Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

   And then he was gone. The door to Vee Tower is shut behind him. Angel left him, left all of them. What the fuck just happened?

   Husk curled somehow further in on himself, feeling more pathetic than he’d felt in a long time. Cherri put a semi-comforting hand on his shoulder, saying something about “Don’t worry. He’ll come back.” But will he? Angel is right. He isn’t free. Valentino might never let him leave the tower again. Suddenly, Charlie and the others are also around him.

   “We did it! Oh my gosh, we fucking did it!” Charlie’s excitement bounces off of Husk as he stares at that door, stupidly praying for Angel to come back through it. “Wait, where did Angel go?” The hurt twists in Husk’s chest and his attitude sharpens.

   “He’s in there,” he growls. Charlie panics.

   “What? Did the Vees take him? No, we just got him back! He-”

   “He left on his own.” Charlie stops at Husk’s words and looks puzzled.

   “Wait, what?”

   “They didn’t take him. He walked through that door by choice,” Cherri explains, her voice breaking slightly. The reminder strikes another chord in Husk, and he turns and storms off.

   “Husk, wait-” Vaggie stops Charlie with a hand on her shoulder.

   “Babe, let him cool off a little. I don’t think he’s in a great place right now,” she says. Charlie pouts and watches him walk away.

   “But… we won. We should be happy,” she tries to reason.

   “We may have beat Vox and settled things with people upstairs, but Angel isn’t free,” Cherri scoffs. “Not everyone can get a happy ending all the time.” Charlie opens her mouth again, but Vaggie nudges her lightly.

   “How about we head home? We’ll meet him there,” she says, glancing at Husk in the distance. She hopes Charlie doesn’t notice that he’s walking the opposite direction of the hotel. As she shepherds Charlie away, Vaggie turns over her shoulder to Cherri. “Can you just… make sure he’s okay? And that he gets home?” Cherri nods solemnly. “Are you alright?” The cyclops looks back at Vee Tower and sighs.

   “Not really,” she says. “Angel doesn’t deserve this, but he’ll be okay eventually. He has to be.” Vaggie nods in understanding and leaves to take Charlie and the others back home. Cherri shakes off the dread blanketing her body and jogs to catch up with Husk. “Hey, Husk! Wait!” He doesn’t stop walking so she speeds up to get in level with him. “What are you doin’?”

   “Getting out of there,” he mutters, not looking at her.

   “The hotel’s that way,” Cherri points out.

   “I’m not going to the hotel.” Cherri had a feeling, and she could tell by his clear set path where he was headed. She aggressively steps in front of him, blocking his path. He still won’t look at her.

   “Look, Husk, I know you’re upset, but you can’t just walk out to drown yourself in booze and poker chips. You- We have to stay strong,” Cherri scolds. “Charlie’s already upset about losing Angel, she can’t lose you, too-” Husk finally locks eyes with her, and Cherri shivers at the look on his face.

   “Oh, she’s upset about losing Angel?! Her precious fucking project?! Boo-fucking-hoo, Cherri! I just lost the one person down here that has ever made me feel like I’m worth anything! I think I’m entitled to falling back down to rock bottom! Tell them I’m dead for all I care, they don’t need me!” He pushes Cherri aside and keeps walking. Cherri was trying to civil, but unholy fuck this guy was being really stupid.

   “Do you think you’re the only person Angel’s important to?!” Husk slows to a stop, the rawness in Cherri’s voice sharp. “He's been my best friend for nearly forty years! Maybe we’ve had our ups and downs, but we always had each other. Yeah, I thought his decision to go to the hotel was fucking stupid, and maybe I was an asshole about it, but when I saw how much all of you guys seemed to care so much, I calmed the fuck down. I calmed down and I saw how much he loved being there. He was safe, comfortable, and happy. Especially with you.” At that, Husk turns to look at her again, his expression softening fully when he sees that Cherri is crying. 

   “I know him,” she continues through the tears. “I knew him in the early days with Valentino, when they actually liked- hell, maybe even loved each other. Then, I was there when everything went to shit. I was there through all the years of trauma and abuse my best friend had to endure thanks to the contract he signed way back when. Then, guess what? I was there, watching him let some of those walls down at the hotel, with Charlie, with me, with you. I’m not gonna spill all his business, but I know from his mouth that he’s never felt more seen than he does when he’s with you. Did that piss me off in the beginning? Hell yeah, but the more I saw the way you treated him with such genuine care, the more I knew how much he needed you. He’s needed someone like you for so long. I tried to be that, but I’m not. And if he gets back to the hotel someday and you’re not there, I won’t matter. You can’t do this, Husk. Please.”

   They stand in silence for a minute while Husk thinks. He starts to say something but stops himself with a deep breath.

   “Cherri, I don’t know if I can stay at the hotel knowing that he won’t be there, knowing that he’s not coming home after work,” he says honestly.

   “And you think I wanna be alone in that? I just got there, I’m not dropping out now. Not for this,” Cherri reasons. Then, with a small smile, “Besides, I can’t be the only one taking care of Fat Nuggets.”

   “Holy shit, that pig is still there,” Husk realizes out loud. “I guess Angel wouldn’t be very happy if I didn’t look after him.” Cherri manages a laugh, wiping the last of her tears off her face.

   “Exactly, dipshit,” she says, coming over next to Husk and throwing an arm over his shoulders. “Now come on. Let’s go home.”

- - -

   Husk had not always liked Cherri. To be honest, when she’d blown through that hotel wall the first time and fucked with Angel’s progess in that club, he’d kind of hated her, but the more she hung around, the more he saw how important she really was to Angel.

   As awful as this entire situation was now, he soon became incredibly grateful for her presence at the hotel. They effectively had shared custody of Fat Nuggets, with occasional help from Niffty. Cherri started meeting him at the bar late at night, not necessarily to fill the void left by Angel, but to make sure Husk wasn’t alone with all of the depressing thoughts that came with standing there staring at his empty bar stool. If they both glanced at the front doors every few minutes, hoping, praying for him to walk through them, neither of them said anything. There wasn’t much to say. The solidarity was enough for now.

Chapter Text

   “Husk!” The bartender jumps a little as Cherri comes barreling over to the bar. “He’s performing!”

   “What the fuck are you talking about?” She responds by shoving her phone in his face. He leans back, cursing his old ass eyes, then freezing when he recognizes the blurry image of Angel on the screen. “I mean, he is a performer, so-”

   “But he’s performing outside of Vee Tower,” she points out, still holding up the screen as if he can read it. “For the first time since… you know.”

   “Okay… and?” Husk is failing to see how this is much of a development.

   “And?! This means we can go see him,” Cherri states, as if it’s that simple.

   “Look, kid, just because he’s not in the tower, doesn’t mean they’re just letting anybody go talk to him,” Husk tries to point out, but Cherri is already locked in on some plan.

   “But there’s a chance! Come on! The show starts in an hour,” she says urgently, starting toward the door. She pauses when Husk doesn’t move. “Listen, Furball, you clearly don’t have much hope, but I’m going either way, so are you coming with me or not?” Husk sighs and glances around the lobby, seeing nobody.

   “Fuck it.” He tosses the “Bar Closed” sign onto the counter and quickly follows Cherri out the door.

- - -

   They get to The Orchid with about ten minutes to spare, and they use that time to scope out the scene for any sign of the Vees, relaxing slightly when they confirm with multiple people that nobody has seen them. They set up shop at a corner table with their drinks and wait, carefully eyeing the stage. The elfish performer finishes their set and sashays offstage as the emcee stirs up the crowd again.

   “Now, performing his ‘Welcome Home’ set for the first time outside of The Tower, the pornstar you’ve all missed the most, Angel Dust!!!” The whole club erupts in applause as the lights on stage dim and smoke starts rolling in. A pole with a silhouette wrapped around it rises out of the stage.

   The music starts with a harsh chord, the lights changing in sync with the beat. After the intro plays, the spotlight beams on, revealing Angel Dust in all his glory. Husk thought Angel dressed wild on the regular. He’d never really thought about what Angel wears at work, only ever seeing him in drag the one time. That might’ve been for the best, because Husk might be going into cardiac arrest right now.

   The pink one piece can barely be considered clothes, but that is technically the point for performances like this. Husk only watches the fringe on Angel’s hips sway for a few seconds before turning around, grateful that he chose the side of the table facing the opposite wall. Cherri notices and cackles.

   “You’ve never seen him do this, have you?” Husk glares and pushes off the table to get a drink. As the bartender turns to grab the bottle, Husk glances back at the stage. Angel is hanging off the pole now, back arched so far out that his body is pressing against the loose chains draped across his torso. Suddenly, it's really warm in this club.

   Husk turns back to the bar, chugging his bottle of whiskey. He is here for a reason, and watching Angel… dance is not that reason. Well, he is here for Angel, getting to see him perform is a sort of bonus.

   Get yourself together, old man.

   But unholy hell, he’s gorgeous.

   Husk, you’re here to be helpful, not horny.

   …

   You do have the time between now and when he gets off the stage until you actually have to do what you came here to do, so you might as well enjoy it.

   He stands at the bar for another few minutes, watching Angel intently as he dips and sways around the stage, throwing winks and kisses at the people surrounding him. It’s a good thing Husk is too far away to be noticed, one-because Angel seeing him would blow their cover, and two-Angel being that close to Husk? Wearing that? Blowing kisses? Husk would easily pass out right there on the spot. Either that or he’d c-

   “Hey!” Husk jumps as someone punches him in the shoulder. He relaxes when he sees that it’s Cherri. “Did you hear anything I just said?” Oops. Right Husk opens his mouth to respond, he sees Angel do a move similar to the “bend and snap” from that earth movie Charlie had made them watch months ago, and he finds his mouth dry. “Aw, did ya get a little distracted, Furball?”

   “Shut up,” he mutters, turning away from the stage yet again, since that seems to be the only tactic that works against whatever magic Angel has up there. “You were saying?”

   “What? You embarrassed,” Cherri teases, jumping up to sit on the bar top, ignoring the bartender’s protests. “Your reaction’s only fair. He’s hot as fuck.”

   “Cherri, focus. What did you come over here to tell me,” Husk chides. She sighs.

   “Ugh, you’re no fun. Sometimes I wonder what Angie sees in you.” She doesn’t give him the chance to respond to that one. “I think we need to catch him in his dressing room or something, because trying to get his attention from out here is not gonna work.”

   “Um, sure. What-” Cherri, now the one watching the show, gasps and starts hitting him again.

   “Shut up! This is the climax of the song!” She then grabs Husk’s face and forcibly turns him so he has to see the grand finale. He's about to try to protest when Angel swings up to the very top of the pole and spins until he’s upside down, legs in a split, ass on full display. Then, he lets himself slide down, flipping again so he lands in another split on the ground. He rolls through so he’s on his hands and knees, slowly crawling forward until he can reach out and caress the face of the sinner in front of him. Part of Husk is almost jealous, but the rest of him knows this isn’t the real Angel.

   The spider sits up and leans all the way back, knees still bent, two hands over his head, the other two on his thighs, before rolling over, back up onto his knees, facing upstage. He leans again, this time into a cat-like stretch, with his ass in another sinner’s face. All of this happens very fast, and behind people’s heads, so Husk can’t actually see much, but then Angel kicks up and stands, gliding back over to the pole. He finishes the song with a series of flips and spins and sensual movements that have the cat trying to manually breathe, and he ends it in a power pose, arms wrapped above and behind him on the pole, legs spread wide, hip jutted out to one side, the lights switching right as he hits it so he’s once again just a silhouette, the backlight outlining every curve. Husk is very grateful for the lighting choices. He does not need Cherri to bug him about how red his face certainly is.

   The applause explodes and cash is thrown as Angel saunters off the stage. Husk watches that fringe sway with his hips one last time before downing the rest of his whiskey.

“Alright, let’s go,” Cherri whisper-yells, grabbing Husk’s arm and pulling him away from the table.

   “Wh- go where?” She doesn’t stop, knocking him into several sinners in their path as she drags him through the crowd. She doesn’t respond either, and soon they reach a door marked “Performers/Crew Only” with a large tiger sinner standing in front of it. “Cherri, can we plan thi-oof!” She elbows him in the stomach before turning to the bouncer-esque guy.

   “Can we just squeeze past you real quick,” she chirps, turning on some bimbo persona Husk is sure works wonders with shitty security, but this guy is a little higher on the food chain.

   “And why would I let you do that,” he says gruffly, voice deep and demeaning.

   “We’re, uh, friends of Angel Dust,” Husk says semi-confidently. The side eye Cherri gives him implies that he probably wasn’t supposed to say anything at all, especially combined with the skeptical once over the tiger gives him. The cyclops leans forward to whisper.

   “Yeah, ‘friends,’” she croons with a wink, “of Angel Dust. We’re supposed to meet him right after the show. He should be waiting for us.” Husk cringes inside at the implication of the real possibility that there are people sent in after shows to… meet with Angel. Definitely a real possibility because, after one more suspicious glance at Husk, the man steps aside and pulls the door open. Cherri shoves Husk through, blows the man a kiss, and they disappear down the hallway. The dark, cold hallway. You’d think backstage at a club like this, where all the performers were covered in glitter and colorful strips of fabric, it would be a little more… fun back here. Instead, it's eerie, like danger is lurking in unseen corners.

   The two sinners creep forward through the darkness in silence, looking around for any cameras and checking the nameplates on each dressing room. As they get further down the hallway, Husk starts to wonder how they’re going to escape with Angel. What if the door they just came through is the nearest way out?

   “Finally,” Cherri whispers as they reach the second to last door. “Angel Dust” is plastered on it in sparkly pink letters, fancier than the other nameplates. This is probably his permanent dressing room. Husk remembers him mentioning once that he has his own personal room- varying in size by how frequently they’re used- in every club Val owns. A glance at the last door shows that his room is also the closest to the management office, but there doesn’t seem to be any light on the other side of that door right now. Cherri leans close to Angel’s door and knocks softly.

   “Who is it?” Hearing Angel’s voice for the first time in a month and a half nearly knocks Husk backward, and he can see by her expression it shakes Cherri, too. She thinks for a second before responding in an obnoxiously fake voice.

   “Stage crew, we have gifts.” They both press their ears to the door to hear Angel’s heels clicking closer and closer, leaning back at the last second as he turns to lock. He barely has time to open the door all the way before the two of them push their way inside.

   “What the fuck?!” Cherri shushes him as Husk makes sure the door is locked again. Angel, still in costume with a fluffy robe tied loosely around him, backs up against the dressing room counter, like some caged animal. Husk takes a moment to look around, relieved to spot a fire escape on the opposite side of the room. “What are you doin’ here?”

   “We’re getting you out of here,” Cherri says, uncomfortably similar to what they'd said to a heavily drugged/hypnotized Angel just over a month ago. Still similarly, this Angel shakes his head and stays far away from her.

   “No, you need to leave. Right now. You can’t be here,” he says, glancing around at the walls, used to there being cameras in these rooms, but it looks like any trace of VoxTek has been scrapped.

   “Angie, we are not leaving you again. I don’t care what the fuck you think you deserve, you are coming back to the hotel,” Cherri says sternly, stepping towards her friend.

   “Angel, please. Everybody misses you a lot,” Husk adds. “Us in particular.” But Angel doesn’t even glance his way, just locks his gaze on Cherri.

   “I can’t go back. This is my home. It always was. I was lying to myself at the hotel-”

   “That’s bullshit, Angel!” Even with Husk’s aggressive interruption, he won't look at him. “You were making real progress! Charlie was so proud of you! We all were!”

   “And now everyone’s depressed as shit,” Cherri states. “Charlie’s trying to power through it, I’m trying to have as much faith in you as I can, but Christ, its been awful, Angie.” Angel just turns around to face the mirror. He doesn’t look at it, though, just stares at the makeup strewn across the counter, pulling his robe tighter around himself. “What about Fat Nuggets?” Husk catches Angel tense for a split second at the mention of his pet. “He’s barely eating. He’s sulking. Every other day, he just sits outside your room until someone comes to get him.”

   “At least he’s safer there than he would be with me,” Angel says sadly. “Who’s taking care of him?”

   “Me, mostly,” Husk answers. The spider doesn’t acknowledge hearing him, just sits down on his stool, head in his hands. Cherri takes another careful step forward.

   “Angel, please. Everybody wants you to come back,” she says. “Hell, even Lucifer mentioned how off everything’s been since you left.” Angel finally looks up at her through the mirror.

   “Cherri, I can’t. It doesn’t matter how ‘off’ the hotel feels, I don’t deserve to be there. I belong to Valentino, and that’s not gonna change.” Husk opens his mouth to dispute this at the same time Cherri breaks.

   “Listen, I was trying to be nice, to gently convince you to get your ass back where it belongs, but for the love of all things unholy, I don’t actually give a shit,” she scolds. “You know you don’t wanna be here. You know that you’re safe at the hotel. You know that there are people there who actually care about your existence and wellbeing, and yet you’re still hard-set on being fucking stupid about it!” Angel sits all the way up and glares at her reflection.

   “Cherri, you two need to leave-”

   “I’m not fucking finished! You think odd vibes at the hotel are the biggest problem? If I’m being honest, I know I’ll eventually get over it if you never come back. I’ve got Pentious. The princess has Vaggie to lean on. Fat Nuggets is literal fucking pig. But if you don’t care about anything else, I at least need you to know what you’re doing to him!” She points at Husk, who is not sure where she’s going with this. Angel still doesn’t look at him. “He’s too fucking scared to admit it to you, but you were all he had! Sure, he always seems kinda depressed, but, this past month, it’s been really fucking bad. Worse than Fat Nuggets, even. I try to be there, but you know I’m not great at the feelings shit. It’s hurting everybody, and we’re worried. Really worried. So please come home, because I’m not sure Husk will be around much longer if you don’t.” The cat demon wishes he could argue against that, but she’s not wrong. This last month has been one of the worst periods of his afterlife, second only to losing his soul, and back then, he had tried. That was before he had access to angelic steel.

   Cherri’s words hang in silence for a few seconds before Angel stands again, menacingly looming over her. He finally looks at Husk.

   “Well, maybe that would be for the best.”

   Husk knows what it feels like to be beaten, stabbed, and shot. Those words feel worse than all three combined. Angel’s glare isn’t helping the sudden strangled feeling go away either.

   “Wh-what?” Cherri shoves Angel’s shoulder to make him look at her again.

   “Angel, what the hell?! Why would you say that?”

   “You said he’s the problem. If he’s gone, he doesn’t have to worry about me anymore, and Charlie and them don’t have to worry about him,” Angel snaps back, as if it's obvious. Cherri is so stunned by his brazenness, she doesn’t have a retort.

   “If that’s how you really feel, I guess I’ll just go,” Husk says before crossing to the fire escape door. He steps onto the wire balcony and launches into the air, flying out of sight.

   “Shit,” Cherri curses, following him to the door in a panic. She feels Angel behind her and turns.

   “Goodbye, Cherri.” She barely has time to register the tears forming in his eyes before he slams the door behind her.

   “Wait, no! Fuck!” Cherri kicks the metal door in anger. She contemplates trying to get back inside, but the thought of Husk somewhere out there after hearing Angel say that makes her bolt down the fire escape, running as fast as she can back to the hotel.

Chapter Text

   Barely fifteen minutes later, Cherri bursts through the front doors, and, seeing no bartender present, runs up to a very confused Vaggi and Charlie.

   “Hey! What's going on? Where’s Husk? I thought you guys were going to see Angel.” Shit.

   “We did. It didn’t go well,” Cherri answers frantically. “But you haven’t seen Husk?”

   “Unless he snuck past us somehow, no,” Charlie says, Vaggi nodding in agreement. Cherri swears under her breath and glances up the stairs.

   “Miss Manager, I need your key,” she says, holding out her hand to Vaggi. “Your master key. Now. I need to make sure Husk is okay and we don’t have time to waste on locked doors.” The urgency in her voice spurs Vaggi to quickly hand over the largest black key off her keyring. Cherri bolts before Charlie can start asking panicked questions.

   She makes it up two flights of stairs, past Angel’s room, to the door decorated with cards. Angel had done that just a few weeks before everything fell apart, as a fun little thing. He’d promised to help Cherri personalize her door soon. Who knows if he’ll ever get to.

   It’s quiet and the light doesn’t seem to be on, but she opens the door anyway. A quick circle around confirms that Husk is not there, and she steps back out to think where else he could be. Maybe he hasn’t come back yet. Maybe he’s still flying around. Maybe she can spot him from the roof or something. Cherri decides this is the best course of action and goes back to the staircase, not wanting to waste even a second waiting on the elevator. She makes it to the rooftop door in just under two minutes, throwing it open and immediately scanning the sky above her. A second later, though, she realizes she’s not alone up here. Standing on top of the cement railing is the demon she’d been looking for.

   “Husk, get down.” If he hears her, he doesn’t show it. He just stands there staring over the city. Cherri can’t tell, but he’s looking at the pair of neon V’s glowing brighter above nearly everything. She crosses the space until she’s just a few yards from him. “Husk, please, don’t be stupid. Angel didn’t mean it.”

   “Even if he didn’t, that doesn’t mean he was wrong,” he responds, gaze falling to the ground several floors below.

   “Hey, just get down. This won’t fix anything,” Cherri tries to reason, as gently as she can. “It won’t even actually kill you.” Unless there’s a pile of angelic spikes on the sidewalk.

   “I know, but it’ll hurt, and maybe if I do it enough times, I’ll start forgetting all this,” he says like he’s planned it before now. “Then, I really don’t have to worry about it, and we can all move on with our afterlives.”

   “I think you know that’s not true,” Cherri says, inching closer to the railing as she speaks. “You can’t just forget someone like Angel, especially when you’re in love with them.” Husk turns to chastise her over his shoulder.

   “I’m not-”

   “Cut the bullshit, Husk. I’m not fucking stupid,” she interjects, giving up on her attempt to be calm. “I’ve seen people look at Angie a lot of ways. You might be the first person I’ve ever come around to fully trust around him, because it's visible how much you care. For Satan’s sake, you’re about to jump off a building because he told you to.” She reaches the railing and leans over to look Husk in the eye. “I’ve already temporarily lost my best friend, I can’t lose the only other person that loved him, too.”

   Husk stares down for another few seconds before swinging his legs out from under him, nearly giving Cherri a heart attack before a flap of his wings brings him safely down so that he’s sitting on the ledge now. Cherri jumps up to sit beside him. They both stare into the blazing red horizon of Pentagram City for several minutes, an aching silence fogging up the roof.

   “I just don’t get it,” Husk finally whispers. “I thought he’d at least fight a little harder, but he just… gave up. He’s not coming back, Cherri.”

   “He is, Husk. You’ve gotta have some kind of faith in him. It might take months, shit, maybe even years, but he always comes back.”

   “I don’t know if I can do ‘years’ Cherri,” he counters, voice breaking. “You said it yourself, I can’t do this without him. I’m gonna be stuck in this pit until a development is made, and it's gonna suck for everybody; for business, for the environment of the hotel, it’s all gonna be shit unless someone can make a miracle happen.”

   “I know, but I think they’ll understand,” Cherri assures, bumping him with her shoulder. “Not to be demeaning, but I think everybody in there besides Angel himself could tell how much he meant to you.”

   “Means. How much he means to me,” Husk corrects with a sniff. “Christ, Cherri, he’s not dead.”

   “See, that’s the spirit!” This manages to get a small smirk from the cat and Cherri takes that as a win. “But the point is you’re not alone. Especially since I’m not going anywhere anytime soon. If you ever need to scream or cry or punch something or blow shit up, you know exactly where to find me!”

   “Thanks, kid. I might take you up on some of that,” Husk says, genuinely grateful. He takes a deep breath and sighs, looking back out across the city, at the neon glowing signs marking Angel’s destination. “I just… I just want him to come home.”

   “He will. He has to. He needs you, too, I know it,” Cherri says. She pauses just for a second before leaning down to lay her head on Husk’s shoulder. He lets her, even bringing his wings up slightly to protect them from the wind. Let’s be honest, they both need this.