Chapter Text
Michael POV:
Today has been….shit.
Michael already knew that this day would be a stressful occasion, but he had not anticipated the sheer insanity that it ended up unleashing.
It had already started out annoyingly when Gabriel made him wear his suit.
I hate having to wear this suit. It itches and restricts my movements. I know I have to wear it to be presentable, but still!
Then he had to wait for an hour in his booth before anyone other than the Archangels enter the room.
I like being active. Sitting on a chair for an hour on end with nothing really to do is so annoying.
Sera arrived first, then the Council, followed by the reporters Uriel had organised. He wanted to have the hearing recorded officially for prosperity.
Then arrived someone he had never seen in person before.
Emily, the younger Seraphim.
He had heard many stories about Emily from Sera, during the few meetings he was forced to attend with her. They were always positive accounts of Emily’s actions as the Bringer of Joy, even if they were masked by the stern, self-serious way Sera usually carried herself.
Seeing Emily during the hearing was initially a nice surprise. It was a much needed change-up from just dealing with Sera. Emily seemed actually happy to be there, unlike most of the council, and even the denizens from Hell when they arrived.
Turned out that they had a damn good reason to not be in a good mood.
Seeing Charlie, his niece, for the first time felt surreal, yet joyous. It was a weird feeling having the fact that he was an uncle finally setting in completely. The sheer conviction by which she pitched her Hotel and her guests really impressed him.
Seeing Matthew in person for the first time, by contrast, felt sad. Michael knew what had happened to him, how his birth family treated him so horribly, and how his new family by choice were doing all that they could to help him.
Dealing with trauma caused by violence inflicted both on him and by him….That’s depressingly familiar.
Michael was pleasantly surprised by how Charlie’s guests were advancing towards redemption.
Seeing that Valentino asshole get beat up was a fun bonus.
Having to listen to Adam and Lute constantly antagonise Charlie, Vaggie and Matthew, on the other hand, was infuriating. More-so when Lute dared to threaten Charlie.
She is so fucking lucky Gabriel knows how to calm me down.
Then the bombshell that rocked the realm. The fact that the Exterminations were being concealed from the people of Heaven for centuries.
Michael could feel his anger rise at Sera’s feeble attempts to justify her actions.
The reveal of Vaggie’s past and what Lute and Adam had done to her just added more fuel to the fire of his anger.
Thankfully, for Adam and Lute’s sakes, someone else beat him to it on the front of releasing their anger.
Emily’s well justified rant at Sera, Adam and Lute was a sight to behold. Michael could feel pride welling up within him at the sight of her verbally tearing those assholes apart, though he couldn’t quite place why.
It was even more impressive considering she didn’t even swear once.
Lute’s horrendously stupid attack on Emily shortly after that, however, made Michael pause briefly from shock, before a deep, deep rage overtook him. He was half a second away from ripping that scumbag Exorcist apart when Emily beat him to the punch (literally) by punching her into a wall.
The shock, fear and regret that was clear on Emily’s face when she realised what she had done….It was a moment that will stick with Michael for a very long time.
Michael had moved towards her, to try to help her calm down, but this was interrupted when Sera grabbed Emily’s arm and tried to drag her out of the courtroom.
Michael could barely contain himself from leaping at Sera to rip her head for the pain and distress she was causing Emily. The only reason he did not do that was the risk of Emily getting hurt in the process.
When Emily screamed at Sera that she was hurting her, which caused her to thankfully let go of Emily, Michael swooped down to keep the two separated. He glared at Sera as she was taken away alongside Adam and an unconscious Lute.
They’re lucky Azrael is the one taking them away from here. If it was me….They wouldn’t have made it past the doors of this courtroom.
Emily, who by this point had understandably started crying, surprised him by then embracing him in a tight hug.
He had never been hugged by anyone other than his brothers before. It felt weird, but he knew he had to be there for her in her moment of need.
I can’t take away the pain she’s going through. All I can do for her is hold her…
Michael was still holding her close, even as she now slept from exhaustion.
She shouldn’t have had to deal with all this…..this…madness.
He rocked back and forth ever so slightly, trying to be soothing and comforting to the unconscious Angel. His wings still covered her form to ensure no-one else would have a chance to hurt her.
Looking over his shoulder, Michael could see Raphael was tending to Metatron, who was still curled up in on himself.
Metty’s taking this harder than the rest of us.
He could see Gabriel and Remiel talking with the council members. A good chunk of them seemed just as shocked and horrified by what had been revealed today as he was, while a few of them seemed to be adamantly defending Sera’s actions. A glare from Remiel thankfully seemed to shut them up.
Camael was doing similar work with the guards that had been present.
Azrael had gone off to escort Adam, Lute and Sera to their cells in the prison that Michael was now realising would likely get very full, very fast.
One problem at a time.
After a few minutes, Raphael came over. He gently put his hand on Michael’s shoulder.
On instinct, he turned around and glared at the sudden contact. He calmed down immediately when he recognised his brother’s presence.
“It’s okay, Michael. I’m just going to take her to her home and check on her injuries. Then I’ll let her get some proper rest. She will be fine.”
A part of Michael didn’t want to let go of Emily.
Keep holding her. As long as you’re holding onto her, she’s safe. She won’t get hurt. Not again. Not on my watch.
Taking a breath, Michael collected himself.
If there’s anyone I can trust to help her be safe, it’s Raphael.
As he gently motioned to hand over Emily’s still sleeping form to Raphael, the younger Seraphim seemed to notice the brief lack of physical contact. She squirmed in discomfort, almost causing Michael to grab her back to make her feel comfortable once more. By some miracle of willpower he held himself back, and Emily returned to her seemingly peaceful sleep when Raphael started carrying her.
Michael watched as Raphael waved his hand to open a portal, before she stepped through with Emily. Then, they were both gone.
Michael could feel the stress and paranoia of what could happen to Emily while she’s out of his view start to creep up in his mind. Thankfully, he remembered his breathing exercises with Gabriel.
1,2,3 breathe in….
1,2,3 breathe out…
Collecting himself, Michael stood up. He looked over at the group from Hell.
Charlie and Vaggie were leaning on each other at one side of the courtroom. Matthew was a bit away from them, staring at the wall.
Michael strode towards them.
Don’t be weird. The others are busy, so you have to be the responsible one. The one who helps comfort people after they’ve experienced trauma instead of the other way around like usual.
“Hello all.” Michael capped off his awkward greeting with an equally awkward wave.
Smooth. Idiot.
Thankfully, they didn’t seem to hold this embracing introduction against him, with Charlie moving towards him to shake his hand.
“It’s so nice to finally meet you, Uncle Michael.”
Uncle Michael….I’m never going to get used to hearing that.
“It’s wonderful to meet you too, Charlie. I’m so proud of why you’ve accomplished so far and I hope your project will continue to thrive once we deal with this….mess today.”
Charlie’s expression shifted to one of worry at that.
”What’s going to happen now?”
“My best guess? We’ll send you three back down to Hell, then we’ll continue questioning anyone who might be involved in this conspiracy, while working with the reporters present here to figure out how to reveal the truth of this matter to the general public.”
We also need to figure out how to keep them safe from any Exorcist or other conspirators who would want to kill or threaten them to keep the truth quiet.
Michael then turned to face Vaggie, who seemed to stand to attention almost on instinct as he addressed her.
“Vaggie…What was done to you by Lute and Adam was unforgivable. A truly depraved act of idiotic violence. Know that you did nothing wrong by sparing that child, and you will always have a place in Heaven.”
Something in his words seemed to have triggered Vaggie, who leapt back to cling to Charlie’s arm.
”I’m not going back! You can’t take me away from her!”
The fear that was in her eye and trembling through her voice made Michael wince.
Good going, asshole. You scared her and you didn’t even know you were doing it.
“No, no! No-one here is going to force you to return to Heaven. I’m just saying that our gates will always be open to both you and Charlie. You are both free to visit Heaven whenever you wish and you can stay for as long or as briefly as you wish.”
That assurance thankfully put Vaggie at ease, though she still held onto Charlie.
“Th…Thank you.” The look of self-loathing that passed across Vaggie’s face was one Michael was intimately familiar with when he looked in a mirror.
Turning around, he made his way towards Matthew.
Michael has heard a lot about this young man, as well as seen recordings of him in action. Not to mention what he gone through right under their noses….
Just thinking about what General Rankin had done to Matthew, his own son, made Michael grit his teeth in anger.
I still can’t believe that scumbag had the nerve to name one of his kids after me and mould him into a psychopath. And that’s just one of the many terrible things he had done under my watch. I always thought that asshole was full of himself, but he was truly on another level with that.
I’m only disappointed that I wasn’t there in person to see Matthew rip him apart.
“Hello, Matthew. It’s nice to actually meet you for the first time.”
Matthew looked at him with a tried smile.
”Likewise, sir.”
Michael stood next to him, rocking back and forth on his feet briefly.
”So….That hearing was….a lot.”
“Yep.”
“I’m…sorry you all got caught up in this mess.”
“It’s alright. You didn’t know any of this shit was happening. We just…annoyed them enough to blurt it out.”
A question now formed in Michael’s head as he thought back both to the hearing and to what he saw in the recording Matthew’s meeting Gabriel and Uriel.
“I just thought of a question. Knowing now that most of Heaven doesn’t know about the Exterminations and what they entail, would you have chosen to stay in Heaven?”
Matthew seemed to think about it for a moment.
“I’d still have said no.
In all honesty, with how deep this conspiracy must be, I wouldn’t be surprised if Sera found a way to make me “disappear” if I decided to stay, so I wouldn’t be able to talk about the Exterminations with anyone.”
Michael bitterly chuckled at that.
”Yeah. That seems like it could have been a distinct possibility. We really dropped the ball on keeping tabs on her, as well as the public’s awareness of the Exterminations.”
In retrospect, the lack of freaking out within the Council or the general public after we thought we released the full story about what happened to Matthew should have been a tip-off.
“Don’t beat yourself up on that. This conspiracy was intended to specifically prevent you and the other Archangels from figuring things out. I mean, they’ve had centuries to practice hiding stuff from you all. You’re not omnipotent. That’s more your dad’s thing.
Don’t blame yourself for things you had no knowledge or control over. You just have to move on and try to do things differently.”
Michael was both surprised by the maturity of that answer and a little saddened by it.
This kid had to grow up too fast. He has so much emotional stuff to work through, as well as this mess and whatever else ends up complicating his life further.
Not to mention the fact that he’s likely a Horseman of the Apocalypse. He does not need that piled on top of what happened today.
Wait…I think Sera was trying to blurt that out earlier!! How did she know? She doesn’t have that level of clearance…!
Just calm down. Just add it to pile of “shit to figure out later.”
Michael turned around, to address Charlie and Vaggie, as well as Matthew.
“You three should just rest here for a while. I’ll talk with Gabriel about setting up a portal soon.
Don’t worry. You’ll all be home soon, safe and sound.”
Michael then moved away to get a sense of what he was supposed to do now.
Walking around the courtroom, Michael passed by Uriel as he continued to debrief with the reporters.
Off to the side, Michael could see the reporter who spoke up about the suppression of information. Zachary Crannen. He was pacing back and forth, clearly worried.
As he moved over toward him, Zachary seemed briefly startled for a moment by his presence.
“Archangel Michael? H..Hello, sir. What brings you over here?”
“I’m just checking on people to see how they’re coping with what happened.
Are you…feeling okay about all of this?”
Zachary let out a tired sigh at that.
“I’m doing as fine as I can be, sir. I was already debriefed by your brother earlier about the situation.
I know everything that happened today was shocking and overwhelming, but all I can think about at the moment is my wife, Marie. She could be in danger from those involved in this conspiracy.
She works at the same newspaper as me, she knows all about the story Sera buried…”
This caught Michael’s attention.
“Do you think she could be targeted by other conspirators?”
“Unfortunately, yes. I do believe she could end up in danger, since, looking back on it, we may have come upon some evidence of the Exterminations during our brief research into the matters involving Matthew Rankin. Talking with Uriel made me realise it.”
Zachary tiredly rubbed his forehead.
“We both knew, from what little information we had found in our research before the story got buried, that there had been a yearly event that had taken place at a military building, where Matthew proceeded to abruptly leave, then he apparently started living at an apartment before he….”
Zachary let out a shuddering breath for a moment.
”Forgive me, sir. I just…I was one of the people who saw Matthew…jump. I was doing a puff piece in that area, with a camera at the ready. I was the one who took pictures of him as he stood near the edge that were in the first paper that was suppressed.
I didn’t do anything…I could have done something….I just watched him…Jump…
At least, seeing him here today, means he is okay.”
Michael put what he hoped was a reassuring hand on Zachary’s shoulder.
“I’ll talk with Uriel and the others about measures to ensure your wife’s safety, as well as the safety of the other families of the reporters present. Worst comes to worst, we can always have you all stay on the grounds of our home. It’s a very large area, so we can set up temporary structures for you all to reside in until the threats have been neutralised.”
Zachary seemed stunned by this.
”You would really let us stay near your home?”
”Of course. We will make sure to keep you all safe for as long as it takes.”
This seemed to put the reporter at ease, who proceeded to nod in response.
”Thank you, sir.”
”Don’t mention it. Have a…calmer rest of your day.”
With that, Michael, somewhat awkwardly, walked away to the edge of the courtroom.
Looking out at all those present, Michael made a silent vow to the denizens of both Heaven and the Hazbin Hotel.
We will do all that we can to not fail you again. I swear it.