Chapter Text
The first thing Adam felt was relief. The second was confusion.
Opening his eyes and sitting up, he looked around. The red sky and stench of brimstone confirmed that, to his irritation, he was still in Hell. So where were his Exorcists? He was damn sure that his girl Lute wouldn't leave him behind—he had been stabbed, for God’s sake!
That made him pause. He had been stabbed by that fucking spindly sinner, so where was the pain? Come to think of it, where was the fucking spindly sinner? He looked around again, and saw only Pentagram City, not the smoking ruins of that hotel. What was going on? He ran through his most recent memories: that bitch Lucifer attacking him, the sudden sharp pain of an angelic blade, Lute looking down at him in panic… and then he was here. Something wasn’t right.
He patted the spot where the blade had gone, and frowned. The wound was just not there. More than that, his uniform felt off somehow. He looked down, and his eyes widened. His outfit had changed—his golden robes had become grey and black, and frayed around the edges where they had been meticulously maintained.
Horror began to dawn on him, and his breath began to speed up. No. There's no way. In pure panic, Adam caught a glimpse of a nearby window and ran for it. Staring into his reflection, his newly born worst fears were realized. His uniform was gone, turned into these drab rags. His wings were gone, like he’d never even had them. And his face… Above his head were two jet-black horns, like a mockery of those on his helmet—and his formerly golden irises were pure white, with crimson red sclera.
Adam—leader of the angelic armies, first man, the first Winner—had Fallen.
###
It had been 5 minutes of Adam alternating between cursing at anyone and anything within earshot and staring at his own hands in stark dismay and disbelief, and he showed no signs of slowing down.
“Fuck, fuck, fuckfuckfuck!” What the fuck was going on? He hadn’t done anything wrong! He’d died serving Heaven, for God’s sake, exterminating those lowlifes! The fact that he had been killed was bad enough, but the idea that he would Fall in the process just didn’t make sense. On instinct, he moved to fiddle with his ring to help him think.
Adam’s eyes widened in realization. His ring. He didn't care how, that had better be there, or he was going to that fucking hotel and tearing through its ruins just to get it back. He threw his hand up to look—still there. The angelic steel band was right where it was supposed to be. He let out the breath he hadn’t realized he had held. That was one comfort, at least. He hadn’t taken that off once in all the years since—
He cut off that line of thought before it could hurt more. Adam ran his hands through his hair, wincing at the unfamiliar touch of his horns. Okay. Calm down, fuck, he rationalized. This all must be a misunderstanding—I’ll just get in touch with Sera, and she can get me back up there where I belong. “Yo, Sera!” He called out. “Can you give a guy a hand here?”
The red sky gave no response. He tried three more times, becoming more desperate at each, before giving up. Okay—no problem. Obviously she just can’t hear you down here. Who’d want to listen to this place? So he needed a direct line to the angels. Fortunately, there happened to be one such place even down here.
###
He had been walking for an hour now. It should not be this hard to find. The building is a giant fucking clock! How could he not even see the Heaven Embassy? He had never had to cross this city from the ground level—usually he could fly above the buildings and deliver righteous death at his leisure. He looked around once more before giving up. One of these vermin should know, he decided. Least they can do for me.
Just in time, one sinner walked by, a dark blue impish creature, and Adam lunged for him and grabbed him by the shoulder. “You! Tell me where the fucking Heaven Embassy is right the fuck now, or I’ll—”
Adam was used to many reactions from sinners—usually some variation of “fleeing in terror” or “begging for mercy.” So he was absolutely unprepared when this one turned around and slammed a fist into his chin. “Screw you!” he called back as he began walking again, not even bothering to look back at his stunned victim. After a moment of processing both the unfamiliar sensation of pain and the lack of mortal fear on the sinner’s part, Adam growled and pointed a fist at him, preparing the most potent Holy Light he could call up to vaporize that worthless scum—and nothing. He cursed again. Right. That would take some getting used to. Adam was not suddenly uncomfortable being without his weapon in the middle of Hell, and he would never say otherwise.
“Heh. New blood?” A voice came from behind him. Adam whirled on whoever would talk down to him, to find a shark-looking creature looking down at him. The thing had an actual hammerhead shark’s head attached to a human body, with both eyes fixed on him. Adam’s eyes narrowed. He did not belong down here, and he would not be talked to like he did. “The fuck is it to you?”
The shark’s eyes narrowed, but he only grinned at him—which was just wrong on its fishy head. “I’d be careful if I were you. Not everyone down here’s as forgiving as me.” Then he jabbed a thumb behind him, at a plain building tucked among the high rises nearby. “Go there. You can whine at her, and get the rundown her way, or I can teach it to you in mine.” The shark flexed his hands as if to emphasize his point.
Adam was many things, but a coward was not one of them—he did not leave threats unanswered. On the other hand, this wasn’t a normal situation, with the loss of his angelic powers, and he didn’t feel like throwing down when he didn’t know his new limits. So instead, he just growled back, “Fine,” and stalked off towards the mentioned building, making a mental note to find him and personally smite him next Extermination.
“Fucking shitty demons with…” Adam muttered as he approached the building, glaring up at the sign for “The Garden Welcome Center” as if it had personally arranged this for him. Then he stormed into the building. He was going to get directions to the Embassy, go straight there, and get this whole fucked up situation fixed. He slammed open the door, and headed straight for the bitch behind the desk. "Where the fuck is the Hea—"
The woman looked up, and Adam froze. He knew that woman—he was wearing the proof of that on his hand.
Eve.
###
It had been thousands of years since he had seen her, but even now there was no mistaking her for anyone. The horns were new, and she looked wearier than she had been, but it was her. She could have passed for his twin—the same skin tone, and hair longer but still recognizably like his own. Even her eyes were the brilliant gold he remembered: the same shade as his own had been, and—though he would never admit it to anyone but her—even more beautiful.
Adam just stood for a moment, for once in his life at a loss for words. He had all but given up on ever seeing her again. Year after year in Heaven alone, after arriving and realizing she hadn't made it. Then countless Exterminations where he had still been subconsciously looking for her, searching for those golden eyes every year among this scum. He had spent so long looking, that he felt unprepared for what to say after actually finding her out of the blue.
Eve simply smiled. “New down here? I get that a lot—that's usually people's first response.”
Adam's first instinct was to snark back at that easy setup, but to his shock he resisted. "Something like that, yeah. Um…uh... Eve?" Smooth. He cursed internally at his faltering—he was Dickmaster, for God's sake, he didn't lose his cool around some chick! But then, this wasn't just some chick.
Her eyebrows went up. "Oh! You're perceptive, aren't you?" She let out a laugh. It was just like he remembered, a soft, merry sound like ringing bells. "Yes, that's me. Have a seat, I'll help you adjust." In a daze, he did so.
"If you hadn't guessed it, you're in Hell," she said. It was businesslike, but there was something else beneath the surface—sadness? Regret? He was too preoccupied to think about that, in any event. "You've probably got a lot of questions, I can answer some of them for you."
Then she paused, those ever-curious eyes of hers searching him. "Who... are you? You feel different, somehow."
In answer, Adam held up his hand, trying to hide its shaking, and showed her the ring on his finger.
Eve gasped, hands flying to her mouth. Tears began to well in her eyes as she stepped out from behind her desk. Walking toward him, she reached out and took his hand. The simple act sent a jolt through Adam's body; he hadn't realized how much he missed that touch. As she looked at the ring’s blessed steel, she let out a choked sob and turned to its wearer.
"Adam?"
He tried to give a confident grin. "Hey, Moonbeam.”
His oldest companion and only true love gave a cry of utter delight and relief and flung her arms around him, tears streaming down her face. "Oh, Adam! It's been so long, I thought I'd never see you again!" She looked up at him and smiled, and God, he had missed that smile more than anything. "You're just as handsome as I remember."
"Fuck yeah I am," he responded on instinct, earning a tear-filled laugh from the woman pressed against him. After a moment, he leaned down and put his arms around her in return. They stayed like that for as long as they could, lost in each other's presence after countless years apart. For a moment, Adam felt like it was worth it to be down here in Hell, if it meant he got to experience this again.
###
After what felt like an eternity, Eve broke off and beamed up at her love. “Come on, come in—I live just behind here.” She pulled him along—always so eager, Adam reminisced—through a door behind her desk. It led into a small room, plainly decorated except for a shelf of flowers along the opposite wall. With a pang of memory, Adam realized it was set up like their first real home after Eden: a central hearth where a table now was, and their bed in the exact same place against the wall.
Eve looked up at him, and saw the recognition in his eyes. “I remember it like it was yesterday,” she said fondly. “Such a different time.”
Adam sat cross-legged at the table, and Eve brought a pair of teacups over. She sat next to him, leaning her head against his shoulder, and her eyes welled again as she whispered, "I've missed you, my love."
As a rule, Adam did not talk about his feelings. That was for bitches—and it never seemed to help. But here, reunited with his Moonbeam, who had always had a knack for drawing out what he was thinking, he decided she was worth an exception. "I missed you too." He rested his head against hers, letting her warmth soothe his nerves.
There would be time for talk soon, and they would have many things to talk about. But right now, all Adam wanted was to be close to his Eve.
He closed his eyes, and together they drifted off to sleep.