her brother and halted right in front of him.

“I had to make a few calls around, but I was able to find enough people who were just as sick of the shitty hands we’ve been dealt with in this messed up class system and word spread I guess.”

Before Barbie could register what was happening, Blitz rushed to hug his sister.

“Thank you. “ Blitz said to Barbie.

Barbie hugged him back.

“Well I can’t promise anything in terms of fighting skills. That is my girlfriend and your department.”

“Oh well I am sure Blitz and his team can show us a few moves.” Fizz said walking up and putting arms around both Barbie and Blitz.

Barbie smiled at Fizzarolli, she’d missed him so much.

“Oh and I did have someone else helping me too.” Barbie said, turning back behind her.

Fizz’s gaze followed where Barbie had turned to see Asmodeus standing next to the stairs leading into the bunker.

He looked sheepish and almost nervous to come in.

In all the years, Fizz knew Oz he’d never seen his ex look like that before.

Fizzarolli walked over to Ozzie.

“Oz…you helped with this?” Fizz asked.

Ozzie nodded.

“Yeah. I’m sorry we could not gather more people on short notice, but Barbie told me all about what you’re doing and I think it is pretty honorable Froggie.”

Fizz was not sure if he should smile or frown at the use of that old nickname that had been reserved only for him.

“What about the other Sins and Satan and all that? Won’t you get in trouble?” Fizz asked, turning away, not daring to look Asmodeus in the face.

“I don’t care. I can help set stuff up around here, but then I can go back to the factory so I don’t draw any unnecessary suspicion. Just let me know when the battle is though and I will be on your side. I know this doesn’t make up for it, Fizz, but I am truly sorry. I just love you so much and never really thought about our differences.”

“I love you too Oz, but we do have differences.” Fizz argued. “Not just in me being an amputee and an imp and you being a rich Sin and all, but our classes are different too. And I am fighting to make things more equal and that may impact your job and well…I just need to be upfront about all that.”

Asmodeus nodded.

“You are right. I am sorry I did not see it before and I’ve had a lot of time to think things over. I wanna change and help. I wanna be better for you Fizz.” Oz said.

Before Fizzarolli could answer he heard Blitz calling him over to a table.

Fizz began to rush over and then turned back to face his ex.

“Try to be better for yourself first and then…then we can talk.”

Ozzie nodded and began to help out with what he could.

Blitz was surrounding a table with a large map of the seven rings spread out.

“Where’d you get this?” Fizz asked.

Blitz shrugged.

“Found it over there.” Blitz said, pointing his finger towards a closet that was overflowing with random bats and other sports equipment.

“We think this place may have also been a school gym or something in the past.” Via remarked.

“Well now it is our home base.” Blitz said, circling where they were on the map.

“Right!” Via agreed. “We have about a month until Ars Goetia Day is here and we need to get training.”

“That is exactly right!” Blitz said as he began to make little markings on the spot that was circled. “I figured we could do some sparing here and maybe M&M could help with combat training over here.”

“Wait!” Loona interrupted. “Where are Millie and Moxxie?”

Sallie May and Blitz shared a knowing look with one another.

“They…they had something they needed to take care of.” Blitz said as he turned his head slightly to face the staircase leading outside the bunker.

Upstairs and outside those door, stood Milie and Moxxie on the sidewalk in front of Millie’s parents with suitcases and most importantly…Max and Maria.

“If he does not sleep he likes any type of music, but I would have Ma sing first Pa. No offense, but your voice is kind of like a dying kitty cat.” Millie said, holding Max tightly against her chest.

Joe chuckled in agreement.

“And Lin,” Moxxie began holding Maria. “Maria is on a kick where she only likes squashed yellow foods like bananas. Cream corn seems to be a personal favorite though. If you can possibly help diversity her taste palate, we’d be grateful.”

Lin laughed.

“Boy! I’ve raised and am still raising multiple kids. Let me see my grand babies and don’t worry. They should be safe with us. That lunatic demon bird said he is refusing to come to the Harvest Moon Festival this year. What nonsense is that? At least Prince Stolas did a fine job last year.” Lin said, holding out her hands to reach for her grandson.

Millie just held Max closer to her chest.

“Is that the only reason you’re supporting me doing this then? Cause you think it’ll bring back that tradition.” Millie said with slight judgment in her voice.

“No.” Lin said seriously to her daughter. “Honey. I think what you’re doing is a little crazy, but it also is very brave.”

“We could not be more proud.” Joe chimed in.

“Really?” Millie asked with stars in her eyes.

Joe and Lin nodded.

“Really.” they both said simultaneously.

Millie kissed Max one more time on his head and gave him a quick hug before handing the baby off to his grandmother.

“And Moxxie.” Joe said.

Moxxie looked Joe in the eyes and braced himself for whatever possible insult or critique may be thrown his way.

“I think you’ve been able to do what a lot of men I’ve met are afraid to do. Stand up to upper class beings and Sins like that. That takes guts and I do have to respect that about you. I know we have not seen eye to eye on many things, but I do have to say I think you are a good husband and good father for doing what you are doing. Fighting for your kids to have a better life. Well that’s one of the toughest displays of toughness I’ve ever seen.”

Moxxie looked up at Joe in awe.

He’d never heard Millie’s dad say anything even remotely like that to him and by the look on Lin’s face he knew that he’d finally earned both their acceptance and approval.

Moxxie, like his wife, held his child close in his arms. He whispered his I love yous to her, gave her one last kiss and hug, then handed Maria to Grandpa Joe.

“Don’t worry.” Lin called from the car once the children were settled in their car seats and luggage was placed into Joe’s car. “We will take great care of them and you will see them before you know it. Just know that we are so proud of you both and Sallie May for doing this. Make sure to let her know we said that too.”

So with that, the grandparents drove off back to Wrath with the twin implings as Millie and Moxxie stood watching the car travel down the street towards the other ring.

“They’ll be okay, right Mox?” Milie asked, a bit worried.

Moxxie just held his wife close in his arms and kissed her forehead.

“Yes they will Millie. We will see them soon. Don’t you fret.”

Moxxie hoped he sounded confident, but both him and Millie knew the truth.

They had to fight and they had to win because if they didn’t…well there was too much at stake to let that happen.

Octavia was practicing various moves with a baseball bat she’d found that she was now using as a baston stick.

She’d practiced a few of these moves with Sarah many months ago and was trying to jog her memory.

“Good job! Though your form is a bit off.” a voice said from behind.

Via turned around frightened & before she knew what she was doing she turned back and swung the bat at the individual’s legs who’d interrupted her.

SMACK!

The individual fell down and landed (luckily) on the mat.

Via looked down at the mystery guest and stifled a laugh.

Orion.

“I am glad my pain is so amusing to you.” Orion said, pretending to be a tiny bit miffed.

Via just laughed harder.

“I am sorry. You just took me by surprise I guess.” Via said.

“Well,” Orion said, getting up with Via’s help and then brushing himself off. “That makes two of us.”

There was an awkward pause between the two demons until Orion finally broke the silence.

“Hey so Vassago came with me. He and Stolas are talking now.”

Via nodded.

“Oh cool. Was wondering what he was up to actually.”

“Beats me. You seem to be in the middle of a really good sparring session though.” Orion said, grabbing his own bat turned baston stick from the corner of the room. “Care to try and take me out?”

Octavia laughed.

“I mean I did that once so I don’t know if you want to -AHHH”
Orion used his stick to sweep her feet causing Via to fall face first onto the training mat.

Via then grabbed Orion’s hand when he was not looking and pulled him down beside her.

The duo began to crack up next to one another.

Then they stopped and looked into each other’s eyes.

Orion began to lean in, as did Octavia.

“Octavia.” Orion whispered as he got within inches of her mouth. “May I kiss you?”

Octavia nodded and then the two shared a deep kiss.

The two knew that realistically anyone could interrupt them at any moment.

But at this point in time, they did not care.

They only had one another.

Neither wanted the kiss to end, but realistically both participants knew that an endless kiss just wasn’t realistic.

So both parties pulled back at the same time.

Orion stared at Octavia’s face and vice versa.

“I really liked that.” Orion commented.

“Me too.” Via said. “But I think it might be best to wait.”

“Wait?” Orion asked.

“Until after this whole revolution thing is over.” Octavia said as she got up with Orion’s help.

“That is probably a smart idea. After though, if you’d like to go on a date then I’d love to take you to one of the finest dining establishments in all of Hell and then maybe some dancing or maybe a Fuck You Dad Concert. I heard they are coming to Pride next month.”

Via chuckled and grinned.

“I’d be fine with dinner and a movie, but as long as we can split the bill I’d really like that.”

“Me too.”

“Us four!” said a new voice in the doorway.

Via and Orion quickly turned around to see Sarah and Tony standing in front of them.

“What have we here?” Tony teased.

“I know I am young and you all think I don’t know much about relationships and love and all that, but that definitely counts as courtin’ to me.” Sarah said as she turned to Tony. “You owe me 20 bucks.”

Orion gasped.

“You were betting on our love life.” Orion said.

“No…” Tony began to explain. “We were betting on when you’d ask her out on a date, Orion.”

“Or if Via would ask out Orion and the date. I had this week and Orion asking you out and Tony bet that it would be Via next month popping the dating question.”

Orion and Octavia just smirked and began to hold hands.

“Is there a reason for this lovely visit?” Octavia remarked.

Tony & Sarah nodded.

“Blitz wants us all to gather near the tables,” said Tony. “But if you wanna be alone-”

Via rolled her eyes.

“No, we’re coming.” Octavia said.

With that said, Tony and Sarah began to head down to where Blitz was standing at the front of the room with Via and Orion following behind.

Millie and Moxxie were seated together on a small couch to the right of Blitz. They both had smiles on their faces, but they looked painted on as if they were hiding something…fear perhaps?

Sallie May and Barbie were curled up on the other side of the couch, the latter holding the former in her arms as they got ready to hear what Blitz had to say.

At the table in front of Blitz sat Stolas, Vassago, Loona and Fizz.

Stolas and Vassago had their eyes on Blitz and were very locked in and ready to hear what he was going to say.

Loona looked like she was texting at first in Blitz’s view, but then when he looked closer he realized she wasn’t…she was actually getting ready to use her phone to take notes.

She was really interested in what he had to say and what they were doing here.

That warmed Blitz’s heart more than he ever thought possible.

Fizz looked back and saw that Oz was standing back in the corner.

He gave his ex a small smile and wave and Ozzie did the same.

He knew that Ozzie had to leave soon, but he could not lie and say he wasn’t happy he was here.

“Hey! Everyone! Listen Up!” Blitz said as he stood up on a small platform he’d made with some old wooden crates he’d found earlier.

Blitz gestured towards Via, silently asking her to come up and stand on the wooden crate he had placed next to him.

She nodded and nervously got up in front of everyone.

“Look,”Blitz said. “We have a few weeks till this whole holiday bullshit goes into effect. So we only have a short time to plan and train to be able to fight back against whatever those upper class dick bags have planned or can use against us. I am not saying it’ll be easy. Far from it if I am being honest. But I know what we are fighting for and I know my team will be able to help train each and every one of you to fight your damn hardest.” Blitz looked over at M&M and Sallie May and then back towards where Loona and Stolas were seated while he said that last sentence.

Everyone in the room began to clap for Blitz and even some began cheering his name.

Blitz looked slightly bashful, but held out his hands to get the crowd to quiet down as he continued.

“Now, I am sure my co-leader of this whole fucking thing would like to say a few words.” Blitz said, gesturing for Via to speak.

Blitz actually even got off his own platform so he could watch Octavia talk.

Via looked out into the crowd, took a deep breath and began her impromptu speech.

“I know that I really was not as hands on in fighting against all the suffering and injustice that people who weren’t me were going through in Hell and I am really sorry. I started being involved in all this just cause I wanted to get out of forced marriage and help my future generation be able to get out of a situation like that as well. But from joining this rebellion, I’ve learned and seen so much and how so many different people have been forced to face so much adversity and suffering at the hands of the upper class in Hell. I can’t change my past, but I can change how I deal with those things in the future. So I promise that I will work hard to not only lead us to win this fight against people like my Mother and Uncle, but I will keep working to stop the injustices and hardships that especially impact those in the lower class once we win. I agree with Blitz that it won’t be easy, but I think we can do it…I really do. Tonight we can rest, but tomorrow we start training. Thank you.”

Via closed her eyes for a millisecond before the clapping began from everyone in the room.

Octavia looked down to see her father smiling with small tears in his eyes.

Some people were even chanting both their names.

Octavia was pretty sure she heard Orion, Sarah and Tony from the back screaming her name the loudest.

Blitz and Octavia smiled at one another, took small bows and with that everyone began to disperse.

Some went to get ready to sleep, others had grabbed bottles of alcohol that had been smuggled in and were taking shots, some people were passing around food (there were a few hot plates that had been set up in the corner of the room to use to cook meals on), and others were just talking among themselves about the plans and what they hoped to learn to fight with tomorrow.

Vassago and Asmodeous had left to help not draw suspicion to the bunker (though Orion commented that he thought it was even more secure and well hidden then their last hideout had been).

Blitz sat back down at the table and surveyed the scene around him.

He couldn’t lie and say he was not worried that this would all fall flatter than the pancakes he’d made this morning, but he had to have hope that things would work out for the best.

Blitz looked up to see Stolas, Via, Loona, Millie, Moxxie, Fizz, Sallie May and Barbie all holding drinks (alcohol for almost everyone except Via, Sallie May and Barbie who were drinking water).

Stolas handed Bliz his own glass and then they all toasted.

They toasted to the long road it had taken to get here.

They toasted to the success of today.

And they toasted to the future and whatever tomorrow would bring.

This actually helped to remind Blitz of one more thing that he could count on as he clinked his cup with the others and took a large sip of the wine.

He had his family all together.

And with them at his side, anything was possible.

Chapter Text

Verosika sat curled up on the metal bench and slowly began to drag her finger against the cold stonewall of the cell.

She’d spent so many days in that cell, that she honestly had started to lose count and just stop making ticks on the wall all together.

Verosika had never felt so defeated in her life.

She had not expected her rally to change everything the royals were doing, but she had thought that it’d at least be a stepping stone.

Instead she’d been arrested and was cut off from the outside world.

Being a singer was something she loved doing and being able to inspire people to do something more than just fuck was something she never really thought she’d have the opportunity to do.

But this feeling of empowerment had quickly faded when only about 15 minutes into the rally, reapers had shown up to break up the protest and arrest anyone they deemed combative &/or not compliant.

She barely remembered the feeling of the cuffs being placed on her or being thrown in this cell.

Little did she know…things would be changing very soon for Verosika.

“Miss Mayday. You made bail! Congrats!” a guard said in a monotone voice, unlocking the door to her cell.

“Wait, what?” Verosika said. “Who did that?”

She had hoped Tex or one of the other employees would have bailed her out by now, but she had no idea where they were right now.

When she was led outside after being given back her things, changing back into her old clothes, and having the chains on her legs and hands removed…she was shocked to see who was standing outside waiting for her.

“Blitzo!” Verosika said.

“Hey Ver.” Blitz said.

The two exes just stood across from one another without saying a word.

It must have been at least thirty seconds before Blitz finally spoke up.

“I get I am probably the last person you wanna see now and I don’t blame you, you were right before. I was shitty. Not just as a boyfriend or even a friend, but as a person. But I’m trying to make up for it. I saw what you were doing with that rally and we could really use someone like you on our team.”

Silence passed them for what felt like centuries.

Verosika did not know what Blitz even meant.

So she folded her arms and just looked at her ex with furrowed eyebrows.

“What do you mean team?”

Blitz smiled and motioned for her to follow him.

As they walked down the street, a thought popped into Verosika’s mind.

“Is this some sort of apology or something? Like I haven’t seen you so long and now you are just bailing me out of jail.” Verosika asked suspiciously.

She did not want to see so untrustworthy and the truth was the last time she’d thought about her ex was not at the party thrown in his honor filled with people who hate him, but it was when she’d witnessed on TV the trial.

She remembered watching Blitz on that small TV in complete and utter shock.

She’d never have expected him to be almost beheaded at the hands of Satan or become the first demon in Hell to make it out of a trial like that alive.

So while she still felt resentment and anger towards Blitz for how he treated her and so many of his exes, she also felt like he was trying to change just like he had said he wanted or at least she wanted to believe that.

“Well…” Verosika asked impatiently.

Blitz stopped walking and leaned up against a brick wall.

“I did not bail you out just as some sort of apology. It’s because I care about you Ver. I did a lot of shitty stuff and I am really sorry about it. But like I said at your party…I am trying to make up for it. And I understand if you don’t trust me, but I feel that you could be really helpful in what we are doing and even if that was not the case, I still would’ve bailed you out cause it is the right thing to do and you did not deserve that. No one does. Which is part of what I am trying to do here with what I need to show you.”

Verosika just looked more confused than ever.

“Okay. I am grateful and all, but seriously what is with the word salad and where are we going?” Verosika asked again, still very confused.

They walked another block and after maneuvering through a few back alleys and finally, they reached the staircase that some cardboard and trash had been glued to to help make sure it was not found.

Verosika followed Blitz downstairs and surveyed her surroundings.

“This is the revolution.” Blitz said as he led Ver over to a table where Stolas was seated (again writing in the same notebook he’d seen him writing in a few weeks back) as well as Octavia.

Blitz then began to explain (with the help of Stolas and Octavia) about what they were planning to do.

Verosika was still suspicious.

“So if I say no to this project of yours, what happens? You take me back to jail?”

Verosika felt that was somewhat of a ridiculous question to ask (of course he wouldn’t do that, would he?), but trust was something that had not come easy to her.

From her parents to her friends to especially romantic partners, trust was something that was hard for her to feel in the first place and almost impossible for someone to gain back from her once they lost it.

She deep down wanted to believe Blitz, but it was not that easy.

“Absolutely not. You are free to go as you please.” Stolas said.

“You can leave freely no matter what. But we really hope you stay,” Via said pleadingly.

“Ver, I can’t say enough how sorry I am for how I treated you in the past. And if you are not interested in this then, Via and Stolas are right. You can just walk out the door right now and the only thing we ask is you do not tell anyone about our operation. But if you wanna stay, then I think you'd make a great addition to Project Renegade.”

Verosika sat in silence for a moment contemplating.

Then she gave a small smile.

“Okay. I’ll give this a chance.” Verosika said, getting up confidently. “Where can I start?”

“I seem to remember you doing well at stabbing that cake at the Anti-Blitzo party.” Stolas said innocently while Blitz suddenly looked very nervous.

“Ohh can I use Blitz as target practice?” Verosika said jokingly.

“No. No. No…please no.” Blitz said half jokingly and half seriously hoping she was kidding. “Actually Millie should be starting the knife throwing training in a few minutes. Where is she?”

“I think I saw Moxxie going over to grab her.” Stolas remarked.

“Well she better hurry up, cause class is about to be in session.” Blitz said, rubbing his hands together.

In a small closet far away from the group, Millie sat on a substitute bench of old books.

She’d used some other random items she had found in the closet as a makeshift tripod.

Millie knew that she had to go start helping with the knife throwing training she’d offered to give.

However, she had something very important to do first.

Milie clicked the tiny record button on her phone and began to speak.

“Hi Max…Maria…it’s your Mamma here. I have to go help with some training soon, so I won’t be able to be long. But I just need you both to know how much I love you and I’m sorry-”

“What are you doing?” a voice said to the left of Millie, interrupting her recording.

Millie turned her head to the side to come face to face with her husband.

“Mox!” Millie said. “I…I was just…I mean…I was…”

Moxxie walked into the small room and surveyed Millie’s set up.

His eyes narrowed in hurt and confusion as he realized what was going on.

“Were you making some type of goodbye video for the twins?” Moxxie asked accusingly.