Chapter Text
It happened so fucking fast.
One moment they were on a job, the next--well. Vans screeched to a stop on all sides of them. Agents poured out and swarmed, bearing weapons and sunglasses. Blitz opened a portal, shot one, two humans as Loona and Moxxie dove through into the office. Millie swung her axe, cut three in half with one swing.
"Go!" Blitz shouted, darting after her.
That was when it all went fucking wrong.
The important part was that Millie made it through the portal. But a net caught Blitz, covering him in rope, and he tripped, slamming into the ground. He looked up. He made eye contact with Stolas--he was standing beside his desk on the other side of the portal to Hell, like he was about to go toward Blitz.
Blitz was going to remember the look on Stolas's face for the rest of his life.
Which might not be long.
As humans pointed their weapons toward the portal and toward Blitz, he made a split second decision. No clear shot at the portal. No chance of escaping on his own. His family in safety. It was easy, really. Blitz brought his arm up and smashed the Asmodean crystal into the concrete.
The shatter, Stolas's wide, bright eyes, his beak opening, the portal shutting--all in a split second. Blitz heard one thundering beat of his heart echo in his ears.
Then everything went black.
The first coherent though that ran through Blitz's head was, Millie is gonna fucking kill me. His eyes were shut, his head throbbed, his arms and legs and tail were heavy. His muscles hurt. His nose was blocked by dried blood. The second coherent thought that went through his head was, Forget Mills. Stolas is gonna be pissed at me. Because (Blitz very distinctly remembered this, and he was fairly certain it hadn't been a horrible nightmare that he hadn't woke from yet), Blitz had shattered the Asmodean crystal. The very thing that had caused Blitz to flip out on Stolas on that fucking full moon, that had led to that party, that had...
Well, at least it hadn't been brought up at the trial.
You know, just so they weren't left out, Blitz figured Loona and Moxxie would probably be pissed at him, too. If he ever escaped this place, he was so fucked. Not only had he just destroyed their one ticket to Earth, he'd also destroyed his only ticket back to Hell, and the one thing their jobs revolved around.
He'd do it again, obviously. There were a few very clear reasons he had done it:
- If the humans got the crystal, they could get to Hell and hurt his family.
- If the humans had the crystal and Blitz, they could force Blitz to teach them how to use it, thereby accelerating how quickly #1 happened.
- If Blitz had left the portal open, he would have been responsible for anything that those humans did to his family. To Stolas. And he was not fucking letting that bird get hurt, not after everything Stolas had sacrificed for him.
Blitz wasn't an idiot, even if he sometimes was stupid. He knew this. He could, on occasion, make the right choice. And while he was royally fucked by it, he was pretty sure he'd made the right one. Blitz was the only casualty of this choice. And, you know, there was the small matter of Blitz not being solely responsible for humans invading Hell en masse.
That didn't make the fear rooted in his chest any less real.
He had no way to get home. His family had no way to get to him. There was no terrifying eldritch monster coming to save him, because said eldritch monster had already lost his magic for Blitz's sake. Blitz was trapped by the human government, alone, and there was no one coming for him. The only thing that made him feel better was that he was pretty sure his friends would hunt down any sinner he sent to Hell on his way out. Because these motherfuckers were not going Up.
Might as well go out with a bang, Blitz thought, and opened his--
--eyes were locked on where Blitz had been before the portal had shut.
Stolas was frozen.
"Fuck," Millie breathed, breaking the horrible silence that had filled the office for five, ten seconds. "Fuck." She scrambled to her feet where she'd dove through the portal, spinning to face the rest of them.
Loona whined. "What do we do?" she asked, and there was a tremor in her voice that Stolas had never heard before.
"Did he actually do that?" Moxxie's voice cracked. "Someone tell me he didn't."
"Fuck, fuck, fuck." Millie was pacing now, staring at the floor. "That asshole, I told him not to do this shit again."
All Stolas could see was Blitz's face, in that half a second (less? had it been anything more than a blink?), as he'd brought his arm down toward the ground. Stolas knew what the look meant, because Stolas had worn it before.
Blitz had been looking at Stolas like he was pretty sure it was the last time they would see each other.
"What do we do?" Moxxie asked.
"I don't know," Millie snapped. "Fuck."
"We--" Loona took a deep breath. "Fuck, we have to go talk to that stupid clown in Lust. The one Asmodeus is fucking."
"What?" Millie turned toward her. "Fizzarolli?"
"Look, Blitz--Blitz went there, on the--" A beat. "On the last full moon. Remember? The clown was the one who opened the door for him in Lust."
"Fuck, you're right." Moxxie groaned. "Oh, crumbs."
"Okay. Okay." Millie wrapped her arms around herself. "We go to Lust. Talk to Asmodeus. Asmodeus is a Sin, he can help us--"
Moxxie caught Millie by the shoulder and wrapped her up in a hug. "We're gonna figure it out," Moxxie said.
Stolas exhaled, slowly, staring at the spot Blitz had been. This can't be happening, a scared little prince said in his head. We can't lose him. Not again not again notagainnotagainnotagain--
Pressure on Stolas's shoulder. Millie and Moxxie weren't in front of him anymore. How long had he been standing here?
"We need to go," Loona said.
Stolas turned his head to look at her. Their eyes met.
He wasn't sure which one of them wrapped the other in a hug first. They'd never hugged before, but Stolas thought he might burst into tears any second. Maybe he'd just fall into little pieces onto the floor. Explode into a pile of feathers. It had been so easy, so instinctive to act the last time Blitz had been trapped. He hadn't even had to think about it. He'd just... moved. He'd had so much power at his disposal, so much speed under his wings, so much he could use to protect Blitz.
Now he had nothing. He had no magic, no powers, no eldritch form, no portals. He was, literally and metaphorically, powerless.
Loona pulled away first and grabbed Stolas's hand. "C'mon," she said, and dragged him out of the office. Stolas was very distantly aware of sitting in the van, of movement around them as someone drove. He heard voices around him, heard noises he wasn't used to hearing--whining, crying, soothing--and he thought maybe some of them had come from him. He hadn't felt this hollow since Sinsmas. This numb.
He came back to himself standing on the street in Lust, in front of a familiar place. Ozzie's. The irony struck Stolas, but he couldn't muster the energy to find it funny. Fuckin' figures, Blitz would say. He'd shoot Stolas an awkward grin. Guess we gotta make up for the last time, huh, birdie?
Millie was arguing with an incubus. "Look, we--"
"You aren't on the approved list," the guard said. "You think just anyone can see them?"
"Tell Fizzarolli that it's about Blitz," Stolas said, surprising himself, and apparently also everyone else, because they all turned to stare at him. Stolas drew himself up. "You don't have to let us in. Just tell him we're here, and he can decide."
The incubus scowled. "Fine. This better not be a waste of his time." The door slammed shut.
Moxxie touched Stolas's leg; just a passing touch. "Welcome back," Moxxie murmured.
Stolas hugged himself, willing himself not to fade into the back of his own mind again.
"I hope this works," Millie said, resuming her pacing in front of the back door to the club. "If it doesn't--"
The door flew open. Fizzarolli stood on the other side, his brow furrowed. He wore suspenders, a buttoned shirt, and one of the hats that looked like imp horns. "What's going on?" he asked, looking at Stolas. "Where is he? Is he okay?"
They told him--
--to start talking. Same shit every time.
Blitz yawned.
"Gettin' tired, asshole?" one of the humans said. Blitz didn't care to know which one. There had been so many in the last few hours--the first two, those two he remembered--but more had tried. They tried to slap him, to electrocute him, to burn him--which was fucking hilarious and he did in fact laugh himself hoarse at that attempt--to taunt him, to beat him, to threaten him.
"More like you're putting me the fuck to sleep." Blitz grinned, baring his teeth. "I'm from Hell, idiot. What do you think you're gonna do? Torture me?" Blitz rolled his eyes. "Get with the fucking program."
This human was trying a cattle prod. Blitz just focused on not biting his own tongue off during the jolts of electricity. They jabbed him again, from the back this time, hitting in the base of his shoulders. Blitz's body spasmed, and he exhaled, then relaxed back into the chair.
"That tickles," he said.
"We're going to find something that gets you to talk," another human said.
"Or you could save us the time," the first one said. "And just answer our questions."
Blitz rolled his eyes again. "Kiss my ass."
The cattle prod was shoved under his chin, half a breath from his throat. Blitz held still, lifting an eyebrow at the human holding it.
"Tell us," the human said, "how to summon your master."
"Eat a bag of dicks."
The shock lasted longer this time, and Blitz sagged in the chair, choking on his own spit when it was over. In terms of torture, it was definitely a step above novice.
"What's his name? You know which one I'm talking about."
Blitz knew exactly who he was talking about. "Fuck you."
The electricity almost felt familiar, which was pretty much the only--
"--good news," Asmodeus said, "is that I can fix his crystal. Assuming the humans collected the pieces."
"We still have to fucking get him," Loona snapped. She was as respectful of the Sins as her father was.
"We will," Millie said.
There had been a brief moment of tension when they'd stepped into a room together. Everyone except Loona had been in the club that night. But the strain had dissipated as soon as they began to tell Asmodeus what had happened.
Asmodeus made eye contact with Stolas before he spoke again. "I cannot directly help you. Sins are forbidden from leaving Hell and... directly interfering with humans."
"Fuck--"
"But--" Asmodeus continued, "that doesn't mean I can't aid you. I can, for instance, provide you with... loaner crystals."
"We don't even know where he is," Moxxie said.
Stolas buried his face in his hands. He should have spells, magic, he could find Blitz, before--
Someone patted his back. "So we start where we left off," Millie said. She was pacing again. "Like we did the last time, Loona."
"His scent might be gone by now," Loona murmured.
"And those humans might be around, still," Moxxie added. "To see if we come back."
"About that," Asmodeus said. "You do know that my crystals can make disguises?"
"Yes," Stolas said quietly. "But I don't believe... I don't believe anyone showed them how to summon a disguise. And I don't know how to operate one, either."
"Well, I will teach you." Asmodeus sighed. "It wouldn't be good to go after him only for you to get captured, too."
"And I'll go with you," Fizzarolli said coolly. "Obviously."
"What?" a chorus of voices echoed.
Fizzarolli addressed Asmodeus--who, to be fair, had certainly been the loudest--first. "Oz, I can't--I can't leave him behind."
"Last time you said you never wanted to go outside again!"
"Yeah, well, that was fuckin' different!" Fizz waved his arms around. "This time--I can help. I don't have to watch as--" Fizz's voice broke, and his face pinched.
Stolas's heart clenched. He knew what Fizzarolli was remembering. He'd seen the axe swing.
All of Hell had.
Asmodeus cringed. "I know, Froggie, but Earth--"
"I'll be with a bunch of assassins," Fizzarolli said. "Besides, we'll have human disguises, right?" He widened his eyes, looking up at Asmodeus, and Asmodeus sighed in a way that meant he knew he'd already lost the argument.
"We'll keep him safe, uh, your... sinfulness," Moxxie said.
"Sire," Stolas whispered.
"Sire," Moxxie corrected.
Asmodeus frowned at them: two imps, a hellhound, and a disgraced Goetia. Stolas knew what he was thinking. He knew what he would have thought, when he had magic at his fingertips. So fragile. It made his stomach twist with discomfort. So much casual condescension, and he hadn't even known.
"If anything happens to Fizz--"
"I'm pretty sure Blitz would free himself just to help you kill us again," Loona said.
Fizz crossed his arms. "I'm going." He glanced at the others, as if he was expecting one of them to tell him he couldn't.
"Alright." Asmodeus exhaled slowly. "Let's begin."
Stolas just wanted Blitz--
--to go the fuck home.
They'd progressed from electricity to water. This is some good torturing technique, Blitz thought faintly. The first time they'd dunked him, he'd blown bubbles in the bucket until they wrenched his head out. But now his lungs were burning. He'd already coughed so much that he'd vomited up his lunch and the coffee he'd had with it.
Then he was clear of the water, choking, gasping for air. His heart pounded, in his chest, in his head, in his wrists where he was shackled. "Fuck," he gasped.
It still wasn't as awful as the night of the fire. As the smoke filling his lungs. Of the smell of burning flesh, gunpowder, melting plastic--
"Ready to talk yet, tough guy?"
"How do we contain a demon like him?"
"You know," Blitz rasped, "he really likes it when I pin him down--"
The water almost burned when they shoved his head down again. He pictured Loona, Stolas, M&M, Fizz, Barbie. He clung to--
--his backpack.
"Do you have everything?" Asmodeus asked.
"Five crystals, Blitz's emergency bag, human disguises, a shit ton of human money, enough weapons to take on an army, a first-aid kit, lock picks--"
Stolas tried not to stare at Fizzarolli.
Their human disguises hadn't been all that exciting, on the whole. Millie and Moxxie grew a little taller; Millie had dark skin, and her hair was pretty much the same, while Moxxie's hair turned more yellow and his skin turned pale. Loona and Stolas looked as they had already--Loona, of course, just used her existing ability to disguise herself.
But Fizzarolli--he was covered in scars.
Stolas did not like what this meant. He'd known, of course, that Blitz hadn't had any white spots when they'd been children, and neither had Fizzarolli. He'd thought the white spots on imps were patterns that developed as they matured.
Now, they looked more like burns.
And how awful was that? Stolas knew what scars looked like on humans but not on one of the species of Hell. Of course Blitz had called him a pretentious asshole, of course--
"Got your stuff, Stolas?" Loona asked.
He looked at her. She glanced at Fizzarolli, then back at him. She frowned.
"You didn't know, did you?" she said softly.
Stolas shook his head.
Loona exhaled. "I gotta give you a crash course on imps," she muttered. "Look, you can freak about it later. We got bigger problems."
Stolas inhaled slowly. She was right, of course.
Fizz kissed Asmodeus. "Love you," Fizzarolli said, sweetly, and Asmodeus's flames burned a little brighter. Stolas's heart clenched as the Sin returned the sentiment.
Had Stolas ever told Blitz how he felt? In those words?
Would he ever get a chance to?
"Alright, fuckers, let's go," Millie said, opening a portal, and the whole thing was so Blitz-like that Stolas nearly got whiplash. Moxxie and Loona were the next to go through, followed by Stolas, who turned his head to watch as Fizzarolli stepped through, waving once at Asmodeus as the portal closed behind him.
"Let's find Blitz," Fizzarolli said.
Stolas could get on board with that. Even if he was--
--so fucking tired.
"Can't you give a guy some rest?" he whined as a new set filed in. The light hanging over his head was hurting his eyes. "Maybe I'll even get a present from the fuckin' tooth fairy."
"Still got jokes, eh? Impressive." Oh, these were the two. The original human assholes.
Blitz smirked. "I got good stamina, big boy."
The human rolled his eyes. "We're not fallin' for that again."
"Sexual deviant," the other human added, as if that was supposed to be an insult.
"We'd give you some time to rest if you told us something," the first human said.
"Something," Blitz told them.
"Funny. What's his name?"
"His name is..." Deep inhale. The humans leaned closer. Blitz made a show of acting as if he deeply regretted finally giving up some information, bowing his head and furrowing his brow. "... Your MOM."
The blades were next, apparently. Blitz grinned. Apparently, Stolas's knife play phase was about to come in handy. Blitz wasn't afraid of getting a little cut up.
It would remind him why he wasn't going to say anything about his bird--
--was losing his fucking mind.
They'd had to go back to Hell to get the van. Now, Stolas was curled up in the back with Fizzarolli as they barreled down a highway. The sun rose in the distance; Stolas thought about Blitz, alone, and felt nauseous.
Mille had told them to get some sleep--Loona was snoring in the middle seats, and Moxxie was asleep in the passenger seat, while Millie hummed a song as she drove. But Fizzarolli seemed as unable to rest as Stolas was. He tapped his arm, knees to his chest, and stared out the back window.
"This is your first time in the human world, isn't it?" Stolas asked softly.
Fizzarolli nodded.
Stolas looked out again. "Blitz would probably have liked to take you on your first time," he said.
Fizz laughed hoarsely. It was a croaking noise; Stolas suddenly understood the nickname Froggie. "I'd have never agreed to go with him," he admitted. "The last two times we've gone out together, he's had to shoot at least one asshole."
"Really?" Stolas smiled weakly. "I'm sure he just hated that."
Fizz laughed again. "Yeah, you know how much he hates shooting. That's why he became an assassin."
They both looked out the window. The sun had risen just above the horizon, just at the point before it became too painful to look at.
"Do you think he knows we're coming for him?" Fizz whispered.
Stolas shut his eyes. "Yes," he lied. He tilted his head back and stared up at--
--the ceiling.
Blitz's head hurt. His skin hurt. His mouth hurt. His tail hurt. His hands hurt. His ribs hurt. His lungs hurt. His stomach hurt. His hooves hurt. Every part of him had been poked, prodded, cut, or electrified--and that meant every part. They hadn't done any lasting damage, at least. They needed to "preserve him for scientific study."
Blitz wanted to slip into the darkness so badly.
They had left him alone for a little while once he started passing out whenever they tried to fuck with him. They told him to enjoy his rest. Got a big day ahead, bud, they'd said.
Yip-dee-fucking-do.
He should be sleeping. But there was a ringing sound in his head, a throbbing ache through his whole body that made rest impossible. He hadn't been in this much pain since he'd been thrown out on his ass with fresh burns all over his body. Blitz didn't believe in miracles, but he knew how fucking lucky he was that the humans didn't have hellfire. Human fire couldn't touch him. But if they'd had hellfire--
Well. That was probably the one thing that might break him.
Blitz blinked, slowly. He couldn't keep his eyes shut. He was too tense, too scared. Even if he wouldn't give these assholes the satisfaction of knowing it. The cold floor pressed up against his back, eating through the new clothes they had given him to replace the ones they had torn while interrogating him.
He wondered how his family was doing. They'd probably be upset. He hoped M&M were keeping it together for Loona and Stolas's sakes. Comforting them. Millie knew she was in charge if something happened to Blitz. She was strong. She could handle it, she could lead them. Keep her head on. She'd be able to comfort Stolas the best, probably.
Blitz hoped Stolas would let her.
He shut his eyes. Stolas would be inconsolable. Blitz knew that. But it was better than him being dead. Anything was better than Stolas being dead. Blitz had been powerless to save Stolas once. He would throw everything away for Stolas, just like Stolas had for him. It wasn't even a question, especially when the rest of his family was added into the mix.
His shoulders loosened a little as he imagined his family together. They'd survive. Move on. Stolas would get his daughter back, eventually, Loona would help--maybe the three of them would stick together. Octavia had liked Loona, hadn't she? For all she'd hated Blitz, maybe she'd let Loona in to her family. Or maybe M&M would take care of her. Moxxie knew what it was like to be alone. He wouldn't do that to her, even if the two of them bickered all the time. As long as Loona wasn't alone again.
Maybe he could get some sleep, after all.
The door slammed open. "Good morning, sunshine."
Fu--
"--ck," Stolas hissed. He peeked around the corner, gripping the warm pistol between his fingers and trying not to shake. Fizzarolli was crouched beside him, eyes wide. Behind them, Moxxie typed frantically on a computer they'd had to sneak into a government facility to get to. They all wore masks, hoods, gloves--stuff they'd stolen. Millie shot rapid-fire down the other hallway.
Something crashed above them. Loona burst through the ceiling, a knife covered in red blood in one hand. She spat out a glob of black blood and released the body she'd been stabbing. "Hurry the fuck up, dumbass!" she yelled.
"I'm working on it!" Moxxie shouted. His voice strained.
Stolas peeked around the corner again and took another shot. Someone shouted from down the hallway as Stolas pulled back behind the relative safety of the wall. A hit, then.
"Explosives placed?" Millie called back.
"Yup." Loona dug through her backpack. "Fuck, where is it?"
Fizz's arm whirred; a moment later, Loona had a gun in her hand, and she shot past them into the chaotic hallway they'd had to fight their way through.
"That means you have--" Millie paused as she ducked around the corner to start reloading. "Two minutes, hon."
"That only gives us three minutes to get out of here," Fizz snarled.
"Plenty of time," Stolas muttered as he took another shot.
"Fuck you," Fizzarolli said, but it didn't have much bite to it.
"You wanted to come, asshole," Loona reminded him.
"And I'm not gonna leave--"
"--me THE FUCK ALONE."
The human's laugh grated on Blitz's spine, and his spikes rattled as he growled.
"Finally lost your patience, huh?"
"Fuck you," Blitz spat. "How many times do I have to fucking tell you assholes that I'm not telling you shit--"
The hammer slammed into his hand. Bone cracked. Blitz barely felt it. His whole fucking body was in pain; what was a little more? The smell of his own blood had long since filled his head until it was all he could smell, and maybe somewhere along the line urine and bile had soaked in too, but Blitz was too tired and angry to give a shit.
"Don't hurt him too much," the other human in the room said. "We don't want him goin' and passin' out again."
The first human grabbed Blitz by the shirt. A shirt they'd put on him, plain black, after they'd torn up his last one. He was trying really hard not to think about what had happened to his choker. They'd put him in a new pair of shitty shorts with a hole cut in the back for his tail. Definitely human-made. He was pretty sure he'd have a new set in another few hours.
The fucker got right up in his face. "Listen, you little shit, you're not invincible, and unless you tell us--"
Blitz lurched forward and bite down hard on the asshole's fucking nose and he didn't let--
--go of Loona's hand as they tumbled behind an overturned table.
"Motherfucker," Loona snarled through her mask. "How many fucking facilities are we going to go through?"
"As many as it takes," Stolas said, squeezing his pistol.
"Yeah." Loona finished reloading her gun and popped a few shots over the top of the table. "Fizz is handling it pretty well, all things considered."
Stolas shot around the side, his mind frighteningly quiet. There was a part of him that was dark, silent. That was all pitch black feathers, brimstone, silent, burning. The part that only Blitz could cast light on. But he wasn't--
--here.
Fuck, Blitz missed Stolas.
How long had it been since they'd been apart for this long? Blitz didn't remember. He wanted to go home. He wanted to fall onto Stolas on their shitty couch and bury his face in those feathers and sleep for a thousand years.
How long had it been? Hours? Days? Weeks? Time had melted together. There was Before, and there was Now.
Blitz wanted Stolas to run his talons up and down his back, to click his beak around Blitz's horns like he was preening him. He wanted him to hum softly, to hold him until he fell asleep. The one thing Blitz had never been able to shake, not even from the beginning, was how nice it was to cuddle Stolas. Even that first night, he'd spooned Stolas for at least a few hours. It felt like a decade ago.
Blitz wanted to have a tub of ice cream and watch a shitty movie with Stolas and Loona, and he wanted--
"Mornin', beastie," the guard said as he opened the door. "Ready to dance?"
"Fuck off." Blitz shut his eyes. "Fuckin' sleepin'."
"Nope, sorry. Gotta get some food in you."
Blitz popped open one eye so he could bare his teeth at the guard through the muzzle they'd put around his mouth. "Gonna take this thing off?"
"Hah, no. You're getting it through a straw."
"Good luck." Blitz became a deadweight when the guard tried to unlock the chain that had fastened his wrists to the floor. "I'm not feelin' all that cooperative today."
The guard by the door snorted. "Have you ever?"
"It's funny that you think you have a choice," the first guard said as he dragged Blitz up by the shoulder. Pain shot up and down his spine, into his neck and down his legs. Blitz felt a little queasy at the idea of food, even though he knew he was starving. Not that he would eat whatever they fed him. It was about the principle of the thing. If he was going to die in this shithole, he didn't want to drag it out any more than necessary.
"Y'know," Blitz slurred. He didn't even try to find his own footing; he knew he wouldn't be able to even if he'd wanted to. "You guys are gonna have a helluva time when you die." He laughed hollowly. "Hell's gonna eat you alive."
"I wouldn't be worried about us if I were--"
"--you, I'd rethink that statement," Millie snarled, her axe held up to a human's fragile neck.
The human whimpered, looking past her to Stolas, to Loona, Fizzarolli, and Moxxie, as if they were going to be sympathetic.
"I don't know where it is," the human repeated.
"He," Stolas snapped.
"I don't know!" The human screeched as Millie pressed her axe against the neck hard enough to draw blood. "I don't know where he is, I don't know where he is, I don't know--"
The crack of bone, a thud. Millie stepped back. "A fuckin' shame," she growled.
Stolas shut his eyes. So many dead ends, so many dead humans, so many days since he'd seen Blitz, his light, his love--
--his heart hurt. Blitz had been tortured, tormented, taunted, degraded, force-fed, tested on. And all he could think about was how much his heart hurt. For all the pain everywhere else, there was a deep, ceaseless throbbing in Blitz's chest. Would they have accepted he was gone yet? Would they have a funeral for him? Would Stolas cry? Fuck, just thinking about Stolas being upset made Blitz's heart clench. He wanted to wrap Stolas up in his arms, brush his fingers through his head feathers.
"Tell us how to use it."
Blitz opened an eye to stare at the humans. The other was too swollen to open. The humans had made a more permanent room to interrogate him in; this one had tall, reflective mirrors looking down from above that he knew now were windows. He could see a shadow of himself in the reflection. Had he always been that thin?
The human slammed a hand on the table beside the Asmodean crystal, all the pieces reassembled into a mold. "How do you use it?"
"It's broken," Blitz rasped.
"Imagine it wasn't," the other human said. "What would you do then? To use it."
"Hmm." Blitz rolled his head, his neck cracking loudly. He summoned up a grin, but it felt plastic, sticky. "I'd stick it up your ass--"
"--hole, you can't just run off like that."
Stolas made a frustrated noise as he cleaned his gun in the back of the van. "It was worth it."
"You almost got yourself killed," Loona snapped. "Think about how Blitz would feel if--"
"All I think about is Blitz!" Stolas shouted. "All I think about is how he feels, how scared he probably is, how they might have hurt him, if he's even--" And Stolas choked here, tears finally welling up in his eyes for the first time since the first day.
Loona's ears flattened. "Fuck. I'm sorry. I know."
"We're all tired," Millie said from the passenger seat. "And we're all worried about him. And each other. Fighting ain't gonna fix anything."
Stolas let the tears bleed into his feathers and wished Blitz was wiping them away. He looked out the window, at the moon hanging in the sky, glowing, suspiciously close to a full moon. If they got to a full moon and Blitz was still missing, still trapped, still gone, Stolas thought he might shatter apart entirely, just like the crystal had, into a thousand jagged pieces--
--glimmered under the light in the ceiling.
Blitz hadn't been in the dark for so long. He missed it. He could cover his face when they let him rest, but they never turned down the lights, never let him know how long he'd been here, in this hell away from hell.
"You're so fucking stubborn," the human snarled. "When are you gonna give up, huh? No one's coming for you. That demon would have rescued by now if he was gonna. Why are you protecting him? He doesn't give a shit about you."
They didn't know shit about Stolas. Fuck, Stolas. Blitz had to keep his cool for him, for Loonie, for Millie and Moxxie. He couldn't break, not here. He was petrified he would slip. Let something out by accident. And then all of this--it would have been for nothing.
Blitz blinked tiredly at him. "I know no one's comin'," he growled. "I destroyed the one way for them to get here." He glanced at the pieces of the crystal. "Which was on purpose, by the fucking way. So we could skip the whole drama of you trying to get me to use it for you."
"Oh, so you do have a brain under those ugly fuckers," the other human said. "Then you should know that we'd be easier on you if you just cooperated--"
Blitz spat through the bars of his muzzle.
"Fuck, that's disgusting."
The smack didn't even hurt. Blitz's whole body felt numb. He was pretty sure he was losing his mind, bit by bit, but he was clinging to the pieces that mattered. Loona, Stolas, Millie, Moxxie, Fizz, Barbie. Gotta hang on, can't let them slip out. Gotta keep them safe.
Gotta--
"--figure out how we're gonna do this."
They gathered around the table, staring down at the papers on the table. They were gathered into a shitty hotel room on Earth. It was the first time any of them would sleep on a bed in days. Hopefully, it would be the last time they slept on Earth at all.
If it was up to Stolas, they'd already be in that fucking facility, guns firing.
"They don't know we have human disguises," Fizz said. "That's got to give us some kind of advantage."
"Well," Moxxie said slowly, staring down at the blueprints. "They're all top-secret spies, right? So they might not know who's really a spy."
Stolas knew where he was going with this. "So we need suits and sunglasses," he said.
"And guns," Loona added. "We're gonna need a fuckton of guns."
"Sounds like a good reason to update Oz," Fizz said, pushing himself to his feet and uncovering the Asmodean crystal he had embedded into a strap on his wrist. "Come on guys, write me a wish list of all the shit you want--"
"--to die here, asshole?"
"Where else am I gonna die, huh?" Blitz bared his teeth again, like he always did, like he always pretended. He was a fucking joke. No one was buying his bullshit. The bravado. They knew he was cracking, breaking, bursting at the seams. He didn't know how long it would be before he snapped. Before he slammed his head into the--
"Hell, if you're lucky," the human said.
Blitz choked on a laugh. "Yeah, like you're gonna let me go."
"We might consider it. If you tell us what we want to know."
"Hmm." Blitz frowned. "I think I've forgotten what you were asking about. Something about a... hmm... was it Hell?"
"How do we contain a demon like your master?"
"Don't have a fucking master, asshole."
"He sure seemed to think otherwise," the human pointed out. "I've seen the recording. Why are you protecting him, huh? He treated you like a naughty child. A plaything. And he hasn't come around this time. I guess you saw your use."
They didn't know shit about Stolas, and Blitz was going to fucking keep it that way, he had to keep it that way, he was going to die before he gave up his heart to them, he was not fucking telling them one Satan-damned thing--
There was a crashing noise as they triggered a boom. This was their new strategy, blow out Blitz's fucking eardrums. He rolled his eyes. "I've already got fucked hearing, you assholes," he said when it was over, even though he couldn't hear his own voice through the ringing in his ears. "What's this gonna accomplish? Make me deaf so I can finally have some fucking peace and quiet?"
"Something is gonna break you," the human said, voice distant. "And I'm gonna find--"
"--him," Stolas said as they looked up at the imposing building. Tall, wide, windowless, built with grey concrete and surrounded by electrified barbed wire fencing. It was horrible. But--but maybe, hopefully, if the information was correct, Blitz was somewhere in there. Alive. Hurt, certainly, but alive.
Stolas was not walking back out without him.
"We will," Fizz agreed. He tapped his sunglasses. "Everyone clear on the plan?"
"Yup," Millie grinned manically as their car approached the building. "We're gonna make these fuckers hurt."
Stolas inhaled, exhaled. He fidgeted with the cuff of his suit. It wasn't anything like the clothes he was used to wearing. It was very... human.
Moxxie nudged Stolas. "Ready to rescue your knight, Your Highness?" Moxxie asked.
"Fuck, yes."
"We're coming, Dad," Loona mumbled from the back row of seats. Her knee bounced. It reminded Stolas of Blitz--
--spat a glob of black blood and spit onto the ground.
"Your blood is fascinating," the doctor said, writing on a clipboard. "The samples I've taken have been very... informative. It explains why so many of our serums have not worked on you. At least not as they were intended."
"Told ya last time," Blitz grumbled, sinking into the metal chair. "Nipple first to a car battery. Suck my dick. Your drugs up here are fuckin' soft."
This seemed to intrigue the doctor. "You have different drugs in Hell?"
"Yeah, my favorite is called piss the fuck off--"
There was a sting, somewhere, pain, somewhere. Blitz felt it and didn't. He wanted to go to sleep. He had a feeling that if he closed his eyes now, he might not open them again.
He looked up at the ceiling, blinking away stray tears that had gathered. From the pain? From the fear? From the grief? He had to hold on, keep every shred of his sanity between his claws, hold on, for Stols, for Loonie, had to keep them close to his chest, couldn't slip up. Couldn't tell them anything. Couldn't tell them he had a daughter, a... a Stolas. What were they? Blitz wished he'd had the time to find out. Wished he'd gotten to see Stolas--
--smiled politely. "My identification is far above your paygrade, unfortunately." He cocked an eyebrow. "That is, of course, assuming you would like to go home this evening?"
The agent swallowed nervously, a bead of sweat dripping down their face. Stolas did his best to channel the uncanniness of his other form into his voice, his face. He'd been surprisingly successful for not having access to his magic.
"We don't have all fucking day," Fizz growled.
The agent swallowed again. "Alright," they said, and picked up a phone.
Stolas didn't look at Fizz. Fizz didn't look at Stolas. They didn't look behind them, at Millie and Moxxie and Loona. Stolas breathed through the--
--worst fear was that he'd slip while half conscious. He was barely coherent half the time, but he was terrified he would babble, would slip, would beg for Stolas, for Loonie, would try to tell himself not to say their names and let it out in front of these fuckers.
They were letting him rest, for now. He was so cold. And tired. So fucking tired. He had to keep a hold of himself, of his consciousness. Something was flickering in the back of his mind, something that sounded like Just a little longer, my darling, we're almost there. It was stupid, to hope, to cling to the fantasy of a rescue. Blitz knew better. He'd known better when he'd brought his arm down against the ground, known better the whole time. No one was coming, but he... he could hold on a little longer. Just to prove himself right. That'd be a satisfying end, wouldn't it? A final fuck you to the universe for constantly proving him wrong.
"No one's coming," he said into the empty cell. He shut his eyes. Everything hurt, so much, hurt so-so-so-so-much, and he wanted to fall into Stolas's arms and he was so tired--
--of not tearing these monsters apart. How were they the demons?
"What about his belongings? Have you studied them?" Fizzarolli asked.
"Of course. They're in the clean lab, along with that..." The human waved her hand as she led them down a brightly lit hallway. "Crystal, thing. That's what he keeps calling it, at least. A crystal. His clothes, his weapons, they're all in the basement."
"His clothes?" Stolas said, trying very hard not to shout, to scream, to tear her hair from her head.
"Well, he's not walking around the place naked, we're not total monsters." Stolas disagreed. "But it's easier to keep him contained, this way. We found weapons hidden all through his coat and boots. And we've had enough issues with containing him. Demons are remarkably strong for their size. Especially with his tail, it's been problematic to keep him from clawing the guards. He's got spikes all over."
Stolas was going to tear her throat from her neck--
"Gross," Fizz grumbled. Stolas didn't look back when a hand pressed against his back, just for a moment, before it vanished. Millie and Moxxie and Loona splitting off from them.
"Where exactly are you taking us?" Stolas asked haughtily.
"The viewing gallery. It's right here, actually," and she swiped her card on an unremarkable door and led them into a dark room.
Dark, except for one glass wall, looking down into a white room. An empty white room, with only a metal chair bolted to the center of the floor and a metal table, similarly bolted to the floor, in front of it.
"I find myself unimpressed by this demon," Stolas said.
The human laughed. "Well, he's not here now. They're bringing him in soon." She led them close to the window and tapped it. "Bulletproof glass. It would take a bazooka to blow this thing."
Good to know.
"The last time, the other demons crashed through half the building before they found the two we had," the human continued. "So we've made some... structural improvements."
"Smart," Fizz remarked, sounding bored. "Look, when's the show gonna start? We're busy people."
She glanced back at them nervously. "Soon." She nodded her head to the rest of the room. There were benches lined up, and several other humans in suits or lab coats were sitting there, holding tablets or clipboards. "He comes in on a regular schedule. We built this room so more of us could study him."
Stolas felt nauseous.
Something shifted under his feet. A door opening underneath them, into the white room, and two humans, dragging--
For one split second, Stolas was immensely thankful that he did not have magic, because he was pretty certain it would have exploded out of him right that second.
Fizz didn't move. Didn't speak. Neither did Stolas.
It was Blitz, alright. But he was covered in bruises, in cuts and half-formed scars, and his good eye was swollen half shut. And--and--
They'd muzzled him--
"What, is he a rabid dog?" Fizz droned.
"He bit one of our agents." The human was staring down at Blitz like he was the most fascinating thing she'd ever seen. "It's just a precaution. It doesn't impair his ability to talk." She glanced back at them. "You'll see. Even after a week and a half, he's still got jokes." She sighed. "Makes me wonder what Hell must be like."
A whole lot better--
--than the fucking bucket again. Blitz hated the fucking bucket. The pain was annoying; the choking, the drowning, it was fucking exhausted. He could handle the interrogation room.
He drooped in the chair as the guards left, cracking his neck. His tail, which they'd had in a cage for a while now, was cramped, but he could stretch his legs out in this chair. He was only chained to the chair by his hands. They hadn't figured out how to get chains that would work with his hooves yet.
The door opened again, and two more humans came in, circling around him like loan sharks. Blitz watched them, debating with himself whether he could try and doze while they badgered him. Can't slip up, gotta keep it together. Can't slip. Can't slip. Can't slip can't slipcan'tslipcantslipcantslip--
"What's it gonna be this time?" Blitz rasped. His voice was barely recognizable, hoarse and gravelly. He sounded like Fizz, to be honest. Maybe worse. "Got something new to try out?" He mustered a smile. "It's been a while since you tried something new. Run out of ideas?"
"We'll crack you eventually," one of the humans said. "You know what we want. Don't you just want to let go? The pain would end. We'd get you a cozy bed, a bath, some pain meds. No more pain," he said, like he was coaxing a toddler, and Blitz laughed brokenly, tipping his head back so he could look up at the mirror angled down from the ceiling.
"No more pain, he says," he drawled. "Get a load of this asshole, huh?" He looked back down at the humans, still grinning faintly, pretty sure he'd lost his mind, maybe a while ago. If he'd ever had it to begin with. "You think I'm fucking stupid? There's only one way out, and you cunts won't let me take it."
"You gave it a good go the other night," the other agent said. "A shame it didn't work."
Blitz's smile turned a little feral. "You'll slip eventually."
The humans lead toward him. "And what will it take to break you?"
They circled. Blitz shut his eyes.
Stolas, Loona, Millie, Moxxie, Fizzie, Barbie, gotta keep them inside, gotta keep them safe--
"You don't even have to answer all of our questions right now," the other agent said. "Your pick. The crystal, or the demon."
"I told you, it's fucking broken. Dunno why you don't believe me." Blitz didn't open his eyes. "It was pretty fucking obvious that was the entire point."
"The demon then. Come on, tough guy. What's his name?"
"Fuck you."
"How do we summon him?"
"Fuck you."
"How do we contain him?"
"Fuck you fuck you fuck youfuckyoufuckyou--"
One of them grabbed Blitz's horn and slammed his head back so he had to look up at them. Blitz made a half-hearted attempt at a snap, even with the cage around his mouth. The human didn't flinch.
"What's it gonna take to break you, you stubborn asshole?"
Blitz felt something snap. It wasn't his sanity, he was pretty sure, but he snarled, the most energy he'd shown in so long, in days? In weeks? "Nothing is going to make me tell you what you want to know, you shitfuck, I'm going to die before you get anywhere near him, you shitty excuse for a fucking--"
Several things happened at once.
Something rumbled through the earth beneath Blitz's feet; something boomed, something shattered. It took Blitz several seconds to catch up with what was happening. The humans screamed as a bone-rattling boom thundered around them, and the glass above them exploded, shards shooting down like blades, and Blitz had just enough instinct left in him to duck his head, to pull his knees up to shield his own chest. Little shards of glass stung his legs, the top of his head, like insect stings. There was another rumble, a roar, from a different direction, further away. Blitz released a single breath as the glass fell, as shouting erupted around him and he looked--
--up at Stolas, and Stolas wanted to sob and wrap him up in his arms and never let go.
Soon, soon. Stolas fired at the two humans in the room, and Fizzarolli jumped down into the interrogation room.
Blitz's eyes shifted from Stolas to Fizz, his mouth opening and closing wordlessly.
"Hey, asshole," Fizzarolli said, and started picking the lock keeping Blitz's handcuffs chained to the chair.
Stolas fired into the dark room again when he spotted a lab coat shifting. Millie and Moxxie and Loona had to be here soon. Stolas wanted to go the fuck home.
Alarms started blaring. Stolas gritted his teeth, his human teeth, and wished again he could be himself, a hulking beast of feather and brimstone, could tear this place down wall by wall--
That was Loona's job, he reminded himself.
The door slammed open, Stolas had his gun up--
"It's us!" Millie shouted, scrambling through with Moxxie hot on her heels. "Holy fuck, I got it, we got it. We gotta go. Loona's already set it up, but--"
"Where the fuck is she?" Stolas said.
Something exploded behind him; he turned and watched as a wall crumbled in on itself. Loona shoved through the debris and jumped down into the white room, shoving Fizz aside so she could pick the lock.
That was when Moxxie and Millie saw Blitz. Millie growled, her eyes glowing like hazard lights. Moxxie gasped.
"They're all going to die," Stolas reminded her. "But we should avoid joining them."
"Not slowly enough," Millie snarled as she jumped down into the pool of shattered glass. Moxxie and Stolas followed. Stolas grimaced at the impact. Humans bodies were so poorly designed.
Blitz looked between them like he wasn't quite sure what he was seeing. "I'm hallucinating," he said. "They've got some--some fuckin' gas--"
"You're not hallucinating, asshole," Fizz said as the locks clicked. Loona hoisted Blitz up onto her shoulder. Fizz grinned.
"Let's get the fuck out of here."
Fizz opened a portal and--
---Loona was the first one to jump through, and Blitz watched as the four other humans he knew weren't humans followed, and there was a boom, a flash of light as the portal shut.
And then it was quiet.
Loona set him down. Blitz blinked up at her as she transformed, her eyes welling with tears as she looked at him. More flashes; a light as someone else joined them. Blitz's ears rang.
"You're back," someone said. "Fizz, are you--"
"I'm fine, Ozzie." Fizz's voice was shaking with anger. "Those fucking assholes--"
Blitz's hands shook behind him where they were still chained, and suddenly the muzzle and the chains and it was too fucking much and he needed to get it off get it off get it offgetitoffofmepleasepleaseplease--
The weight fell from him, and Blitz collapsed, and there was Stolas, catching him. Stolas, in a stupid human suit, and Blitz stared up at him, he had to be dreaming, no one was coming for him, no one was coming, no one was coming--
Stolas's beautiful red eyes welled up with tears.
Fuck, no, Stolas wasn't supposed to be sad.
"Don't cry," Blitz whispered. "Please don't cry."
And that just made Stolas sob as he sank to his knees, Blitz wrapped up in his arms, and Blitz had to be dreaming. Blitz had to be dreaming, had to have finally lost it, but the feathers, the feathers, and Stolas--he could smell Stolas, could smell things over the stench of his own blood and piss, could hear rain pattering against the window of the room they were in. And there was Loona, her ears flat, crying, and Blitz--
--was shaking like a fucking leaf. Stolas sobbed into Blitz's shoulder, he knew he was supposed to be comforting, not the other way around, but it had been so many days, and Blitz had looked so shell-shocked to see them, like he really hadn't believed they were coming.
There was pressure against Stolas's back. Blitz's arms, slowly wrapping around, like he still didn't believe he could.
There was another choked sob, and then there were arms wrapping around both of them from all sides, a pile of tears and of course we came, you asshole, and fuck, don't do that to us, and I was so fucking worried, and Stolas just held Blitz through it. And Blitz--
--thought that if he was dreaming, at least it was a good one.