Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Vaggie woke up at 4 am. The deep red night speckled with tiny stars spilled out through the window. She found herself tangled in her girlfriends arms just like every night. She smiled at the sight of her sleepy partner as she lightly kissed Charlie’s jawline. Vaggie slowly moved out of her girlfriend’s arms to ensure she wouldn’t wake her up. She needed to… use the bathroom…? get some water…?

Ever since the big battle with heaven, Vaggie had been getting up at random parts of the night for no good reason. She didn’t know if it was because of the trauma she endured or she just couldn’t sleep. She felt like she needed to move or something to get her mind to calm down.

As she walked towards the bathroom, Vaggie noticed a picture on Charlie’s desk. Vaggie went over to the desk to pick it up. She couldn’t take her eyes off of it. For these past few days, she’d caught herself staring at this picture. It was a rather simple yet beautiful picture of Lillith holding Charlie when she was a toddler. Vaggie’s heart swelled at the sight.

Before Vaggie could even realize it, a lamp turned on. She heard the sound of Charlie yawning and hid the picture behind her back. “Mmm, Vaggie…?” Charlie mumbled sleepily. “What are you doing up so early?”

“Oh! Um! Nothing! I was just…”

“You’re looking at that picture again, aren’t you?”

‘Shit… catch me red handed, won’t you?’ Vaggie thought to herself. “Oh! This! I… uh… just think you were a very cute baby… and I like to look at it,” Vaggie stuttered out awkwardly.

Charlie raised an eyebrow, “Uh huh… Compared to all the other baby pictures of myself in the room?”

After realizing she had nothing left to defend herself with, Vaggie groaned defeatedly.

Charlie giggled. “Come here, babe…” as she reached her arms out towards her.

Vaggie walked back to the bed with the picture in hand. She sat down right of Charlie with her back facing her girlfriend. Charlie gave her a tight hug from behind and kissed her cheek. Vaggie smiled at the affection.

She sighed out, “Look, can I ask you something? Just promise you won’t make a big deal about it?”

“Of course Vaggie! You know I take our promises very seriously,” Charlie responded, eager to listen to what Vaggie had to say.

“…What’s it like? Having a mom?”

Vaggie could feel Charlie tensing up behind her as she asked, “Wait. You don’t have a mom?” There was a hint of sadness in her voice.

Vaggie shrugged. “I don’t know. Heaven is… weird… I don’t remember anything before my time as an exorcist. I don’t know if I was created to be an exorcist or if I actually lived a human life and they brainwashed me to become one of their soldiers. No one knows. I’ve always wondered what it was like… to be a part of a family… “

Charlie took a few seconds to think about how she’d reply. “Well, Vaggie… you can always be a part of my family! My dad already loves you and… I bet my mom would too… wherever she is…” Charlie put her hands over Vaggie’s.

Vaggie smiled and leaned more into Charlie. “Hm. Thanks, sweetie.”

“Come on. Let’s get some rest!” Charlie moved away from her girlfriend and back to her side of the bed. Vaggie put the picture in her nightstand and got under the covers as well. Charlie pulled Vaggie towards her and held her closely. Vaggie wrapped her arms around Charlie.

A part of Vaggie still felt uneasy. She still felt like she needed to be a part of something so personal and so special. She feared that that train had left its station. She’s too grown to be so preoccupied with something as silly as a mother figure in her life.

For the rest of the night, Vaggie closed her eyes, but didn’t sleep.

Chapter Text

The lobby of the hotel felt alive. Vaggie and Charlie stood next to a whiteboard with statistics while discussing announcements about the refurbishment of the hotel. Angel Dust and Cherri Bomb sat on the couch with KeeKee in Cherri’s lap. Husk leaned against the tv, taking a sip out of his flask. Niffty ran around stabbing at any bug that could be skittering around. Alastor stood up against the wall, staring.

“At this rate, the hotel should be fully running by the end of the month,” Vaggie explained.

“I just want to thank you all so much for helping out! Alastor and I are being given the key to Cannibal Town and the cannibals are holding a celebration as a thanks for the… food. So you guys have the rest of the day to yourselves!” Charlie squealed excitedly.

Everyone in the lobby cheered at the news.

“Yeah!!! Let’s go bar hopping!” Angel exclaimed as he pulled in Husk, Niffty, and Cherri.

“And look for bad boys!” Niffty giggled.

“In memory of Pen!” Cherri declared.

Husk shrugged. “I’m down. You coming Vaggie?”

Vaggie tensed up. Charlie smiled in anticipation for her answer.

“Me? Oh, uh, no. I have to get some… stuff ready for tomorrow. Yeah! Big hotel stuff. Like uhhh… taxes! and uhhh… safety checks! Yeah… I’m gonna be sooo busy. I’ll stay back. You guys go have fun!” She responded awkwardly as she pointed finger guns at the group.

The four stared at her as Angel began to walk out the door. “Whatever ya say, toots. Come on, let’s get going!” The four quickly followed him.

Vaggie let out a sigh of relief. Charlie looked at her with ever so slight disappointment in her eyes. Vaggie turned away in embarrassment.

“Vaggie?! You promised you’d go out with them this time!” Charlie cried out. “I know, I’m sorry, babe… I promise I’ll go out with them next time for sure!” Vaggie lied. She found her way to the couch. KeeKee sat on her lap.

Vaggie had been promising that since the last four times Angel and the rest of the hotel went out together. And everytime she had made up an excuse to get out of it.

Charlie walked over to Vaggie on the couch and sat right next to her. “Vaggie, my love… I want you to go out and have some fun every now and again!”

“But I have fun when I’m with you…” she mumbled.

“I know, and I have fun with you too. I just think that you should go out and make some friends!”

“I have friends! You’re my friend! My best friend even,” Vaggie assured defensively.

Charlie put her hand on her shoulder. “You’re my best friend too, hun. But I’m also your girlfriend. Think platonically!”

Vaggie took a second to think. She grabbed KeeKee from her lap and put her in Charlie’s face. “KeeKee is my friend!”

Charlie giggled. “KeeKee is our pet cat. What about Angel and Husk?”

“…they’re…nice, I guess.” Vaggie liked them sure, but she never felt confident or comfortable to call them a friend.

Alastor jumped over the couch to sit in between them. “Would you consider me your friend, Vaggie?”

“Ugh, do you mind?” Vaggie answered.

“Ouch! That hurt, dearie! Like the bullet of a Winchester 1895!” Alastor grabbed his chest.” Through my poor, aching heart!” Alastor fell on top of Vaggie dramatically. A sad song played through the radio signal around him as he pretended to cry.

“Vaggie, be nice!”

“Fine!” She pushed him off and crossed his arms. “If it means anything, I’m glad you came out of that battle alive. And I’m happy to have you back with us,” She crossed her arms and turned away from him.

“Thank you, Vaggie…” Alastor sniffed. “That’s the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me.”

Charlie smiled at the scene. The clock behind her caught her eyes. She immediately stood up in a panic.

“Ah! We’re gonna be late! Alastor, we need to go!”

“You go on ahead! I just need to have a word with my good friend, Vaggie, here,” he said as he picked Vaggie up and side hugged her. She flailed in his arm as her feet dangled.

Charlie snapped her fingers to put herself in a nice red dress pants with a matching dress shirt.

“How do I look?”

“Sharp as a cannibal’s molar!” He said as he put Vaggie down.

“Gorgeous as always my dear,” Vaggie replied smiling softly.

Charlie trotted towards Vaggie and give her a kiss goodbye. “See you two later!” She yelled as she ran out the door.

Vaggie waved goodbye. Alastor looked at Vaggie from the corner of his eye.

And somehow his sinister grin seemed so much more sinister.

Chapter Text

“Having socialization issues?”

Vaggie rolled her eyes and walked over to clean up the whiteboard. “Oh, butt out of it, Alastor.

Alastor followed, “It’s alright, my good friend Vaggie! I remember being new to hell. Feeling alone and afraid… being expected to fit into a world you’ve landed in two seconds ago or you’ll be skinned alive… You’re lucky you have the only nice person in hell by your side. I struggled!”

Vaggie hadn’t thought about death in that way. Everyone dies alone. Vaggie was ditched, sure, but she had been to hell before. She couldn’t wrap her head around the thought of ending up in a foreign place that was filled to the brim with all the evil in the world. “…How did you deal with it? The loneliness?” She mumbled.

“I killed everyone around me and took advantage of them for my own personal gain,” he smiled and commented nonchalantly.

Vaggie’s empathy dwindled a little bit. “Hard pass.”

“Ah I nearly forgot!” Alastor exclaimed. He began to search his person. “The entire reason I stayed behind, silly me…”

With the snap of his fingers, a nicely decorated box manifested out of thin air and landed in his claws.

“I need you to take this package to Carmilla Carmine. A thank you for the weapons she supplied for us. I’d go, but I’m already late to the cannibal celebration. I trust that you will give it to her?” He asked as he held out the gift to Vaggie.

Vaggie considered her options.

She could say no and get on Alastor’s bad side. She was smarter than that. She could say she’d do it and ask Razzle or Frank to do it for her as soon as Alastor left. But Frank and Razzle were still mourning their boss and best friend respectively. They hardly left their memorials. That would make Vaggie look like an asshole.

As Vaggie racked her brain for an excuse, she remembered her girlfriend’s words. What would Charlie do? It’s just a delivery. What’s the harm in giving someone a present? A meaningless task at the end of the day. And she could get to thank Carmilla again for her training and advice. Plus, it’ll make Charlie happy to find out that Vaggie actually went out without her for once.

Vaggie grabbed the present from Alastor’s hand. “You can count on me, friend.”

“Well it’s settled! I’ll see you after the celebration, Vaggie! Tata~!” He bled into the shadows and left.

Vaggie stood in the lobby of the hotel with a gift in her hands. Alone.

Chapter Text

Vaggie entered the offices of the Carmine Arms Deals.

The gray monotone walls seemed too… clean…

With a place that helps aid in committing such awful crime, it was ironic that everything looked and felt so organized.

People walked too and from different rooms carrying different forms of weaponry. The blades and metals around her contrasted very differently from the box in her hands.

She stopped at a big window that gave the office a perfect view of the Pride Ring. It feels like forever since she last had this view. Her back and bad eye ached at the thought.

Soon enough, she got to the door of the office of Carmilla Carmine. It was grand, made of angelic steel, and incredibly ornate.

Vaggie stood frozen in fear, grabbing onto the box like her life depended on it. She had met Carmilla before, hell, she even sparred with her, but Carmilla Carmine was still one of the most powerful and influential overlord in hell. One nice moment does not equal friendship. Her back ached again. Her wings grew back in front of Carmilla. But meeting her again made her legs feel wobbly. Vaggie held her breath and knocked on the door.

A five second moment of silence felt like an eternity until Carmine’s deep, raspy voice came from the other side, “Come in.”

Vaggie allowed herself to breathe and pushed open the heavy door.

Carmine sat at her desk, intensely writing on stacks of paperwork. The walls were neatly decorated with mounted weapons that looked like trophies. There were two chairs in front of her desk; Vaggie supposed they were for her daughters. Everything had a place in this office. Carmine is a busy person after all. Vaggie knew she couldn’t bother her for too long or she'd end nearly sliced like last time.

She cleared her throat nervously, “Good afternoon, Carmine.” Carmilla looked up from her paperwork with her piercing red eyes. Vaggie braced herself, waiting for her to start counting down the seconds she gave her until she needed to leave.

“Vaggie… how nice it is for you to visit me,” Carmilla muttered in an unusually warm tone.

“Oh, yes, it’s nice to see you again too, Carmine,” Vaggie scrambled together a sentence. Well, she was certainly not expecting this reaction out of her. “Have a seat,” Carmilla continued as she finished up her paperwork.

Once Vaggie sat, Carmilla organized the paperwork, set it aside, and folded her hands on the desk. “So… what’s your reason for visiting?” she sighed out. “Alastor, along with the rest of the hotel and I, wanted to give you our thanks for your assistance on extermination day,” Vaggie said as she held out the box and placed it on the desk.

“A gift from Alastor, hm? How polite of him. Thank you,” Carmilla replied as she stared at the box. “What’s in it?”

Vaggie took a second to think about it. Alastor had actually never mentioned what was in it. “I don’t know. Alastor, just told me to give it to you,” Vaggie shrugged. Carmilla’s face grew even more intense than normal.

“You mean to tell me that the radio demon, one of the strongest, most power hungry, and blood thirsty overlords Hell has ever seen, sent me, the leader of the overlords, a package that has unknown contents inside?” she growled as she leaned back and crossed her arms.

…She had a point. How could Vaggie just drop her guard around Alastor of all goodman people? Vaggie quickly attempted to save face, “I’m… sure it’s fine. Alastor is a lot nicer once you get to know him-”

“Open it then.” Carmilla interrupted. Vaggie stopped dead in her words. “What?”

“You’re a brave girl, Vaggie, brave enough to blindly trust the radio demon. So open it.”

Vaggie stared at the box. SHe felt her body begin to tremble in fear. There was no going back now. She leaned over to the package and carefully pulled the ribbon off. As soon as the ribbon came free, Vaggie grabbed the lid.

And lifted it.

Chapter Text

A delicious smell emerged from the box.

The two looked inside.

“Pastelitos?” Vaggie muttered.

At the same time, Carmine whispered, “Empanadas?”

———

The two sat in silence as they ate the empanadas from an ornate plate. A note was attached that read,

“Carmilla,

Thanks again for your help! I made them myself.

-Alastor”

“So you’re sure these aren’t poisoned or anything right?” Vaggie asked as she took a bite from the empanada.

“I ran a quick chemical test on them. They’re clean,” Carmilla responded, politely wiping crumbs away from her mouth.

“Wow. Didn’t even know they made tests like that.”

“When you’re one of the most powerful women in all of hell, everyone is out for your head. One can never be too prepared.”

Vaggie jumped when she heard the door open. Clara and Odette, the Carmine daughters, walked in.

“Mama, there’s-“

Carmilla glared at her daughters. “Faltan el respeto? We have a guest. Greet her first,” she scolded as she gestured to Vaggie.

“Perdón, Mama,” the girls said in unison. “Hello, Vaggie. Nice to see you again,” Clara chimed as Odette waved. Vaggie waved back sheepishly.

“Muy bien. Que necesitan?”

“There’s a client that needs to talk with you. They say it’s very urgent,” Odette informed.

Carmilla rolled her eyes at the news. “Very well. You two stay in here with Vaggie while I deal with this. I’ll be back in ten minutes.” Carmilla strutted out the door and closed it behind her.

Vaggie was left alone with Clara and Odette.

She wanted to explode. Sure, she had spoken to them a little bit while they aided in delivering the weapons to the hotel for the big battle, but not enough to be left in a room with them for ten entire minutes.

Odette and Clara’s attention was grabbed by the empanadas on the desk. Their eyes lit up at the sight. “No way! Empanadas!” Clara cheered as she grabbed one and immediately put it in her mouth. “Vaggie, did you make these?” Odette asked as she also picked one up.

“Oh, uh, no. Alastor did. He just sent me to deliver them here,” she replied cautiously.

“That radio demon can make some good ass empanadas,” Clara said with her mouth full of food.

“Yeah, they’re great. It’s almost nostalgic, yknow?” Vaggie commented nonchalantly.

Odette smiled, “You ate these often as a child?”

“I guess?”

The sisters gave each other a confused look.

“What do you mean by ‘I guess’?” Clara was the first to ask.

“I mean I don’t know if I had these as a kid because… I don’t really remember being a kid?”

“What does that mean?” Odette pressed curiously.

“It’s complicated, but…” Vaggie hesitated.

She didn’t want to trauma dump these women that she hardly knew, but, hey, they asked. The entirety of hell already knew she was a former angel so what was there to lose?

“I don’t really remember much about being an angel besides the training and fighting and stuff so… I don’t know if I was created to fight or I was human at one point. But it’s weird because I remember this, but I don’t remember at the same time?”

Tension filled with awkward sadness filled the air.

“Damn, that’s pretty fucking sad-“ Clara said after a while of silence, but she was interrupted by the sound of Odette punching her in the shoulder at her response. “Ow!”

“What she meant to say was we’re sorry to hear that Vaggie,” Odette said with an empathetic tone. Vaggie gave a shy smile.

The girls turned their heads towards the door as they heard it open. Carmilla walked in and smiled at the sight. Vaggie never thought she’d see such a powerful overlord with such a kind expression. “You three getting along?” The three girls nodded.

———

Hours passed. Vaggie and the Carmines spoke about everything and nothing at the same time.

Vaggie’s pocket buzzed. She saw a text from Charlie on her phone that simply read, “hi baby!1!!! where u been? :Oc” Vaggie checked the time. She had been there for six hours. The large window behind Carmilla beautifully encaptured the dusk. She jolted up and walked towards the door.

“¡Ay que pena! Nomás iba dejar esto y regresar al hotel-“ Vaggie babbled. “Thank you. For everything.”

“Of course, Vaggie. It’s a shame you won’t stay for coffee,” Carmilla sighed.

“You should come again tomorrow! You’re not busy, are you?” Clara beamed.

An invitation.

Vaggie’s heart stopped.

A casual, natural invitation. From people that she hardly knew. That actually want to hang out with her. She felt like someone needed to pinch her to make sure she wasn’t dreaming. She tried to calm herself down.

“I… uh… am usually, um, done with hotel stuff at around f-five,” Vaggie stuttered out.

“We’ll see you at five tomorrow then,” Odette confirmed.

Vaggie nodded.

“See you then.”

Chapter Text

Vaggie arrived at the hotel.

Charlie sat at the couch of the lobby with KeeKee on her lap. Her fancy outfit from before looked tired. Her face lit up when she saw her girlfriend walking in. She practically jumped off of the couch and trotted towards Vaggie.

Before Vaggie could even realize what was going on, Charlie had scooped her up in her arms and twirled her around. The two giggled at their partners’ reactions. Charlie planted a kiss on Vaggie’s cheek.

“Hi, my love!!! Where have you been all day?” Charlie squealed as she brought her girlfriend over to the couch and sat down with her still in her arms.

“I went out to do an errand for Alastor. How was the party?” Vaggie moved herself out of Charlie’s arms and onto the seat next to her. She grabbed her hand out of instinct as they continued their chat.

“Oh, it was so much fun! But those cannibals sure know how to party… I came back pretty early. I’m exhausted.” “Much better! Alastor is still there tho. He loves being around them and they love him. He’s like the life of the party there!”

The thought of Alastor being a total party animal with the prim and proper cannibals amused Vaggie. Charlie tilted her head. “What was that errand Alastor made you do?”

“Nothing special. I just dropped off a gift for Carmilla.”

Charlie smiled. “Aw that’s fun! She’s pretty nice, isn’t she? Well, ignoring all the overlord stuff.”

“Yeah, her daughters are super cool too. They invited me to come over again tomorrow for coffee. I don’t think I’ll go tho-“

“What?!? Why not?!?” Charlie exclaimed.

Vaggie looked away sheepishly. “I don’t know… They’re nice, but I’m worried they’re only doing it out of pity, y’know? Could you imagine me hanging out with an overlord like that?”

“You hang out with Alastor!”

“Correction: Alastor bothers me because he finds humor in bothering people, especially me.”

Charlie groaned. “…Look I’ll stop pressing you about this. I can already tell you’re getting tired of me talking to you about this. Just answer one question for me.”

“Why don’t you try?”

Great question. Vaggie was never popular with any of the other exterminators. They’d all go out to go to the nicer side of heaven. But no one invited Vaggie along. Perhaps, she was too used to no one wanting her around that there was no point in trying.

“I don’t know…” Vaggie’s voice cracked out. “God, I’m being so fucking weird about this I’m so sorry-“

Charlie put a hand on Vaggie’s cheek. “Aw, babe, it’s ok. I’m sorry. Making friends can be scary sometimes. I’m just too used to actually looking for friendship. I forgot not everyone wants it.”

After a moment of silence, Vaggie spoke up.

“I’ll go.”

“Really?” Charlie’s face lit up before she calmed herself down again. “I mean, it’s alright if you don’t go. I won’t be mad or anything. But I think you’ll have a lot of fun if you do go. And it’ll make me happy if you go.” She thought about her words for a second. “That’s not to say I wouldn’t be happy if you didn’t go, I’d still be ok with you not going, I just thi-“

Vaggie chuckled, “You’re rambling, mi vida…”

“Ugh, blah! You’re right! Sorry! All I’m saying is I’m glad you want to go. It warms my heart to see you break out of your shell. Or cocoon I guess?”

“You’re such a dork,” Vaggie snorted.

“I’m your dork, baby…” Charlie’s arms pulled Vaggie closer to her. She leaned in to kiss her neck.

“Charlie-!” Vaggie squealed as she peppered her head and neck with kisses.

A bright light appeared next to the girls. Alastor had returned. His outfit was a bit undone and a lampshade was placed on his head. The two pulled away from each other dejectedly at the uninvited guest.

“Alastor! You’re back early!” Charlie smiled. Vaggie rolled her eyes.

“Oh I’m going back in a second! I’m going to bring some more champagne from the bar. The party has only just begun!” Alastor cheered as he waltzed over to Husk’s bar. He leaned over the counter to pull out some hidden bottles. Vaggie nearly spoke out, but Alastor assured her that Husk wouldn’t mind.

“So how did the mission I send you on go, my dear?” Alastor inquired.

“Pretty good. Carmine appreciated the gifts and I got to talk with her a bit.”

“Ah! Good to know you’re out there making friends!”

“Yeah, she invited me over to have some coffee with me after work.”

The sound of static emanating from Alastor’s grinding teeth caused the couple to jump. “Oh sorry, dear. You can’t go tomorrow!”

“What the fuck? Says who?!” Vaggie asked angrily. Charlie tilted her head.

“Says me! Alastor! Your good friend! I need you to stay back and work out some marketing strategies with me.”

“Since when?” Vaggie pressed.

Alastor’s grin widened. His eyes turned to dials and his voice grew louder and more distorted. “Since right now. Remember who is helping you out here.”

Charlie moved herself in front of Vaggie defensively. Her eyes glowed red in anger. Alastor snapped out of his scarier form. “Well, I must be going! See you tomorrow, you two!” He quipped as he vanished into thin air.

Charlie’s eyes returned to normal. Vaggie snapped, “What the fuck?!?! The one single time I wanna do something nice, that bastard has to come in and fuck up my entire plans!” Charlie rested her hand on Vaggie’s shoulder. “You can go tomorrow,” she assured her.

“But apparently Alastor needs me to-“ Charlie cut her off. “Alastor might be helping us out, but he doesn’t run the show around here, I do.” She reached over to grab Vaggie’s hand again. “We do. Tomorrow, as soon as work is over for the day, I need you out of here and relaxing. You deserve it, my love.” Charlie pulled Vaggie’s scarred hand towards her and placed a kiss on it.

Embarrassment rose through Vaggie. Whenever Charlie defended Vaggie, a part of her felt guilty for it. She was supposed to be the one protecting Charlie. Vaggie hated feeling weak. She looked away from her girlfriend as tears stung her eyes. Charlie put her hand on Vaggie’s face and moved it in her direction. She nestled her face in the crook of Charlie’s neck and hugged her tightly. She hugged back gently. “I’m sorry I’m so useless sometimes,” Vaggie mumbled quietly. “That I can’t even stand up to stupid Alastor.”

“Vaggie, don’t say that… You’re not a soldier anymore. You don’t owe anyone anything,” Charlie reassured her. This wasn’t the first time Charlie had to tell Vaggie this. Since the reveal of Vaggie’s past, Charlie began to recognize the patterns of how Vaggie treated herself.

“Being partners is a mutual thing. You can’t be the only one sticking up for me. If you’re always by my side, then I’m always by your side too. That’s kinda how being right next to each other works. Never forget that.”

“Thank you… You’re too good to me, baby,” she sobbed softly. Her wings popped out from behind her back. A blush covered her face. Charlie giggled at the sight. She stroked a pale wing with her hand. “I think you’re too good to me, my angel. Come on, let’s head to bed. I wanna keep watching that show with you cuz it’s just getting good!”

If there was anyone who had Vaggie’s feathered back in this cruel world, she was glad it was Charlie.

Chapter Text

The next work day came and went.

Filled with mountains of paperwork and thousands of emails, Vaggie filled and wrote all of them while Charlie began exploring more redemption exercises with Angel Dust and Cherry Bomb.

As soon as the clock hit five, she grabbed a purse and a jacket from under her desk and sneaked towards the door through the lobby. Charlie caught a glimpse of Vaggie. She gave her a smug wink. Vaggie slowly began to open the door.

“Hello, Vaggie! Are you ready for our marketing meeting?” Alastor appeared behind her. His voice caused her to jump.

“Hey, Alastor…” she replied nervously.

“My dear, as I know you are better with the camera, I was thinking…”

As Alastor continued talking at Vaggie, she internally begged for what felt like hours for him to let her go of his boring grasp. She looked around for help. She caught Charlie whispering something to the rest of the gang and texting someone on her phone hastily.

Vaggie and Alastor’s conversation was cut off by the sound of footsteps running in. The two looked back.

Lucifer stood disheveled in the middle of the lobby breathing heavily. Everyone stared at him confused on what he was doing here. Whenever Lucifer stayed at the hotel, he was mostly confined to his room. It was a rare sight to see him out.

“Hey, Alastor!” He announced. Alastor glared at him and tilted his head. He grabbed Niffty who was nearby him cleaning the floor and threw her into the air above him. She squealed happily as she was launched onto the chandelier. Niffty giggled as she dangled from the light fixture. “Ohhhh it’s so dirty up here!”

Alastor shrieked out, “NIFFTY!!!” He ran towards the chandelier. He turned to Lucifer. “You MONSTER…!” The two started a screaming match on the issue. Angel and Cherri burst out laughing at the sight as Husk took another long sip from his flask.

Charlie trotted to Vaggie who simply stood in shock to the events unfolding in front of her. “Hurry, baby! I bought you some time!” She urged her as she pushed her out of the door. “Charlie, holy shit??? You planned this?”

“Uhhh yes and no? I told my dad to come down and distract Alastor, but I’ll be honest I didn’t know he was going to do… that. That’s a problem we’ll deal with later. Go, my love, go!” Charlie whispered as she gave Vaggie a kiss on the forehead.

Vaggie waved goodbye and ran away from the hotel.

———

Vaggie opened the door to Carmine’s office. Carmilla sat at her desk while the two girls sat on their own proper chairs talking about some business nonsense. A stool had been placed in the middle of them for Vaggie.

“Hello, Vaggie. Welcome back,” Carmilla smiled warmly. Her daughters waved excitedly. “Take a seat.”

“Sorry, I’m a bit late. Alastor tried holding me back.”

“Oh that Alastor. Such an interesting specimen.”

“You can say that again,” Vaggie scoffed and rolled her eyes.

A plate of pan dulce and a half empty coffee pot sat before her. The freshly baked smell made Vaggie’s mouth water. She wasn’t sure if she had even eaten throughout the day. It was common for her to skip meals because of work. Carmilla pushed the plate towards her. Vaggie grabbed a concha and stuffed it in her mouth.

“Jesus Christ, Vaggie. Do they not feed you over there?” Clara giggled. Vaggie slowed herself down. Her face turned red in embarrassment.

“Sorry, I didnt eat too much today.”

“Pues come más! You need to be eating good,” Carmilla scolded. Vaggie didn’t hesitate as she grabbed another.

“We get them from the best panaderia in the pride ring,” Odette commented as she poured some coffee for Vaggie.

“Did you eat it a lot when you were alive?” Vaggie asked as she took a sip from the mug she was served in.

“Yeah. Papa LOVED pan dulce,” Clara nodded.

“Papa?”

“My husband,” Carmilla said quietly. There was a hint of sadness in her voice.

“Oh. I didn’t know you were married.”

“I was when I was alive. He was a wonderful man. Tall, dark, handsome, hardworking, and oh so loving,” Carmilla sighed. She spun the spoon in her coffee around.

“Yeah, papa was awesome,” Clara commented. “He used to take us out for food every week and we’d buy as much pan dulce that we could carry back home when we were done.”

“…He died before we did on Earth. When we arrived at hell, we could not find him anywhere. We are not sure what happened to him. I think he died in an extermination sometime before we got here.” Carmilla’s eyes welled up.

Vaggie regretted even mentioning it in the first place. Out of all the people she thought could feel sad, Carmilla Carmine, most powerful overlord in all of hell, was certainly not one of them.

“Aw mama don’t say that! He’s up in heaven, for sure. Right, Vaggie?” Clara turned to Vaggie desperately. “You were up there before. You think you might have seen him?” Odette added on. She winked at her.

To be honest, Vaggie hardly went to the winner’s area of heaven. She had no idea what this man could have looked like. But there was no harm in helping Carmilla feel a bit better.

“I bet he’s up there. He sounds like a great man,” she responded.

Carmilla gave her a sad smile. “He truly was… My Joaquin…”

The sound of the door being slammed open caused the four to jump. Vaggie nearly spilled her coffee all over herself.

Velvette of the Vees strutted in, not looking up from her phone. The Carmines’ expressions soured at the sight of her.

“Hey, Camillyyyyy! I’m gonna need you to deliver some weapons to our office. Big turf war is gonna happen soon and Vox wants to come out on top. We’re gonna need pistols, shotguns, rifles, all that jazz,” she declared as she stood at the desk, still not moving her eyes away from her phone.

Vaggie had never been in the presence of a Vee. She knew all about their power and terror from stories of others at the hotel. She held her breathe and attempted to remain calm.

“Velvette. Couldn’t this have been a phone call? It’s after hours,” Carmilla groaned as she rubbed her temple.

“What’s the deal? I’m the one throwing money at you and you don’t even want me here. Poor business practices, I must say. Gonna give this place a one star review.”

A quick side glance towards Vaggie turned into Velvette staring at her. Vaggie tried her best to stay perfectly still and not make eye contact with her, as if this would cause her to camouflage into her background. “Oh. My. God! You’re Princess Morningstar’s little bitch! The exterminator, Vagina, right?” Velvette squealed.

Vaggie scowled. “It’s just Vaggie-“

“Yeah, whatever, Vagina. What are you doing here? I thought Charlie was all about that ‘peace and love’ crap. Why did she send you to Carmine’s office?” Velvette whipped her phone around to Vaggie’s face. Vaggie attempted to cover herself from the camera with her arms.

Odette swiped the phone out of Velvette’s hands. “Vaggie is here because she was invited, unlike you, you British cunt,” Clara growled, her words filled with malice.

“Hey! Hey! Calm your tits! I just didn’t know she had any autonomy of her own,” Velvette shouted as she stomped her foot for her phone to be returned. She leaned in close to Vaggie. “You know it’s funny. Your only purpose in life was to slaughter everyone in hell, but now, you’re down here with the bastards you were supposed to kill trying to be all buddy-buddy with them. It’s so pathetic, I’m not sure whether I wanna cry or laugh.“ Vaggie’s fists clenched. Anger bubbled up in her chest.

“Leave her alone, Velvette. This has nothing to do with her,” Carmilla demanded. “Pfft. Whatever, you old bag of dust. Listen, can you and your ‘6 at best’ daughters just help me with the weapons stuff? I’m running out of time here.”

“Don’t speak to them that way,” Vaggie said coldly.

Velvette laughed at Vaggie’s comment. “Awww what a cute little trick you’ve learned! Didn’t know she could stand up for herself. My turn! Sit. Oh oh wait! Roll over.”

She stood up and reeled her right arm back. But the sound of Carmilla’s booming voice stopped her.

“THAT IS ENOUGH!” Carmilla snapped. The four girls froze in fear.

“Clara, escort Velvette outside,” she commanded. She didn’t have to be asked twice. Clara pinned Velvette’s arms behind her back. “Oh, bummer. Vaggie and I were just getting to know each other!” Velvette sneered sarcastically. “I’ll see you all later then. Ciao~!” she said as Clara dragged her outside of the room.

Carmilla stood up and left the room. “I need a minute.” Vaggie looked concerned. “Don’t worry. She’s just gonna smoke outside. You didn’t do anything wrong,” Odette assured her. Vaggie nodded. “I’m sorry I almost attacked Velvette,” she muttered.

“Don’t be. She’s one horrible bitch. Those Vee’s are always a pain in everyone’s ass,” Odette muttered. Her words took Vaggie a bit aback. She didn’t know Odette was capable of using such language. “I’m so sorry she started saying shit to you.”

“It’s fine. I don’t mind.”

Odette laughed softly, “Oh, the amount of money I would have paid to see you smack the fuck out of her…” All Vaggie responded with was a quiet “Hm…”

“You don’t fight back, do you?” Odette took a large bite out of a puercito.

The comment took Vaggie by surprise. “What? Of course I do-“

“Not for yourself,” Odette took another bite of her puercito. Vaggie tilted her head.

“You didn’t do anything when she went on that whole rant on how stupid she thinks you are. Which you shouldn’t have let her done by the way. But when she said something about us, you immediately went on the defensive. And if she said anything else about your girlfriend than we would be cleaning all of her blood off of the floor as we speak.”

Damn. Read her like a goddamn book. Vaggie never cared about herself. She was taught she was a tool for mass destruction. Charlie had been trying to get her to like herself more, but it was difficult. Vaggie thought it was because of Charlie's enormous heart that she couldn’t compare to her when it came to caring about herself.

“Listen, I know it sounds like I’m lecturing you. I just… I don’t want you to be okay with people pushing you around. You’re a strong girl. You have the power to make them stop. My mother always told us, ‘Never let them disrespect a Carmine.’ So I’m not gonna let them disrespect you. And you shouldn’t either.”

Vaggie nodded. “Thank you.”

“Hey I’ve got an idea. Get up and move the chairs out of the way.”

Vaggie obliged. Odette got into a defensive stance. “Swing at me whenever I tell you something mean.”

“What?”

“It’s how my mom taught me to stand up for myself around here. I’ll catch your punch. Trust me.”

Vaggie was hesitant to begin.

“You’re a bitch,” Odette said. Vaggie gave her a soft right hook that was easily dodged by her forearm. Odette raised a dejected eyebrow at the action. “Really? You wiped out an entire army of exorcists and this is the punch you throw at me?”

Vaggie swung her left arm at her, this time much harder. Odette quickly caught it. “There it is! Let’s keep it going!”

Their spar continued. Slowly getting more and more intense after every insult. After one “the bow makes you look stupid”, Vaggie successfully smacked Odette on the side of her head. Her glasses flew off her face. Vaggie immediately stopped what she was doing. “Oh fuck, are you okay? Shit, I’m so sorry.”

“You are good at this, you asshole! I’m gonna need new glasses” Odette started to… laugh. The laugh caught Vaggie by surprise. For no reason at all, she began laughing too. Half way through their cackling, the door opened. Clara and Carmilla looked confused standing at the door seeing them laughing in a room with all the chairs pushed to the side.

“De que tanto se están riendo?” Carmilla asked.

“Nada, mama,” Odette breathed out with tears in her eyes.

Carmilla smiled at the two getting along so well. Vaggie was starting to fit in with the Carmines just fine.

Chapter Text

Vaggie walked into the hotel. Some commotion was happening in the lobby yet again. All of the residents sat in a circle around a projector screen which was plugged into Charlie’s laptop.

“What’s going on here?” Vaggie asked.

“Oh! Vaggie, you’re just in time! We’re gonna play ‘Guess The Song’!” Charlie waved at her wife.

“Wanna join?” Angel Dust offered.

For the first time in forever, she didn’t feel lightheaded when he asked that. There was hardly any tension in her body. By this time, Vaggie would have come up with fifty different excuses. She felt a rush of giddiness go through her and she prayed it didn’t show on her face. She tried to calm herself down. “Sure,” she replied nonchalantly.

“REALLY?” Charlie screamed. Vaggie nodded. “YAY!!!!” She exclaimed.

Vaggie sat herself down in the empty space that was between Angel Dust and Alastor.

“The game is simple. I’m going to show you guys a lyric from a random song and whoever raises their hand first and answers the name of the song and who sings it correctly gets a point,” Charlie explained. “Niffty has agreed to sit out and take score for all of us.” Niffty sat next to Charlie with a chalkboard and a couple pieces of chalk in her mouth. “Also, I made sure to mostly choose songs from the 1940s to the 1980s. Just so we all have a fair chance of knowing every song!”

Alastor scoffed, his grin looking more shit eating than usual. “Charlie, are you sure you’d like me to play along? I’d simply wipe the floor with my musical expertise,” he remarked. Vaggie rolled her eyes at the comment while everyone else groaned and booed at the radio demon. “I want this to be a group activity with every single one of us! When was the last time we all hung out together like this?” Alastor gave her a sarcastic “if you insist”.

Charlie clicked her laptop to start the game. The first slide read, “And they sing, ’Oh ain’t you glad you’re single?’ And that song ain’t so very far from wrong.”

Alastor raised his hand. “Why this is ‘Jingle Jangle Jingle’ by Kay Kyser!”

“That’s right! One point for Alastor!” Charlie said. Niffty made a mark on her board. “Here’s the next one.”

“She’s the kind of girl you dream of, dream of keeping hold of, you’d better forget it, you’ll never get it.”

Alastor raised his hand yet again. “‘Easy Lover’ by Philip Bailey and Phil Collins.” “That’s also correct! Another point for Alastor!” Charlie exclaimed.

As the game went on, Alastor continuously scored every song correctly that was put on the projector. The rest of the crew sat in boredom as Alastor chimed in. The seventh slide came on. It read:

“Yes, maybe, she loves me, but who am I to know?”

Vaggie’s heart jumped as she shot her hand faster than Alastor’s. “This is ‘Gloria’ by The Cadillacs!” She answered. “Good job, babe! That’s correct!” The rest of the hotel guests cheered at her answer.

Alastor’s grinning expression looked a bit upset. “Hmm, my arm must have gotten tired for raising it so often. I suppose the point is yours. Put on the next slide, my dear Charlie,” he mumbled. Angel Dust and Cherri Bomb snickered at Alastor’s response. Angel looked over and winked at Vaggie with a smile.

“Ain’t no river wild enough to keep me from you.”

Alastor’s hand jolted up. “‘Ain’t No Mountain High Enough’ by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell! Such a fun and catchy tune! One of my personal favorites from the 1970s-“

Husk raised his hand. “Actually. These lyrics are from the Diana Ross version of ‘Ain’t No Mountain High Enough’, not Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell’s.”

“Husk is correct!” Charlie cheered.

“Oh, a curveball! G-good one, Charlie! Gaye and Terrell’s version is quite popular so I immediately assumed it was that one!” Alastor’s voice shook ever so slightly.

“Their version might be the most popular, but Diana Ross’s is the superior,” Vaggie responded. Husk nodded approvingly and took a long swig from his flask.

“Everytime they turn the lights down, just wanna go that extra mile with you.”

Alastor hesitated while Angel shot his hand up immediately with Vaggie and Cherri just behind. “Too easy! This is ‘Gimme More’ by Britney Spears!” Angel declared. “Oh, you were just faster than me!” Vaggie giggled as she gave Angel a soft punch in his side. “That’s right!” Charlie squealed.

Alastor became visibly peeved. “Hm, I don’t seem to know that one. How queer. Although, I don’t listen to slutty pop music so I guess it makes sense.” Angel turned to look at Alastor offended. “LEAVE BRITNEY ALONE!” He threatened, pulling a gun out of his pajama pocket. Vaggie pushed the hand with the gun down. Charlie quickly interjected, “Please don’t let this get violent! Next one!”

“Workin’ double time on the seduction line, she’s one of a kind. She’s just mine, all mine.”

Cherri’s hand shot up. “‘You Shook Me All Night Long’ by AC/DC!” She shouted. Charlie answered that she was correct. “I was a groupie of theirs when they were tourin’ in Australia,” Cherri bragged. “That’s sick as fuck,” Vaggie replied.

“That’s not fair! She’s Australian, of course she knows this song!” Alastor retorted. “Oi! Just cuz I’m from Australia doesn’t mean I only know Australian songs!” Cherri yelled.

The next slide shifted over to say:

“Traveled in a fried out Kombi. On a hippie trail, head full of zombie.”

Everyone turned to look at Cherri. “I’m not answering that,” she barked out and crossed her arms.

“C’mon, Cherri~ you know the name of the song~” Angel Dust teased. “If no one answers it, Alastor is gonna take the point,” Vaggie leaned towards her with a sly grin. She growled and shot her hand up. She said something quickly under her breath. Everyone still sat in silence. She scoffed and said the answer again, barely any louder from before. “Can’t hear ya, firecracker,” Husk replied smugly. Finally, she screamed out, “FINE, YOU CUNTS! IT'S ‘DOWN UNDER’ BY MEN AT WORK!” Angel bursted out into maniacal laughter. His laughter caused Vaggie to cackle as well.

Soon enough, the game became Alastor versus the rest of the group. It continued with the next couple songs being answered by Vaggie.

“Alright you guys, this last one is for all the marbles!” Charlie declared.

“Olvida la vanidad y el orgullo déjalo afuera que está noche sensual y bohemia es por la ansiedad que estés junto a mi.”

Vaggie and Cherri both raised their hands and answered, “El Liston de Tu Pelo by Los Angeles Azules!” “Correct!” Charlie cried out.

Everyone except Alastor cheered in victory as he sat fuming. Vaggie turned towards him and extended her hand, “Good game. You were really dominating with those first few songs.” Alastor, like the gentleman he was, shook her hand, “Yes, you were quite impressive out there. It seems like you’ve really come out of your shell.”

Alastor got up and went up the stairs quietly. Angel and Cherri laughed and picked up Vaggie. “Nice job beating the radio demon, Vags!” Cherri giggled. “Didn’t know you were chill like that! We gotta take you to karaoke night next time we go bar hopping!” Angel commented. Vaggie’s chest swelled up with pride.

———

“You were amazing out there!” Charlie squealed as she jumped into her and Vaggie’s shared bed. Vaggie was already under the covers, her features illuminated by their lamps.

“Charlie, it’s just a game,” Vaggie smirked as she pulled her girlfriend close to her.

“No! Well I mean, yeah, you knocked it out of the ball park there. But you’re so outgoing now! You talked with everyone there!” Charlie smiled as she rubbed her thumb against Vaggie’s cheek. Out of instinct, she gave her a quick kiss on the nose. “Hanging out with the Carmines has been helping you a lot, hasn’t it?”

Vaggie took a second to ponder. Charlie was completely right. If it wasn’t for her visits with the Carmines, she would probably be hiding away in the office doing paperwork instead of being with the rest of the hotel residents. It felt nice. To be seen as someone fun and friendly. Vaggie never thought she was that kind of person. “Yeah, I guess so,” Vaggie replied.

“I’m proud of you, babe,” Charlie yawned as she turned off her lamp and snuggled up to her girlfriend. “Thank you, hun.”

For the first time in a very long time, Vaggie felt good about herself.