Reach for the Stars

-----x-----

"I think... I want to have a child."

The silence that followed his confession was deafening. He couldn't even bring himself to meet eyes with his therapist of nine years. Rationally, he knew she was simply watching him with kindness and understanding, completely non-judgmental.

But his anxiety told him otherwise, so his eyes remained glued to the beige fibers in the decorative rug under their feet.

"You think?" Moira asked him after a moment. He closed his eyes, because he knew what she was doing. He had a habit of trying to cover up his feelings and his wants and desires, because a part of him didn't believe he still deserved those things, a part of him was afraid of speaking up.

Again, his rational mind knew.

But his anxiety, his fear, none of that allowed him to do so with confidence anymore.

He tried not to wilt under the fact that even after all these years later, he was still scarred from his experience as a war prisoner.

He clenched his teeth together as he remembered a conversation he'd had with Hannibal, who he really could consider his first therapist, but without a license and he wasn't getting paid.

"Have you ever thought about it," Raven found himself asking Hannibal softly as they stewed over the news that their nieces and nephews were all going to be part of Nikias and Demetrius's wedding in just a few weeks, "Having children?" They'd talked about it in the past, and Hannibal had always been very sour and adamant he did not enjoy the presence of children.

But that conversation that day had been... different.

Hannibal had spent a good two minutes staring into his coffee, as if he hoped to find all the answers in there before he looked up.

"Can people like us even have children?" He asked. The question caught him off-guard, because he'd always seen Hannibal as very sure of himself. The hybrid god knew what he wanted, when he wanted it, and how he wanted it. Most of the time, the male got it, unless he was butting heads with his husband, Akin. Even then, eventually, Akin gave up to the guy.

To question whether or not he would be worthy of having children wasn't really something Raven had thought about with Hannibal, and now he wondered the same thing.

Hannibal was referring to their past, their trauma.

Was it even possible for them to have normal children? In Raven's eyes, normal was what Jaques had. A quiet peaceful existence with his five children, his loving immortal wife, a beautiful home. Jaques and his family tended to stay out of drama, for the most part, and Jaques kept security in their home in tip-top shape. Jaques had defended his family and would continue to do so, protecting them and loving them and providing for them, even when things got hard.

Raven wasn't sure he could do all of that, and shoulder the responsibility of his own brigade, the Deadly Sins, his father's army, his constant state of paranoia— fuck, his mental health alone was a red flag for parenthood, so he met Hannibal's eyes in that moment with somber acceptance.

"No. I guess not." Hannibal took that as confirmation and just nodded, but not before Raven saw the shadow in Hannibal's eyes. One he empathized with, because it was like a small part of them still wanted to dream about it, still wanted to pretend it was an attainable goal.

To have a child of their own.

But it had to stay quiet.

Some desires were simply not safe.

And yet, as the years rolled by and he stood by and watched his nieces and nephews and cousins all grow, their family expanding and the reunion getting bigger every year... he strangely felt very alone.

No, he had Dev, so maybe alone wasn't the word he was looking for... Just an ache. An ache whenever he watched Hadrian and Lumen go running to Ambrosius, who scooped them up and cradled them as if he could think of nothing more precious in his existence. He even watched Thorn, Ambrosius's husband and his older brother, soften over the years.

Thorn had been very cold for years, very business and pleasure separated and even with pleasure, Thorn was very blaise. Calling him a playboy would be a bit of a stretch considering he didn't actively seek partners, but he'd bounced around for fun, to scratch an itch. He couldn't imagine Thorn settling down.

And yet he'd been to many a reunion, watching Thorn bounce Lumen in his arms with her frilly little dresses, his eyes sparkling as he twirled with her. When Hadrian would come home hurt from school, Thorn would be there to soothe him, tears in his eyes as he loved and comforted his precious child.

He watched, with this new coming generation, a new sense of being, a new warmth and love, that many around him and before him had never had. It confounded him that such powerful and mighty warriors were reduced to tears, smiles, giggles, peace.

It wasn't that he thought a child would change him, no.

He didn't expect to have a child and things to be easy. He watched Alaric and Stanton struggle over the years, finally find the child of their dreams, and still struggle. Their adopted child, Wren, was an incredibly sweet child, but he was timid and shy and he cried whenever someone left him. The trauma of being abandoned, of being hurt by the people who were supposed to love him, made it difficult for him to accept love again.

And how Raven ached for him, because he knew how much that hurt. Granted, his family hadn't meant to abandon him when he was held prisoner, but it had certainly felt like it at the time.

Moira had taught him that emotions did not have rational feelings.

Emotions did not stop to think and consider the variables, the situation, or even the consequences. Emotions simply were felt.

All we could do was control how we reacted to those emotions.

Raven sighed before he lifted his eyes and met Moira's warm brown eyes.

"No," he said, answering her earlier question, "I want a child. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but someday... I want a child."

Ten years later...

"Hera's snatching genetics. She's splicing them together, fucking around to try and make some kind of super monster, and in the process, she's fucking up a whole generation of kids."

Hades's news was delivered with the tact of a rabid raccoon.

The family was silent.

From his original nine children to the additions from his marriage to Lucifer, to their children and partners, some of whom already included freed artificials from Hera's insane Frankenstein attempt.

"Okayyyy," was Blaine's slow response that had a few people grimacing and others sighing, "So, anyone want to tell us how? How did Hera, a goddess we haven't heard from in over what? Eighteen years? How did she manage to break into the vaults, get the DNA samples, work them in her labs to make entire people? All this time, without any of us knowing, including, and I mean this with the utmost disrespect, the fucking paranoid nutcase who owns this realm?"

All eyes went to Hades, who was seated at the head of the table.

The main hall in the palace of Hacian was massive, and purposely so, with a table handcrafted from the rocky obsidian glass of Tartarus stretching the length of the room, accommodating every member of the family, all of whom sat with their attention at the head.

Hades didn't speak right away, which made Raven nervous.

Hades seemed to always know what to do, what to say, even if it was the most inappropriate way to say it, and yet he seemed stumped at the moment. He just stared at the table, leaning with his mouth pressed to his fists that were wrapped together with enough tension to turn his knuckles white.

"You guys have vaults full of your sperm and eggs?" Floki asked from between Dania and Alexis, who both covered their faces with their hands in exasperation.

"Yeah," Daphne-May said from her seat beside Zelios and Noe, "I'm sorry, but can we backpedal to that? Why is there a vault full of this family's DNA?" Zelios turned to look at Hades, who averted his eyes.

"It's how we create artificials," he murmured, making Daphne-May frown at him, "There must be DNA from two separate creatures in order to establish an artificial. They cannot be created with a single strand of DNA, or it could rupture the stability. Three will only overload the artificial and cause a meltdown."

"So... The plan was to create more artificials?" Daphne-May asked.

"No," Lucifer spoke up from beside Hades, who was still silently staring at the table, and Lucifer passed him a glance of concern before continuing to answer Daphne-May, "The original intention was to... look into our genetics. Hades has been studying for years to differentiate abilities that have appeared in his lineage, including his ability to see in the dark, and while Rowan confirmed that it came from his side of the family, that still doesn't tell us why he has it. Being a night deity shouldn't have anything to do with it, considering his gift is warped as it gets passed down."

"That's why some of us can see the future and others can see in the dark," Hadrian supplied and Ambrosius nodded to confirm his thought.

"We don't know what's altering this blessing, or why it's altering it," Lucifer continued, "It has to be a genetic link and Hades wants to confirm that there is nothing that could mutate and harm our family."

"Mutate and harm the family? What, like a Beast curse?" Jaques asked, making Theo scowl at him.

"Beast curse isn't genetic, though, it has to be placed from one god to another, isn't that the rule?" He looked at Hannibal, who was sitting by Akin, both of whom nodded.

"There was no recorded case in history of a Beast passing down the curse to a biological child," he said, then paused and Akin glanced at him, "Until now." They both looked at Seven, who was sitting between them, looking a bit uncomfortable. He didn't like being a statistic, or being stared at and luckily his new family was nothing like the compound, so he wasn't met with jeers or mockery, but concern.

"And how is that going, by the way," Arikos asked with a hopeful smile from his seat between Menoetius and Amenti.

"Better," Seven said softly, then cleared his throat and spoke up, "Ah, I'm doing better. I haven't had trouble controlling my Beast since I started training."

"Okay," Blaine said, holding his hands up for attention and Cerberus gave him a comforting pat on the shoulder, "But none of that explains how the bitch got in and out of the vault with specific genetics. Whose genetics did she steal, and whose is she combining and why?"

"She's going after specific genetics," Three said, earning a frown from the family, "She's trying to find something specific, and she's picking out couples that could be or are Source-blessed. That's all I know." He held his hands up for emphasis. Wren scowled at him.

"Why would it matter if they're Source blessed anyway?"

"Dude, do I look like a six and a half foot tall blonde babe in heels? No."

"You've got the look half down," Floki offered. Three stared at him and Hadrian raised an eyebrow slowly, clearly getting ideas from the suggestion. Three looked at him.

"That was not a suggestion."

"I never said it was. You did."

"No, I didn't."

"Anyway," Lucifer said aloud as voices began to overlap with disagreement and suggestions best left outside the discussion room, "Let's stay on topic here, because we didn't call this meeting for everyone to get paranoid and upset. We want everyone to be fully informed of the situation, and there is a lot to this that we know, and that we still do not know, but thankfully those who've found their way home have been very helpful in providing us with what information they can."

"Speaking of information," Six said, turning to look at Lucifer, "Are we getting confirmation from Four now?"

"Yes," Lucifer said with a nod, "Ah, and he has requested that we refer to him by his new name, and title, but Niko is fine."

"He named himself Niko?" Dania asked with a big smile, clearly liking the name.

"Aw, I like that one," Cerberus agreed with a nod.

"He said he heard it in a dream," Lucifer said with a shrug, "Anyway, Niko is giving us what information he can, but he was also limited in what he could do security-wise. His clearance was higher than others, but not as high as, say, someone like this Jasper person he's mentioned. In the meantime, we need to stay on alert. If you are going somewhere alone, you need to ping us before you leave and ping us when you get back. If you can avoid going anywhere alone, please do. Take someone with you, take the whole family, I don't care, I just don't want anyone alone right now."

"Niko says that Hera is getting antsy and the chances of her launching her next move are higher with each passing day. Sooner or later, she's going to snap and launch the first attack."

"Shouldn't we get the jump on her first?" Theo asked.

"How," Cain drawled, "The bitch can't be located. Even the psychics are having issues seeing her." He threw a thumb at Menoetius, who frowned.

"I can't control my visions. They come and they go whenever the Source feels like speaking to me."

"Maybe you should knock on their door more often."

"Yeah, let me just leave a sticky note for the universe," Menoetius deadpanned, making a few people snicker, "Dear universe, stop. That's it. Just stop."

"Accurate," Arikos agreed with a mumble.

"Yeah, the shifter already tried to make it stop," Charon pointed out grimly, "You saw how well that went."

"I'm not telling them to stop functioning," Menoetius said slowly, then paused, "Just... Stop fucking with shit for a bit. There's enough shit stirred up without them constantly dipping their fingers in."

"Unfortunately, chaos is how the world functions," Hades muttered suddenly, making everyone quiet down and look at him, "It's just our job to live here and deal with it."

"Our problems aren't Source related anyway," Alaric said dryly as he folded his arms over his chest, "Our problem is Hera. She needs to be put down fast, before she can do any more harm to us or our children." Raven felt a chill in the room.

"Agreed," Jaques spoke up, "We cannot condone this kind of violence and torture. It's inhumane and while we may not be human, we are sentient enough to know right from wrong and what Hera is doing is wrong on so many levels. There is no prison worthy enough to contain that level of evil and hatred."

"I wouldn't mind sending her to Tartarus for a romp with the Titans," Adonis snorted, folding his arms over his chest as Theo gave him a sympathetic glance, "Let her fucking rot. See how she likes being treated the way she treated all of those kids." Raven looked over where the rescued victims of the compounds sat.

Seven, Hannibal and Akin's oldest child, had been ruthlessly tormented and isolated for his inability to use magic. While he was immortal in every other sense of the word, magic simply did not sit with him, at least, not in the way it was supposed to. The only thing that made Seven truly dangerous, aside from being a son of Hannibal, was the Beast that lived within him, sharing his soul.

Three was Stanton and Alaric's eldest. A supremely good healer, while he'd done well in studies for the most part, did not do well in the social aspect and his abilities were limited to where he wasn't entirely sure what was appropriate for conversation and what wasn't; or even the content of his conversations. Sure, one would say he got away pretty lucky, but considering the artificial still struggled in the outside world, Raven was willing to bet there were more issues on the horizon.

Six was another rescued artificial, the son of Zeus and Joxeia. A peculiar child, Raven noted, because his relationship with his newfound parents were not like his peers. Zeus, in his eyes, was his cooking instructor and nothing more. Joxeia was his magical mentor, and nothing more. Six himself had grown up withdrawn and soft-spoken, considering Three was his husband and did most of the talking, and while the two seemed to have come to terms with their former relationship, Raven saw that some of the damage still lingered in the way Six carried himself.

Paranoid and on guard at all times.

Recently on scene was Four, or now preferred to go by Niko.

Niko, Raven learned, was his brother, a son of Hades and Lucifer. Raven had known it the moment he saw the artificial. That firm scowl and that caustic attitude were very much Hades. Those sparkly blue eyes and that lush mane of loose blonde curls made him almost look like a Lucifer clone, if he didn't already look like a cottagecore princess. It drew a smile to his lips to think Niko was setting in so well, as he worried given Niko's experiences.

Lucifer and Hades hadn't given him full details, because he had asked them not to. It was none of his business, nor was it theirs. What Niko had experienced, no one else could possibly understand. Raven himself knew that no experience like theirs was alike. The nights of assaults, the constant feel of hands roaming his body as if he had no control, as if he was nothing, but a toy. The shame of being so exposed, so vulnerable. Of having all the power in the world, but none to stop what was happening to him. Of feeling so unbelievably scared, tired, hurt.

He'd spoken to Niko on and off since his brother arrived. Niko seemed to understand his apprehension as well, so their topics didn't wander to dangerous territory, but Raven was starting to get the feeling that Niko would eventually need to talk to someone.

Just like he did.

Of course, there was one more artificial that had been recently rescued, but according to Hades, she was under strict observation upon her return. To ensure her safety, her health, and the safety and health of others. It was understandable, but Raven was nervous.

He hadn't met her, but he'd heard she had wings.

"She has big beautiful black angel wings, dad, she's beautiful, you're going to love her," he'd overheard Lumen gushing. After all, the artificial that had been rescued had fallen for Lumen, hence what led to her escape in the first place.

Black angel wings, Raven thought numbly as he sat quietly in his seat, listening to his family debate and discuss around him what the next steps were.

In the end, the family had agreed to adjourn for the time being and return in a week to discuss any advancements or new information.

Raven stood outside the main hall door, anxiously checking his texts. Devereaux was supposed to have joined him at the meeting, considering he was family now that they were married, but Dev had gotten caught up in a training exercise gone bad.

See you in five, was his last text. Raven sighed, pocketing the phone and pausing to look up as Wren went storming past him. He was startled, both by the anger and the fact that his body reacted to Wren's nearness. It wasn't a powerful reaction, nothing like he had felt when Devereaux had been the sin of Lust, but there was enough reaction to make Raven a bit uncomfortable.

What an annoying biological reaction to something that wasn't even Wren's fault.

"Wren, baby," Alaric started to hurry out of the room to go after him, then slowed when he saw Raven, and gave him an awkward smile, "Sorry, I hope he wasn't rude."

"No, is he alright?" Raven asked, looking after Wren, who just teleported halfway down the hallway, clearly fed up. Alaric sighed, glancing back into the room where it appeared Stanton was scolding Three, who was just throwing his hands up dramatically.

"He's just not used to having a sibling," Alaric admitted with a nervous smile, "I think he's just maybe used to all of the attention? Or... I don't know. Has he said anything to you lately?" Raven shook his head, pocketing his phone as he felt Dev's magical presence appear somewhere on the property.

"No," he replied, then paused to study Alaric's concerned frown, "What's wrong?"

"It's just," Alaric paused, looking at the place where Wren had disappeared before looking at me, "Maybe I'm just looking into it too much, but he's been having a lot of appointments at The Winged Serpent lately." As the deadly sin of Lust, and an American incubus to boot, Wren had to make weekly, almost daily appointments, to control the hunger inside him. Raven understood that, as Dev had also struggled greatly as a Sin of Lust, but watching Wren, who was so young and soft spoken and sweet, struggle to deal with this conflicting part of himself... It made Raven worry.

"Is he feeding well?" Raven asked. Alaric shook his head.

"I know he's not, but he's trying to hide in that stupid big jacket of his."

"Hey," Stanton said, appearing at Alaric's side with Three grumbling behind him, "I gave him that jacket." He gave Alaric a kiss on the head, making Alaric roll his eyes.

"You couldn't give him a nice cloak," Alaric asked, folding his arms over his chest, "Like your dad gave you?" Stanton snorted.

"It's the twenty-first century, babe, he's getting a badass leather jacket. Besides, he asked for it," he said with a helpless shrug, then gave Alaric an elbow, "And he looks great in it, right?"

"Oh yes, just like daddy," Alaric said, making Stanton grin proudly while Three scowled at them, clearly not understanding the family dynamic quite yet, "Anyway, we're gonna split. I gotta make sure Wren doesn't run off to pout somewhere. Oh, and dad's looking for you. Both of 'em." He gave Raven a little wave, a kiss on the cheek, then led the rest of his family away in tow.

Raven smiled, watching them go, brightening further as he watched Dev walk down the hallway after them, coming right for him.

His heart swelled.

If anything made him feel like he could face the day, it was the love of his life.

Dev walked down the hallway like he owned it, big military combat boots thumping the whole way, and he was still decked out in his military cargos and a ribbed tank top. He'd cut his hair and trimmed his facial hair, so now he was all cleaned up and ready for a romantic dinner.

"You're late," Raven murmured, making Dev grin as he stopped to lean over and kiss him gently on the cheek, "But the dad duo wants to see me before we go."

"Actually," Lucifer's grim voice said, making them turn to see Hades and Lucifer lingering by the door, "We need to talk to both of you." Raven stared at him as he felt his heart slowly sinking into his stomach and he instinctively took Dev's hand to ground himself. Dev accepted the handhold with a firm squeeze of reassurance.

"Let's go somewhere more private," Lucifer said softly. They nodded, and even though it had been Lucifer who had spoken, Hades was the one who led the way in silence. Not a single word spoken from the main hall on the second floor down three flights to the private royal hospital waiting below. The moment the elevator stopped at the bottom floor with the patient rooms, Raven could feel his heartbeat pick up.

For a full moment, he really did not want to walk out of the elevator. There was a fear growing in his gut again, spreading like ice through his veins as he slowly followed the group out of the elevator. He felt Dev's hand still in his, but he was so cold and clammy, he felt like Dev was slipping away. He gave his husband's hand a squeeze and Dev returned it immediately.

A silent plea, I'm scared.

And a firm response, we'll be okay.

Raven said nothing, felt that at this point, Dev was mostly just leading him by the hand as they walked down a hallway that seemed almost endless. A white sterile hallway that made Raven briefly concerned for the other artificial.

What if she woke up and saw that and it reminded her of the compound?

As they walked, Raven felt like their boots were all echoing, an almost ominous sound, and he briefly wondered if he should take his shoes off to avoid scaring her when they walked in. He also wondered when he realized that that was where they were headed.

They stood outside a patient room that Hades used a keypad to enter.

His heart was definitely pounding in his ears now. He said nothing as Lucifer opened the door for him, because he wanted Raven to be the first one to walk in. Fear held him rooted outside the door for a second, until he felt Dev squeeze his hand. He blinked and turned to look up at Dev, who stared back at him.

"You're not alone," he murmured, making Raven swallow nervously, "We're not alone... Let's show her she's not alone either." Raven just nodded, not trusting himself to speak. He really wanted to kiss Dev in that moment, sweep his arms around him and cradle him, like the big loving teddy bear he was. And that thought of comfort made him feel stronger.

Raven turned and walked into the room first.

Dev followed close behind, their hands still connected.

The artificial sitting in the hospital bed did not look happy. She looked tired, worn, exhausted. Her long brown hair was really just a myriad of other shades of brown, in a way that reminded Raven so much of Dev's, and while her eyes were darker, more brown than gold, Raven still saw the shine of hazel when the light hit her eyes just right. Like when she lifted her head to greet them, her eyes widening slightly.

"Five," Lucifer greeted her warmly and she glanced at him before quickly looking back to the two strangers across the room, "Hello, we're coming in to have a talk. I should hope that's alright." Five simply nodded tiredly, looking back at the sheets, her fingers coming together as she began to nervously pick at the skin around her fingernails.

She knew without anyone having to tell her who the two new people in the room were.

Her parents. Lumen had spent hours and hours telling her all about her parents, Raven and Devereaux. She had never actually met them before, never even seen them, but somehow she felt like she already knew them from all the stories Lumen had told her, and her eyes watered as she remembered the tales.

Not all of them were pleasant, and she confirmed certain ones Lumen had told her, without actually providing details. No, but she knew why Raven was wearing thin black gloves on his hands, why his shirt collar was higher, why he looked so nervous coming in to the room. She knew, even without having seen them, that their wings looked the same. Lumen had gone into detail of Raven's great beautiful wings that they had only seen once, but she'd known the moment Raven revealed them, who Five's father was.

The silence that followed was awkward once everyone was shuffled inside.

Raven couldn't bring himself to ask if she was okay, because he already knew that was a bit of a stupid question, given the state of her. So tired with dark circles under those pretty dark eyes, her face smooth with nary a smile line, and he could feel his heart breaking as he took note of every sign of trauma he recognized.

She was withdrawn and quiet, refused to meet their eyes, or even look directly at them, opting for tearing away at her fingers. The state of her ragged nails revealed she seemed to turn her anxiety inward. He noted the way she chewed at the inside of her lip, her lips pursing in the process, the way her eyebrows seemed to naturally tilt up in a constant state of worry. There were scars, faint, but certainly still there ranging from a long one near the back of her left ear to another few on her left shoulder.

"Her health is stable," Hades spoke up suddenly, which caused both Raven and Five to jump, startled by the sudden voice, and he paused to raise an eyebrow at them as they recovered sheepishly, "She's showing normal levels, oxygen, blood, magic, vitamins, and the dehydration wore off yesterday, but I'd very much like to see her drinking more water and electrolytes. Surprise surprise, Hera's diet plan is actually stunting their growth, so she's going to be a bit smaller for her age, but it's not too late to reverse that with a diet full of protein and complex carbs."

"She's going to start some medication," Hades continued, coming around to a small white paper bag on the counter and bringing it to Raven, who blinked and took it numbly, "The first one is to help her sleep. It'll keep her from having night terrors. It'll probably look familiar to you." Raven nodded as he scanned the medication bottle, confirming it was the same medication Hades had prescribed to him for his night terrors in the past.

His night terrors were far and few between now.

"I've also got some anti-anxiety medication, but I held off on any antidepressants or antipsychotics until we can observe and treat her further. This should just get her through the immediate shit. Once I can establish a medical profile more solidly with her incoming tests, we can start to make a treatment plan and get her everything she needs to be comfortable."

Hades was giving him all the facts, all the medical jargon, and for some reason, Raven found himself just staring at Hades blankly as he explained everything he was going to need to take care of Five. He was grateful Dev was with him, because the Sin had actually fumbled to get his phone out so he could make notes. Hades even paused to raise an eyebrow at him.

"Sorry, I don't want to forget anything," Dev said, "Go on." Hades looked at Lucifer, who was glad he wasn't facing the couple because he was smiling at their reactions. He had a feeling Raven would be overwhelmed and shut down, but it was why he'd asked Dev to make sure he was here with him. Dev was good at covering when Raven went into nonverbal mode.

"She does have a single injection for the next week," Hades continued as Dev nodded and tapped the information into his phone, "It's to soothe the damage to her wings."

"Damage to her wings?" Dev demanded immediately, jerking his head up. His sharp tone made Raven tense, so he cleared his throat, and spoke again more softly.

"It's leftover from her time at the compound," Hades answered grimly, "If I'm being blunt, they did a lot of unnecessary... shit to those wings. Looks like they were looking for something in particular, so I'd prefer that she stay, but I know that isn't ideal right now. For her safety, and yours, it's best you take her home. I'm sending Viv over in a bit to get you situated with a barrier."

Raven didn't answer. His heart clenched at the thought of someone tormenting her for her wings, for whatever answers they could hold. It scared him to think that there might be something there worth looking for. And it scared him that he was going to bring her back to the apartment he shared with Dev.

Granted, things got cleaner after Terry, Dev's younger brother, moved out, and by moved out, Terry had just rented an apartment down the hall. Dev had encouraged him to branch out more, but Terry was still having issues letting Dev go. So, while the apartment was a bit cleaner, it didn't change the fact that two adult military males lived in the apartment and it wasn't exactly what he pictured raising a child in.

Then again, Five was an adult too.

She wasn't a child to be raised. She was... a very tired female ready for a nap.

As Hades filled them in on more medical talk, the kind Raven couldn't really follow so he left it up to Dev, he watched Five's head tilt forward every so often, her eyelids drooping as if she were struggling to stay conscious. Whenever Hades moved, her head bounced back up and her eyes were alert for a moment, but as he continued, her head would droop forward again.

"Do you mind," Raven spoke up suddenly, making Hades and Dev look at him, "If, uh, we take her home? Maybe you can give us more information later, over the phone or email or something? I think she should get to bed and get some rest." Hades turned to where Five was blinking hard to try and clear sleep from her face. She seemed embarrassed at being caught.

"No, go ahead," Hades said, moving to the machines to begin powering them down and removing them from Five, who watched him intently now. There was mistrust there, which was to be expected. From the sounds of it, she'd been traumatized by the medical personnel under Hera's orders. She looked away when Hades removed her IV and looked a bit pale as he gave her a band-aid.

"What's this?" She murmured, looking down at the band-aid with an image of some cartoon character.

"Ah, yeah, those are Thirteen's," Hades said and when Five looked up with wide surprised eyes, Hades raised an eyebrow, "Yes, that Thirteen." Five slowly looked back down at the band-aid, smoothing her thumb over it as if she were awed that she shared something with another artificial.

"Alright," Hades said, heading to a cabinet against the far wall, "Go ahead and wear these home. I'm sure your parents will help you fill your closet later on." He took out a pair of jeans and a touristy t-shirt that said Welcome to Hell: The Place for Second Chances. He handed them to Five, who took them with a nod. Hades turned to Raven and Dev as Lucifer stood by the door, watching anxiously.

Part of him wanted to stay.

This was another grandchild. They had another grandchild, and she was so beautiful with her multicolored brown hair, her doe-eyes, and the way she watched everyone around her... She reminded him so much of Raven that it actually almost brought him to tears.

Because this was the Raven he met after he was a war prisoner.

"Let's give them some privacy," Hades murmured as he approached and Lucifer nodded, glancing one last time back at the room. Hades took him by the hand, startling him as he shut the door behind them, "We can wait our turn. She's not going anywhere." Lucifer swallowed at that reassurance and nodded as Hades gave his hand a squeeze.

"Now let's go check on our other pain in the ass," Hades said and Lucifer smiled as they vanished together.

Back in the room, Five sat in her bed, staring down at the folded clothes in her lap. She could feel Dev and Raven across the room, looking at each other with uncertainty.

She was overwhelmed.

They hadn't even verbally confirmed it.

I'm sure your parents will help you fill your closet.

Or maybe they had.

She just wasn't sure how to absorb that information. She'd wondered, growing up, and after having learned the truth through her own investigation, if she would ever truly meet her parents. The two individuals whose DNA was stolen to create her. She was having difficulties looking up at them. She'd always had difficulty looking at people when she spoke to them, but it had come from years of her marriage to Robyn.

Another boiling pot of trauma that she had yet to deal with. She was still reeling from that particular fact.

She had never loved Robyn.

Robyn had been the worst thing to ever happen to her.

Mother had approved the marriage battle, and she'd only been fourteen to Robyn's twenty. The highly skilled, professionally trained soldier had nearly killed her. The battle had taken less than ten minutes and Five had gone from bleeding out in the arena to waking up in the infirmary to Robyn standing over her and Micah declaring her the winner.

She'd tried to unplug her machines in response, anything to get her away from the person who was now called her wife. Of course, she was properly scolded and handcuffed to her bed, only to have Robyn personally escort her back to the apartment that would become their home.

Robyn's home, Five reminded herself grimly. Because the tiny one bedroom apartment they had shared was not her home. When she thought of home, she thought of warmth and comfort. When she thought of that apartment with Robyn, she thought of a prison cell.

Robyn liked to refer to her as her little sparrow, locked up nice and tight in that cage of an apartment. Sometimes Robin would make her reveal her wings, for nothing more than to pluck the feathers or embarrass her after a medical biopsy when her wings had been plucked clean or pieces were missing and bandaged and healing.

Robyn didn't hit her often, but it didn't change the fact that it had happened. Sometimes the mission was rough and Robyn returned angry or upset and needed an outlet. Five had learned to hide after that, learned to go running to Three or Six. She'd tried to find Two, because Three had once told her that he would help if she asked.

But she'd never been able to track him down long enough. She'd only seen him in passing, or interact with others, never long enough for her to summon the courage to ask for help, not even long enough to catch his eye for more than a second. He'd given her a few smiles in the past, but once his husband had died, he was rarely seen at the compounds and when he was, he tended to growl or ignore anyone who approached.

By the time Two had lost his husband, Five had given up on ever escaping hers.

And like a fucking miracle, some guardian angel had flown in out of nowhere and done what she had never been able to do. She couldn't help it; when the angel D'Angelo had killed Robyn, she broke down. She was so relieved and confused and frustrated and scared all at the same time, and D'Angelo had been there to protect her, to save her.

And now D'Angelo was dead.

Robyn was dead.

Five found herself feeling a little numb after that. She'd been disoriented when they were attacked at the cabin, D'Angelo had managed to get her and Kin to safety before he'd taken off to alert Hades that Ryk had been kidnapped.

Kin had brought her to Hades, who had kept her in this private hospital since then.

Now she was being presented to her parents. She didn't know what to say, what to do, what to expect. She was used to rejection, used to the mockery and the pain, so she expected it would come sooner or later, even with everything she'd seen and heard from Lumen.

Lumen had told her about Raven and Devereaux. Told them of their adventures, of their misadventures, of their horror, of their romance, and their journey since. She felt like she already knew them, yet at the same time, they were complete strangers to her.

She was a stranger to them.

She blinked at that, then slowly looked up as that realization occurred to her.

No. She was a stranger to herself.

She couldn't move on with the way she was.

She couldn't move on with that darkness, with reminders of the past, of the misery and pain that had broken her down. She could pick herself up and dust herself off and fight through it.

Or she could become someone else.

She could become the person that she was with when she was with Lumen.

She could become the person she had always wanted to be, that she had dreamed of becoming.

And the revelation of that gave her an odd sense of peace in the moment.

She felt a twitch in her lips, wondering if it was the smiles she'd seen on people's faces since her arrival to this new outside world. She looked up.

Devereaux and Raven were quiet and patient with her. They didn't rush her to get dressed or to hurry up and get out or mock her for her injuries or her slowness or fear. They gave her privacy to get changed and when she was ready, she felt like she'd briefly blacked out on time from the moment she stepped out of that hospital room to the moment she was stepping outside in the real world.

"We're... not going to teleport?" Five asked softly, noting Dev and Raven already heading down the steps of the palace. Dev smiled.

"It's a nice walk from here to Portius," he said, looking at Raven, who nodded in agreement, "And I think it'll give us a chance to kinda talk."

"Or listen," Raven added and Five looked at him, having a sneaking suspicion that Raven knew she was hesitant to speak. Five followed as they led the way down a quiet peaceful trail that would loop them back around to Portius.

She had never seen so many trees in her entire life.

And they were so big, towering high in the sky by miles and miles with fat branches thick with foliage. Bushes rustled and wild animals seemed to be just going about their daily business without a care in the world. They toddled on without fear and she was fascinated by that mentality, of living without fear. If even things like rabbits and squirrels could casually walk by her like that, surely she could get the hang of it.

She smiled faintly as they paused for a mother quail to cross the path, her little chicks scurrying after.

She wasn't entirely sure what the feeling in her chest was.

Was it hope? Was it love? Was it peace?

She wasn't sure.

But she was ever so excited to find out...

-----x-----

A/N:

A low key little oneshot to reveal what happened to Five. Obviously there's a lot more, but this was her introduction to her new family, and vice versa. I'm hoping to perhaps do at least another oneshot or two for Five— I'm also hoping she picks a name soon lmfao Autocorret protests the idea of a singular Five for some reason.