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Published:
2025-10-20
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2025-10-22
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2/?
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I'll be here in the morning. - Nathan Lives AU

Anonymous

Summary:

He had lived through the history of this world 100 times for the family in that car, and he was determined that this would be the final time. He had a plan this time to save his family the Freelings. All of them this time.

OR

What if Abaddon called Katherine before Nathan had the chance to kill himself?

What if there was a universe where all of the Freelings could live?

Notes:

Hi guys! I've never posted on ao3 before, so I apologize if this sucks. This fuckass show has consumed my brain and driven me to start writing fanfic. I'm gonna put the trigger warnings here, because this deals with some heavy topics.

TWs:

  • Suicide
  • Depression

    (See the end of the work for more notes.)

    Chapter 1

    Chapter Text

    Abaddon watched from an upstairs window as a familiar car whipped into the driveway of the hotel. He supposed the car shouldn’t have been familiar to him in this timeline, at least not yet, but it hardly mattered. He had lived through the history of this world 100 times for the family in that car, and he was determined that this would be the final time. He had a plan this time to save his family the Freelings. All of them this time.

    Nathan was tending the garden outside the hotel, if you could call it that. Really he was halfheartedly stabbing at the dirt around a single ragged hedge that he insisted he would get around to expanding into a hedgemaze. Abaddon thought it was a wonderful idea, a convoluted maze for guests to get lost in was exactly the sort of fresh setting for him to torment his enemies. He knew by now that the maze would never get finished. Nathan wouldn’t be around long enough to finish many of his projects around the hotel.

    It would only be a few more days now. Nathan had already started showing the same signs he had in every other loop. He locked himself in the lounge to watch TV for hours, crying when he thought Abaddon wasn’t around to see. (A foolish pursuit, as Abaddon frequently surveyed his dominion through the vents.) This week he had started overstocking the kitchen with the things Abaddon liked to eat, filling the cupboards and fridge with boxes of Fruitloops and yogurt cups. He had gathered through past repetitions that this was some final act of care for the childlike demon, wanting to know he would be provided for in the time after his death. (Nathan would find him days after his death when he returned as a ghost, crying into a bowl of dry Fruitloops in the patriarch’s long dead lap. Neither of them spoke of the incident again, it was unbecoming of a demon to show such emotion for the ending of the mere blip that was a mortal life.)

    Nathan looked up from his gardening as he heard the car roll in, and Abaddon could see him gasp in surprise when he realized who was driving it. Katherine stepped out of the car and strode quickly to her brother’s side, grabbing his shoulders and seemingly checking him for injuries. Abaddon couldn’t hear their conversation from here, so he made his way down through the lobby to the front door. He stepped outside and silently watched the pair from the porch.

    “You’re sure you’re okay?” Katherine asked with a furrowed brow, finally taking a step back from her brother to survey his admittedly dishevelled appearance. Nathan hadn’t been taking care of himself lately. (For someone who insisted on Abaddon having regular baths and meals, he didn’t seem to partake in either much himself these days.) “When your son called he sounded pretty worried about you. Said you were in ‘grave danger and required my assistance’ or something. When were you going to tell me you had a kid by the way?”

    “What-” Nathan started, looking bewildered for a second before spotting Abaddon standing in a dark corner of the porch. His eyes widened in realization as they made eye contact and Abaddon felt his face flush in embarrassment to be caught caring for a mortal in such a manor. He certainly didn’t truly think of himself as the man’s son. That would be absurd. It was simply a convenient lie to convince Katherine of his connection to the man.

    Eventually Katherine followed his gaze, spotting the boy as her eyes widened in surprise. “The name makes sense now, he looks like an Abaddon.” she said, taking in his sickly appearance. Nathan glared at her, and she raised her hands in defense. “I’m sorry, Nathan, he’s dressed like a pilgrim and staring at us from the shadows like a demon.”

    “Funny story,” Nathan chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his neck, “He kind of is?”

    “What, is he going through the terrible – how old is he, nine?” she scoffed, looking back at her brother. He was about to answer, but Abaddon cut him off with an indignant huff.

    “How dare you, I have seen the birth of this world a hundred times over,” he declared, “I am Abaddon, the Cobra King, do not be fooled by this frail vessel-”

    Nathan cut him off swiftly by striding over to where he had climbed atop the porch railing and picking him up. “Alright, bud, what did we say about threatening monologues in front of guests?” he admonished. The demon squirmed for a few seconds in his hold before relenting with a slight pout. After a few seconds he leaned into the touch, curling his fingers into the patriarch’s sweater. He was loath to admit it, but he did enjoy the occasional gestures of physical affection from the mortal and his embarrassment at accepting it was curbed by the memory that he may lose it very soon.

    “Oh my god,” Katherine laughs, “You are a dad. I never thought I’d see the day.” Nathan looks disgruntled for a second before she adds, “It looks good on you.” Abaddon should have corrected her, but for some reason he didn’t want to. Nathan carried him inside as Katherine followed, setting him down on the lobby stairs. He waves Katherine towards the lounge door before turning back to the demon.

    “Abaddon,” he asks, tone turning serious, “why did you call Katherine and tell her I was in danger? You seriously freaked her out, and she drove all the way out here for no reason!”

    “Because you are,” he answers simply, crossing his arms.

    “I don’t understand, bud,” he asks in a strained voice, “I’m completely fine, nothing has happened to me.”

    “You are not. You are going to leave.” Abaddon snaps with a glare. Nathan’s eyes widened in shock.

    “Oh, bud, I'm not going anywhere…” Nathan begins before Abaddon cuts him off again.

    “Do not lie to me! You will enter the lounge to watch Con Air and you will consume excessive amounts of your medications.” Abaddon continues, “I will find your body there. I have seen it happen before. You always leave.” He sees tears well up in the patriarch’s eyes as he blinks valiantly against them.

    “I’m… sorry you had to see that, Abaddon,” his voice sounds thick and strained when he finally speaks, and he reaches out to the demon child. He pulls him against his chest in a tight hug, and Abaddon lets him, burying his face in his shoulder despite his demonic dignity. There are some times that the childlike instincts that remain of the vessel's soul seem impossible to deny. He should say that he has seen the death of thousands, caused the death of thousands. He should say that a mere mortal life’s end means nothing, that it was a blip in the thousands of years he has lived through. He doesn’t say that though.

    “You can’t hug as a ghost,” he says instead, his voice unusually soft, and he feels Nathan sob against his hair. He holds the boy tighter for a second before pulling back, holding him by his shoulders. Abaddon bites his lip for a second before adding, “I missed when you were warm.”

    “I’m sorry,” Nathan croaks out again.

    “Nathan-” Katherine’s voice sounds strained, “why didn’t you tell me it had gotten this bad.” Abaddon and Nathan looked at the lounge door in surprise. It seems Katherine had returned to look for Nathan when he hadn’t appeared in the lounge, and Abaddon had no idea how long she had been standing there. He feels his face redden with embarrassment that there had been a witness to his childish behaviour.

    Nathan stood and wiped his eyes, then looked back at Abaddon. “Why don’t you go play with your bones?” He suggested, “I think your aunt and I should talk.” For a reason he cannot explain, Abaddon still doesn’t correct his insistence on their familial relationship. It can wait for another day. He shuffles indecisively, not wanting to let Nathan out of his sight in case something happened.

    “I’ll still be here in the morning.” Nathan reassured him, holding out his hand with a pinky raised, “Pinky promise.” Esther had explained this gesture to him in a previous loop, so he dutifully wrapped his own pinky around the man’s with a solemn nod. 

    “I shall await your return,” he conceded, taking a seat upon the stairs with the clear intention to wait there. He didn’t need sleep after all. Nathan looked at him with slight concern, but didn’t question the boy. Abaddon watched silently as the two adults retreated to the lounge, Katherine wrapping an arm around her brother’s hunched shoulders as they walked. He truly hoped that Katherine could make Nathan keep his promise this time around.

    Chapter 2

    Summary:

    Following Katherine's visit, she agrees to move into the hotel to help her brother run the place. Abaddon and Nathan prepare for the family's arrival.

    Notes:

    Thank you for all the love you've all given this story so far! All of your comments and kudos aboslutely made my day. I've decided to extend this oneshot into a multi-chapter fic. As always, trigger warnings will be at the top of the page.

    TWs:

    • References to Suicide
    • Depression
        • There's quite a bit of dialogue in this chapter and I struggled a bit with the characterization, so I hope it doesn't disappoint.

    (See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

    Chapter Text

    When morning did come, Abaddon was relieved to see Nathan and Katherine emerge once again into the lobby. Katherine was holding a plastic shopping bag filled with what Abaddon recognized as the contents of the hotel’s medicine cabinet, which he supposed was for the best. As they reached the entrance of the hotel, the two embraced.

    “Take care of yourself,” Katherine says seriously, holding the older man at arms length, “I’ll see you when I get back.” Nathan nodded, and she pulled him into a second, shorter hug before pulling open the door and beginning the walk to her car. Abaddon followed Nathan onto the porch as he waved goodbye to his sister.

    “Nathan.” he greeted the patriarch with a nod. The man looked down at him with his usual warm smile.

    “Good morning, bud,” he replied, reaching down to tussle the childlike demon’s hair. Abaddon scowled and swatted the man’s hand away. He would not make a habit of tolerating these demeaning mortal gestures of affection despite allowing himself a moment of indulgence the night before. Now that any imminent danger had been seemingly averted, he had no good excuse for such immature behaviour. Nathan shrugged and turned to lean on the railing, watching his sister pull out of the driveway.

    The man looked tired, an undeniable heaviness in his limbs and posture like it was taking all of his effort just to be awake. His eyes were puffy and red rimmed from all of the crying the previous night. However, for all he looked like death warmed over, for once in this timeline he wasn’t, and Abaddon would take what he could get.

    “So you are healed?” Abaddon inquired with a tilt of his head, “You will remain living in the hotel?” Nathan looked back over at him.

    “It’s- not that simple bud,” he sighed, “But I’m trying.” He sighed deeply, closing his eyes for a moment before heaving himself off of the railing and attempting to muster his usual chipper attitude. “Alright, let’s get you some breakfast,” he announces, grasping the boy’s hand and leading him back into the hotel.

    Abaddon decides to humor him, allowing himself to be led to the kitchen. While Abaddon hoisted himself into his usual seat at the far end of the table, Nathan pulled two bowls from the dish strainer and grabbed a box of Fruitloops from the top of the fridge. Before long, the two were sitting across from each other, silently eating the colorful cereal. It is Nathan who breaks the silence first.

    “So, Abaddon,” he starts awkwardly, “How did you like meeting my sister?” Abaddon eyed him with some suspicion. The man appeared to have an ulterior motive to this line of questioning.

    “Her presence was acceptable,” he relented after a short silence, “And appears to have been beneficial for your ailments.”

    “Uh- yeah that,” Nathan chuckles, “So how would you feel if she stayed with us at the hotel for a while? I could use the help, and she’s just had a pretty nasty divorce could use a place to crash while she gets things sorted out. Her two children would be staying with us as well.” 

    “Esther?” he asked, perking up immediately at the possibility of seeing his friend. He supposed they weren’t friends yet, however after rekindling their friendship in 100 other timelines he was sure he could do it again.

    “I’m just gonna ignore how you already know my niece’s name,” Nathan said slowly, eyeing him quizzically as he spoke, “But yes, Esther would be coming. She should be 11 now, so about your age-” 

    “I have lived through millennia of this earth’s history,” he declared with indignance, “How dare you compare me in age to a mere mortal child, I have seen civilizations rise and fall-”

    “Sorry, your vessel’s age,” Nathan placated, patting his head fondly as he stood to take their empty bowls to the sink. “Anyway, I think it would be nice for you to have your cousins around for a bit. You can have someone to talk to other than me and the ghosts.”

    “They are not my cousins,” Abaddon corrected, “I am an immortal demon, there are no meaningful ties between myself and your mortal family.” It was the truth, but in speaking it he felt a hollow ache in the part of his being made up of the child’s soul. The aching grew worse as he saw Nathan’s face fall at the statement, but he pushing it aside. Such sentimentality is unbefitting a demon of his stature.

    “Sorry, bud, I just thought since Kathy said you called yourself my son,” Nathan replied awkwardly, turning his attention back to the dishes.

    “It was a convenient explanation for my presence in your household,” Abaddon explained, looking anywhere but at the patriarch.

    “Alright,” Nathan said decisively, “Then what would you be?”

    “I am an immortal demon,” Abaddon said as if it was obvious, because it was, “Born in the fiery pits of hell.” At least most of him was, the childlike part of his bound soul was still entirely unhappy with this conversation.

    “Yes I know,” said Nathan, “But I am responsible for you while you live here so… my ward? Does that work?”

    “‘Ward’ is acceptable terminology.” Abaddon conceded, hopping down from the chair. Nathan called over to him from where he was still doing dishes.

    “Kathy and the kids will be back later today,” he informed him, “So don’t try to chase them off when they show up.” Abaddon rolled his eyes and nodded.

    It was true that Abaddon tended to get territorial about intruders on the hotel grounds (which probably contributed to the hotel’s steady stream of zero guests), but he did not go through all this trouble for the Freelings sake just to screw it up when he’d almost reached his goal.

    Despite himself, he found himself rather excited as he awaited the arrival of his cousins the Freeling children. For the rest of the day he made himself busy helping Nathan prepare rooms for Katherine, Ben, and Esther. Abaddon insisted on picking the rooms they had occupied in each previous timeline, much to Nathan's confusion. However, he didn't see the harm in going along with the demon's demands.

    When Nathan wasn’t looking he gathered a small collection of bones and occult artifacts from around the hotel and hid them in Esther’s closet to show her later. He was eager to restart their supernatural scheming.

    The knock at the door came when Abaddon and Nathan had just sat down for dinner. (Nathan had warmed up canned soup for the two of them, despite Abaddon’s demand for another bowl of Fruitloops. He insisted that they needed a “balanced diet”. Abaddon did not agree.)

    “You stay here, bud, I’ll get it” Nathan said, rising from the table and making his way to the door. Abaddon followed him anyway. He went where he pleased, and currently he wanted to see Esther. Nathan shrugged as he saw the small demon fall into step behind him, but didn’t try to stop him.

    Nathan opened the door to reveal the rest of the Freelings standing on the porch looking slightly disheveled and armed with hastily packed backpacks and duffel bags. Abaddon caught Esther’s gaze where she stood behind her mother. She waved at him with her familiar crooked smile, and he felt a small smile form on his face as well as he gave a small wave back.

    Nathan and Katherine embraced again upon seeing each other, and he gestured them all inside. The Freelings filed past the two as they entered the hotel, the two children surveying their new surroundings with interest. Nathan helped Katherine haul bags up the stairs, showing her where each of their rooms would be. Ben eventually followed them with his own luggage.

    “You coming, Esther?” he asked, turning to look at his sister from the stairs. She shook her head, waving him on.

    “I’ll be there in a minute,” she called after him. He shrugged and continued to drag the duffel bag he had brought with him to the second floor. The younger turned to face Abaddon, closing the distance between them with confident strides. “The name's Esther,” she grinned conspiratorially, extending a hand to the demon.

    Abaddon took in the familiar shock of red hair and crooked smile, the sturdy green jacket that hung loosely off her small frame, the familiar spark of mischief in her eye... Her extended hand didn’t form the familiar devil horns of their secret handshake, but that would come later. He gave her a wicked grin as he grasped her hand in his own.

    “Abaddon,” he replied. Esther gave his hand a firm shake, then bid him farewell and followed her family upstairs. He watched her go before retreating for the night to his usual spot beneath the sink.

    The whole interaction had felt as though she was recruiting him for some kind of scheme already, just like it always did. He found himself smiling to himself at the thought. The Freelings’ existence may be a blip in comparison to his own lifespan, but he’d missed them all the same.

    He was determined not to let them down this time.

    Notes:

    Thank you again to everyone who enjoys my work! :]

    If you're interested in more of this AU let me know! I'm probably gonna write more for this fic, but I've been writing this instead of doing my database homework so it might be a bit before I update again... 💀

    Notes:

    This one's kinda just a self indulgent fix it au. Everytime I saw Nathan try to touch or interact with one of his family members and his hand go through them it made me incredibly sad, so I wanted a universe where he was able to get better and all the Freelings get to live.

    Let me know if you'd be interested in seeing more of this AU because I have a couple more ideas to expand on this oneshot.