AU Sinner Adam Sides With Vaggie
Charlie: Because he's hurting the hotel! He is ruining—
Vaggie: Charlie! You are hurting the hotel! I know it sucks what Vox is doing, but you're playing right into his game!
Charlie: What?! How can you even say that?! Are you not on my side?!
Vaggie: I am on your side! But being on your side means telling you the truth! I am worried about you!
In the background, Adam—now a fallen sinner forced to crash at the very hotel he tried to level—watched the drama unfold, slowly shaking his head. He couldn't believe how bullheaded his ex-wife's kid was being with his former lieutenant. Despite how slavishly Vaggie devoted herself to the cause, the princess had the nerve to act like a total brat just because things went sideways at Vox's rally.
Adam: (Sighs, rolling his eyes) Man, you really are your parents' kid. Blaming everyone else except your own damn self.
Charlie, Vaggie, and even Lucifer snapped their heads toward him. Lucifer's expression twisted into instant, demonic offense. This was the guy who had spent millennia rubbing his face in ancient history—the wives, the corruption of humanity, the forced eviction from Eden.
Lucifer: (Growling, horns snapping into place as wings unfurl and his eyes turn blood red) Shut up, you miserable fuck, or I'll—
Adam: (Interrupts with a loud, obnoxious laugh) Or what, Morningstar? Now that I'm a sinner, you can't touch me without breaking your own precious little rules. And frankly, your daughter's complete inability to take accountability is a feature she got directly from you and Lilith. It's always easier to play the victim than admit you fucked up.
Charlie: (Her eye twitching as she glares at the First Man) Be quiet, you narcissistic pig! Ever since you dragged your pathetic soul here, you’ve done nothing but mock my dreams! We let you stay here. We kept you hidden from the rest of Hell after you turned into a sinner. And how do you repay us? You out yourself at a VoxTek rally by beheading Vox, fueling the fire, and causing half our remaining guests to pack their bags and flee! I have every right to kick your ass out on the street and let you survive in Hell by your damn self!
Adam: (Snorts, waving a hand) Pfft, as if you’d actually make good on a threat, Princess. Besides, I already survived a hellworld once after a Morningstar's "good intentions" got me kicked out of paradise. (He turns a smug grin toward Vaggie) Let's face it, Vagyna—this whole family is just a line of hardheaded idiots who can't handle a drop of criticism.
Vaggie: (Glares daggers at her old boss) Adam, I don't need input from the bastard who left me mutilated and left for dead in a ditch.
Adam: (Crosses his arms, snapping right back) And I don't need sass from a girl who got her former sister-in-arms killed all for an unappreciative girlfriend. She takes you completely for granted and shoulders you with the actual work of running this piss-hole!
Vaggie: They were targeting the hotel! It was self-defense!
Adam: Oh, sure! And then you let their corpses get devoured by a pack of cannibals. Yeah, real saintly behavior, girls. Then you act like letting me and Lute live was some grand act of mercy that makes you better than us? None of you have any fucking self-awareness. That’s why your airheaded sugar mommy over here is whining like a spoiled baby. You gotta stop coddling her, Vaggie, and make her face the facts: she cares way more about her own shallow image than the actual hotel.
The room went dead silent. The words struck a raw nerve, leaving Charlie, Vaggie, and even Lucifer frozen. Vaggie looked away, the bitter sting of truth hitting her hard. Deep down, she knew Adam was right about how Charlie was handling the media.
Adam: (His voice dropping to a harsh, stern edge) This hotel is bleeding people because you're obsessed with proving a point to a bunch of media assholes. You are willing to throw the people you claim to care about right under the bus just to feed your fragile ego—the exact same ego you inherited from that stubborn-ass ex-wife of mine. When you start snapping at the only people actually trying to help you, you're a real piece of work.
Charlie stubbornly turned her back on all of them, folding her arms tight, refusing to let the words penetrate her defenses.
Charlie: Well... if none of you care about what I'm trying to build here, then fine! I'll just do it myself!
Vaggie: Fine! You want to bury your head in the sand? Be my guest. Ugh! (Stalks toward the heavy front doors) ¡Estoy harta de esta mujer! (I am sick of this woman!)
Vaggie slammed the door behind her. Adam let out a dry scoff, turning on his heel to head up the stairs, throwing one last look of pure scorn at the Princess of Hell.
Lucifer hesitated, slowly stepping up behind his daughter, reaching out a trembling hand to place it on her shoulder.
Charlie: (Cold, without looking back) I think you should leave, Dad. You've fucked things up for me enough.
Lucifer flinched, his hand dropping. His expression shattered.
Lucifer: (Quietly) Okay.
With a soft crackle of golden, fading magic, he vanished into thin air.
The Aftermath
The silence that followed was suffocating. Charlie stood frozen in the center of the lobby, the echo of Vaggie's slammed door still ringing in her ears. The heavy demonic energy from her father's brief flare-up lingered in the air like ozone, thick and bitter.
Slowly, the anger that had kept her spine straight began to drain away, leaving a cold, hollow ache in her chest.
"You are hurting the hotel!" "She takes you completely for granted..." "You've fucked things up for me enough."
Her dad hadn't even defended himself. He had just looked at her with those crushed, tired eyes and disappeared. And Vaggie... Vaggie had actually walked out.
Charlie’s arms dropped to her sides. She walked unsteadily over to the front desk, her knees buckling as she slid down against the wood, burying her face in her knees.
Upstairs, Adam hadn't gone to his room. He was leaning over the mezzanine railing, watching the Princess of Hell reduce herself to a pathetic little pile on the floor. He should have felt vindicated. He should have laughed.
Instead, he just felt annoyed.
Adam: (Muttering to himself) Oh, fantastic. Now come the waterworks.
He rolled his eyes, groaning loudly as he trudged back down the stairs, making sure his heavy boots slapped against the hardwood so she knew he was coming.
Charlie didn't lift her head, her voice muffled and sharp.
Charlie: Go away, Adam. Haven't you said enough?
Adam: (Stopping a few feet away, crossing his arms) Clearly not, because you're still sitting here acting like the universe owes you a crown just for waking up in the morning. Look, kid. I'm a dick. I know I'm a dick. I've been a dick for ten thousand years, and honestly? It’s a great gig. But the difference between me and you is that when I do something messed up, I own it. I don't wrap it up in a pretty little bow of "good intentions" and expect a round of applause.
Charlie: (Snapping her head up, her eyes red-rimmed and her demonic yellow irises dimmed) I don't expect a round of applause! I'm trying to save people! I'm trying to save you, even though you literally tried to murder my friends!
Adam: And look how great that's turning out for ya! (He gestures grandly around the empty room) Vox pushed your buttons, you reacted like a spoiled toddler, and now your girlfriend thinks you're a lunatic while your dad is probably off crying into a pile of rubber ducks. As I said before, you are just like your mother. She used to do the exact same shit. Whenever things got too real, she’d rewrite history, play the martyr, and leave everyone else to pick up the pieces. You're doing it to Vaggie right now.
Charlie flinched as if she’d been struck. Hearing her mother's name used as a weapon hurt, but the mention of Vaggie hit a raw, bleeding nerve.
Charlie: (Voice cracking, looking down at her hands) I don't want to hurt her. She's... she's everything to me.
Adam: Then stop treating her like an accessory to your ego. She gave up everything for you, kid. Her wings, her status, her sisters. And you're sitting here throwing a tantrum because she dared to tell you that you're losing your mind. If you lose her, you don't have a hotel. You just have a big, empty house full of bad memories.
He stared at her for a moment longer, waiting for another defensive outburst. But it didn't come. Charlie just sat there, the weight of the truth finally sinking in.
Adam: (Sighs, turning on his heel) Whatever. Figure it out. Or don't. But if this place goes under because you couldn't handle a reality check, I'm stealing the big TV from the lounge and finding a new place to crash.
He marched back up the stairs, leaving Charlie alone in the quiet lobby.
