Daughter Dearest

twenty-six

Night fell, and rather than drinking with everyone else, Venus was locked in a six person game of UNO. 

Cherri Bomb, who had shown up somewhere amidst the chaotic preparations, lingered around with Angel, watching the card game with interest. 

“Uno!” Clint called out. 
Peter switched the color from blue to green. 
Venus threw down a green skip card, skipping Sam's turn. 
Natasha switched the color to red.
Pietro threw down a plus four card. 

“Suck it, old man.” He laughed in an exaggerated manner, making sure Clint plucked those four cards from the deck. 

“I should've let your ass die.” Clint grumbled. Although he didn't mean it, Pietro still rolled his eyes and flipped off the older man. 

“Now, now children.” Venus smirked, enjoying the game. In a few short hours, they'd be dressing for battle, but in the meantime, nothing was more important than making sure Clint lost the game. 

It continued on until Natasha came in first place, Peter in second, and Sam in third. 

Venus loved Peter, but it was as if he had infinite cards to make her lose every time. 

“Why don't you play a real card game?” Husk questioned, taking a swig of alcohol. 

“Someone said we're not allowed to play poker anymore. . . Not naming names, of course.” Tony looked directly at Natasha. 

She raised her eyebrows. “Because someone got drunk and kept raising the stakes — not naming names, of course.”

“Fair enough.” Tony replied. 

Venus chuckled and stood from the floor, stretching her back, which popped from being on the floor for so long. “Shuffle the deck — I'll be back.” 

“Everything okay?” Bruce questioned, watching her with concern. 

“Everything is fine, Bruce.” Venus smiled slightly before walking across the room to the bathroom. She closed and locked the door, staring at herself in the mirror as she listened to the muffled conversations through the wall. 

Vaggie was seemingly excited to fight the angels. 

Husk acknowledged that Angel may have changed.

Then there was something about Sir Pentious possibly having two dicks? Odd. 

Venus told Charlie to have faith, but it was growing to be hard for her to keep it herself. Everything she had to lose was in that hotel right at that moment. From the friends who helped her adjust to Midgardian customs and slang, all the way to the boy she loved as her own flesh and blood.

Even then, she cared for the friends who helped her adjust to Hell and gave her a place to stay — she didn't mind Alastor all that much, despite having so few interactions with the Radio Demon. 

Her hands grasped the edge of the sink roughly as she exhaled shakily, continuing to listen in on the large celebration with a lot of cheers and laughter. Venus knew then that she would do anything to keep them safe. 

Absolutely anything. Even if it killed her. 

★†★

As the Hellish realm lightened, Venus put her suit on for the first time in months. She marveled, still, at how the black bulletproof material clung to her like a second skin. 

Her eyes hardened as she mentally steeled herself for the impending battle. She prayed to the all-father that she, nor her family, would be injured in the fight.

Everyone was gathered in the front, waiting for the exorcists to come down, led by Adam.

Venus strode through the sea of found family members with their weapons in hand, all of which had had angelic steel reinforcements — from Niffty's knife to Natasha's loaded guns and Loki's new daggers.

Her new sword was held steadily in her hand, blonde hair blowing in the dry, hot air as she reached the forefront of the assembled group with Charlie and Vaggie beside her.

"Are you ready?" She asked quietly, gaining the attention of the two.

"No. . . Are you?" Charlie asked in return, not expecting the answer that she got in return from the Asgardian Princess.

"No. But this is what I have always done. . . In the event this turns for the worst, I'd like you to both know that it has been an honor to live in the hotel and call you a part of my family, in the short couple months that we have known each other." 

Charlie smiled at Venus sadly. She noticed the way the goddess seemed to be detached from the whole situation. While her words were genuine, Venus was very much in her fight mode. 

Before anyone could say anything else, the portal opened above the hotel where everyone stood. The brightness alone was the first giveaway.

“Here they come. Get ready, everyone. We fight together!” Vaggie called out as the exorcists came through the portal. 

“Avengers!” Venus called out to her group, raising her sword with a sinister grin beginning to form on her face. The sound of guns cocking, blasters whirring to life, and the sharp sound of daggers being sharpened quickly met her ears. 

Vaggie raised her angelic spear, similarly to how Venus raised her weapon. “Now! FOR YOUR SOULS!” She yelled.

Venus tipped the point of her sword forward, a silent command to those she had worked with: Assemble. Charlie's assembled group cheered, though soon both sides were charging. 

“Let's FUCK THEM UP!” Charlie yelled. 

The fight had begun, golden blood covering the angelic steel of her blade like watercolors on a canvas — the spatterings from her first beheading of the day decorating her face and black suit like rich freckles. 

Overhead, a rather large force field erected, enclosing the attacking exorcists within the danger zone. 

Venus didn't flinch as one of Clint's arrows whizzed past her head and embedded itself within an exorcist that had been trying to sneak up on Natasha. 

Explosions from Cherri's bombs went off all around, Angel Dust shooting any exorcist angel that got too close for comfort — Niffty going around and stabbing any she found, even the dead ones. 

Wanda threw an angel overhead, encased in red, collecting her angelic weapon as Natasha fired the killing shot. 

“Come and get some!” Angel Dust called out.

“Eat shrapnel, fuckers!”

“All angelic weapons fire at will!” 

Husk flew by Angel, Cherri, and Sir Pentious, throwing his explosive cards at angels. “Hey! Yelling while fighting. . . Doesn't help.” 

“On your left!” Sam yelled, flying past Venus while shooting at any angel within his firing range. 

She took that opportunity to unfurl her ‘dark as the night’ wings and shoot up into the sky, taking out two exorcist angels in one swoop, moving away from the beheading temporarily, so that she wouldn't be bathed in golden blood before the battle was over. 

“How are things looking in the sky?” Steve's voice sounded in Venus's ear. 

With her blade in the abdomen of a target who was going for Peter and Charlie, her hand tightened around the angel's throat as she looked around briefly — Tony and Sam were still with her in the sky, which was good. 

“Could be worse.” Her distorted voice stated, as she snapped the angel's neck and ripped the blade from her abdomen. 

"Let me know if anything changes.”

“You'll be the first to know, Captain.” She smirked.