Chapter Text
I could tell by the way you kissed my lips that day. - Dan + Shay
Angel wasn’t sure what woke him suddenly but he immediately regretted the startled movement. Tears came to his eyes as he cradled his top left arm to his body. Fat Nuggets nudged his face as Angel blinked the tears from his eyes. It wouldn’t do him any good to cry over it. That would only fuel Val’s rage, or worse, his desire.
“Not now, Nuggs,” he said softly as he gently pushed the hell pig out of his face. It took several minutes for Angel to get out of bed without jostling his arm too much. He limped slowly to his full length mirror and studied himself.
His left leg hurt but aside from a large bruise and a few bite marks on his thigh he was pretty sure it was fine. He continued to inspect himself, finding numerous bruises on his ribs, throat, and face. The black eye looked the worst but he knew that makeup would cover them all until they healed properly. He was more concerned with his swollen shoulder. It looked misshapen and the intense pain that radiated from it told him that it was dislocated.
He hoped that Val would let someone set it. It could heal on its own, but it would be a long and painful process if it wasn’t set first. He wished he didn’t know that. He turned around to inspect his back and winced at the view. He gently prodded at it with his lower right arm. It was hard to tell through all the blood caked into his fur but he was fairly certain the wounds were no longer actively bleeding.
He avoided looking at his bloody sheets as he limped back over to his wardrobe. Clothes were out of the question at the moment but being naked, except for his boots, made him feel too vulnerable.
He snorted at that thought. It was funny to think that he should care if he was naked. Most of Hell not only knew what his body looked like, but had seen him get fucked in any way you could think of. Some that you couldn’t.
He carefully pulled his robe on, taking his time with his dislocated arm. Once he was covered he sat down at his vanity and pulled open a drawer. He took out a baggie of white pills and popped a couple in his mouth before placing the bag in his robe pocket. He would likely be eating those all night but they would take a little while to kick in.
He vaguely wished he had been able to get up and take something before passing out. He had been in too much pain when Val had stormed out, though. So he took out his little mirror and made himself a couple of lines. The coke would take the edge off of his sore body while he waited for the PCP pills to kick in.
He slumped into his chair for a minute while the coke took effect and then looked down, noticing Fat Nuggets staring sadly up at him. He carefully picked the pig up and kissed his little face, allowing the pig to lick him as he giggled.
“Don't’ ya worry, Nuggs. Daddy’ll be just fine. He always is.”
Fat Nuggets tilted his head as if he didn’t believe the spider’s words. Angel just sighed and pulled his baby into his chest. It wasn’t like Angel had a choice in the matter. It was either pretend to be ok or face Val’s wrath. The moth always took it as a personal affront whenever Angel was anything but happy to see him. Happy to please his every whim. Even that didn’t guarantee he wouldn’t face his wrath.
Val hadn’t even been upset with Angel. Vox and Val were on the outs again which meant that Angel would have more of Valentino’s attention. Yay for him.
It was as if Val could hear his ungrateful thoughts. His door unexpectedly slammed open and Angel’s head popped up. He stared into his mirror where he could see him there, in his doorway. Eyes narrowed and all four hands fisted tight. Val. Furious.
Angel tried to school the fear from his face as he quickly got to his feet and whirled to face the angry demon. His arms subconsciously tightened, pulling Fat Nuggets protectively against himself as he hunched over, trying to make the pig less conspicuous. It didn’t seem to matter though, Val barely looked at Angel as he grabbed his right arm and dragged him out the door.
The studio was empty and that only frightened Angel more. Val wouldn’t hold back with no one around. But why was he taking him out of the studio? His anxiety only increased as Val silently pushed the button for the elevator and tossed Angel into it.
His dislocated shoulder slammed into the wall and Angel suppressed a scream as pain shot through him and his breath stopped for a moment. Val got in behind him and quietly lit up a cigarette, staring at the doors as they descended.
Angel rolled his body so that his back was leaning against the wall and taking the pressure off of his shoulder. It was still throbbing sharply but it relieved the pain enough for him to get a breath. Val’s silence was scaring him. When he got mad, Val never held back his rage. Not in the studio, not when they were alone. His silence was saved for his intense rage. Angel didn’t know how much more he could take that night.
“D-daddy? What’s-”
“Shut the fuck up, you stupid whore,” Valentino tightly cut him off as he squeaked in irritation. He didn’t even bother to look at Angel.
Angel shut up.
The doors opened to the lobby and Valentino grabbed Angel’s left arm. He gasped quietly at the pain and tried to keep up with Val to lessen the pressure on his shoulder. It still fucking hurt so much. Val pushed their way through the front doors and tossed Angel away from him, into the street.
He reacted instinctively. His first thought was that he didn’t want to land on Fat Nuggets. So he put his arms out to catch his fall.
That was a mistake.
As he hit the ground he felt something tear in his shoulder and then his arm gave out. His knees hit the ground as he lost his hold on Fat Nuggets. The poor guy tumbled out of Angel’s arms and squealed as he ran away. Angel whimpered as he hit the ground, unable to stop the small sound as he rocked back onto his knees. His arm hung at his side but he barely noticed.
Two large men in black suits stood in front of Angel. One of them picked up Fat Nuggets while the other extended his hand out to Angel, but Angel ignored it. He staggered to his feet and turned back to Val. His breathing increased as he took a step towards the moth. Tears streamed down his face.
“Val- I-I don’t understand. What’s going on?” He reached for Val in desperation, trying to make sense of what was happening but his mind felt fuzzy and he couldn’t decipher the situation.
Val grabbed his hand and pulled Angel close to him. He exhaled pink smoke into his face and Angel felt himself relax into Val’s grip. Val used another hand to grab Angel’s chin tightly, claws digging in but not enough to break his skin.
“You’re not my problem anymore,” Val whispered into his ear. “I have no use for addict trash like you.” He pulled Angel’s lips to his and kissed him roughly, pressing so hard that he drew blood from Angel’s lips. Angel could feel Val’s poison slide down his throat and slip out to mingle with the cut on his lip. “Goodbye, Amorcito,” Val whispered against his lips before sauntering back into the tower.
Angel couldn’t think. His brain simply wouldn’t let him process. He stood there, motionless. He was vaguely aware that someone was talking to him and he let himself be led. Somewhere. He didn’t process the shift from one place to another. Voices and lights changed but Angel barely noticed them at all.
At one point he thought he heard someone call his name. His real name. He didn’t respond to that either. He didn’t respond to anything.
Until he felt someone try to take his robe off.
All three of his good arms popped up and grabbed the offender's wrist. Hard. His breathing came rapidly as all his senses decided to take that moment to pop back into existence. Bright lights, white walls, a table underneath him, two people in the room with him. He focused on the one in front of him first.
She looked like a cute monkey of some sort. Short white fur on her face, long black hair pulled back, white doctor’s coat. She was holding her other hand up, palm towards him.
He looked towards the door and spotted the massive hellhound. His black suit screamed security. His missing eye screamed danger. His face was passive. He just watched Angel quietly. Angel’s breathing increased again and he could feel himself on the edge of panic.
“Angel.”
He whipped his head back to the monkey. She had a gentle look about her and he focused on her instead of the hellhound. He licked his lips as his mind raced.
“Where am I?”
She gently tapped on his nearest hand and he dropped her arm like it had burned him. He hugged his lower arms around himself and touched his lip with his good upper arm. It came away slick with red blood and Valentino’s pink toxin.
“You’re in the infirmary. I’m Serenity, the doctor here. You’re.. Well I would really like it if I could help you with your injuries.” She spoke slowly and softly to him and he felt his breath slowing. “Would it be ok if I check your injuries?”
Angel pulled his robe tighter around himself and couldn’t help but glance at the hellhound. It was reflexive. To his utter surprise, the hellhound wordlessly left the room. He stared after him in silence until Serenity got his attention again.
“Don’t worry, he will make sure that no one disturbs us. May I?” She stuck her hand out again, indicating his robe.
He let his hands fall into his lap and she opened it enough to get a good look at his neck. It hurt a lot less than it had earlier, thanks to the PCP in his system. She moved his head around as she poked and prodded him but she was much more gentle than the medical staff that the Vees kept around. She wrote several things on her little chart and then turned her attention back to Angel.
“Could we remove your robe and get a look at your arm?” Angel obliged and pulled his right arms out of his robe as Serenity walked around the back of the table to assist him with it. He heard her gasp as his robe peeled away from his back. There was a moment of silence before she spoke again. “I’m going to help you take this off of your injured arm here.” Angel didn’t respond except to nod and she carefully removed his robe. She didn’t touch his shoulder, merely looked at it from several different angles.
“It’s dislocated,” he told her and she made a noise of affirmation.
“We’ll need to pop it back in.”
Angel shrugged with his good shoulder and laid back on the table. Serenity’s eyes got wide and her hands shot out as though to help him but she stopped short as Angel laughed. “I’m sorry, suga,” he laughed again. “Ya face is precious.”
She stared at him like he was insane, and perhaps he was. Who knew anymore?
“I was going to give you some anesthetic first,” she huffed at him.
“Oh, no need,” he waved a hand at her. “I took plenty a PCP earlier. I don’t feel much right now.”
“You… you’re high right now?”
“Pretty much always, doll.”
She made a noise at that but simply moved over to his arm. “I’m going to see if we can gently do this. You’ll feel a lot of pressure, and maybe some pain, but that depends on how much PCP is in your system. Ready?”
He gave her a thumbs up before laying his good upper arm over his eyes and trying to relax his body. He knew that would make it easier on himself. She grasped his wrist firmly and held his arm level with his body and near his hip. She twisted it back and forth and Angel was glad that he was still high enough to only feel a bit of pain. She brought his arm straight out from his body and he could feel the pressure increase in his shoulder but it didn’t really hurt much more.
She continued rotating his arm as some of the pressure eased. Then she shifted his arm as far towards his head as it would go. The pressure intensified and she began turning his wrist again. With an audible pop it slid back in as it shot a sharp pain through him. He hissed despite himself.
“I’m sorry! Are you ok?”
He brought his arm to his chest and was relieved to find that there was very little pain now. It would probably hurt once the drugs wore off, but he felt right as rain for the moment. “It’s fine, doll. Don’t worry about it,” he grinned at her. “Much betta now.” Angel sat up and moved to put his robe back on.
Serenity stopped him before he could redress himself. “I think I should take a look at your back now.”
“There’s no need, suga. They don’t hurt and they stopped bleedin a while ago.”
“They don’t hurt because you're high,” she scolded. “Some of them are weeping again. Just let me clean you up and see what’s going on. I’ll be as quick as I can.” The care in her voice both irritated Angel and made him feel guilty. He gave a long sigh before he muttered obscenities under his breath, but he stopped attempting to dress himself.
They were silent as she cleaned the blood out of his fur. Angel largely ignored her and focused on his thoughts again. His mind was clearing up a bit and he was finally able to process some of the night.
Val sold him off. He had no idea who Val had sold him to. The unknown Overlord made Angel nervous. He didn’t know if this would be better or worse than living in the tower. Than being forced to… do whatever Val wanted at any given time.
Would he still have to live in fear of his owner’s every whim? Could he please this new Overlord? Would he have to fuck him too? Of course he would. One didn’t buy Hell’s most famous porn star unless they intended to use his skills.
You’re nothing more than an addict whore. Worthless except for the entertainment your holes bring to others.
Val’s voice echoed through his head and he hugged himself with both sets of arms. Angel knew that he should feel grateful that he would never have to deal with Val again. He knew that Val didn’t really love him. He had learned that a long time ago. He didn’t think he had loved Val in a long time, either.
And yet..
He didn’t know what he would do without Val. Val had practically been his whole life for so long now that Angel couldn’t remember what it felt like before he had signed that contract. Why did he feel… sad?
He was pulled from his thoughts as Serenity announced she was done. She handed him a tube of some kind of ointment, informing him that it would help to heal his wounds and bruises faster if he used it twice a day.
“What now?”
“Now, we’ll have someone show you to your room.”
She made a few more notes in her little chart thing as Angel pulled his robe back around himself. He stood from the table and followed her to the door and then out into the hallway.
They stopped short as Angel took in the demons in front of them. The hellhound stood with another massive demon, this one resembled a bull, who was also in a black suit. Looking oh so short next to them was a winged cat demon dressed in black slacks, suspenders, and a white button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up.
Angel barely paid any of them attention as he caught sight of what the smaller demon was holding.
“Baby,” Angel cried out. The cat’s eyes went wide as the spider beelined straight for him but Angel simply snatched Fat Nuggets from him and began inspecting the pig. “Are ya ok, baby? Daddy’s so sorry!” Nuggs made a happy noise and snuggled into Angel’s fluff as he hugged the pig to his chest and nuzzled him back.
“Do you think you can take Angel to his room, Tex,” Serenity asked. “I need to discuss a few things with the boss.”
“Sure, Serenity, I can do that,” the hellhound replied. “Follow me, Mr. Dust.”
Angel plastered his best grin on his face as he reached out and hooked one of his lower arms through the hellhounds. “Call me Angel, big guy, and I’ll let ya take me whereva ya want.” He winked at Tex as they started down the hallway.
Tex gave Angel a short amused chuckle as he led him. “Ok man. I’m Vortex, but everyone just calls me Tex.”
“Well aren’t I lucky ta get a big, strong man ta take me ta bed?”
Tex just smiled and shook his head as he pulled a card out and flashed it in front of a scanner. It opened up the doors to the elevator and he motioned for Angel to enter. Angel strolled in and leaned against the back of the elevator, placing his lower hands on the rails. Tex joined him and pushed a button.
Angel looked up from Fat Nuggets as the doors began to close. The bull demon was following Serenity back into the infirmary but the cat demon hadn’t moved. He stilled as he realized the demon was staring at him. Not just staring, Angel could tell. He was observing him, watching him closely. He felt a chill go through him at the cat’s intense scrutiny.
Then the doors closed and the penetrating black and yellow eyes were gone.