Alastor's POV

I had stood at the entrance of the alleyway, creating room for y/n and Angel to have their fun. But it was a huge mistake. I should've been right by her side. As soon as I saw the gun rise from Valentino's coat, I was rushing towards her, but I was too late. 

Without any hesitation, I went to Valentino and snapped his neck. I could feel my rage trying to take over, but I kept it under control. I took out the white angel knife from my coat and plunged it into his heart. He wouldn't be coming back. 

I walked away from the lifeless body; he didn't even deserve the decency to be sucked into the void. I wanted him to rot in this alley. 

I turned around and rushed to y/n. I pushed Angel away from her body. Her eyes were open, but they weren't focusing on anything. Black tears leaked from the corners of her eyes and slid down the side of her face. I could barely make out the words on her lips, "I-it h-hurts."  

"It's going to be okay y/n. Stay with me. 

Blood was slowly oozing from the wound as her eyes drifted closed. I ripped a piece of her hood and tied it around her stomach, trying to staunch the flow. I immediately shifted all three of us back to the hotel and into her old room. Angel started yelling down into the lobby.

"I NEED BANDAGES AND CLEANING SUPPLIES NOW. Y/N WAS SHOT." I could see tears glistening on his face, but his voice didn't show it. I created a portal and Nifty hopped through it. 

"You know what to do," I said stiffly. I laid y/n on the bed and looked at the wound. The bullet hadn't gone all the way through. I turned my arm into shadow and went into the wound. She grunted out in pain, but I had to find it. 

As Nifty returned with the bandage materials, I pulled the shiny gold bullet from her upper stomach and placed it on the nightstand.

 Charlie and Vaggie rushed into the room. Without saying anything, Vaggie rushed over to the opposite side of the bed and started cleaning the wound. Y/n cried out as the alcohol brushed over her stomach.

Charlie and Angel stood by the door. Vaggie looked up from the wound, "She's going to be okay. We just need to keep the wound clean."

 Angel spoke up from the side of the room. "I have seen her heal a small cut before. We just have to keep it bandaged until she can wake up and heal it." I didn't respond but nodded. I started bandaging her up. 

I finished and tied them tightly then looked up at her face. A final tear rolled down her cheek, leaving dark lines out of her eyes. I could feel rage welling up inside of me at not being able to protect her. 

"Get o̯̱̊͊͢ư̡͕̭̇t̲̂̓ͩ̑." My anger spilled out before I was able to contain it. The room quickly emptied at the sound of my voice. Before Nifty left, she put her hand on my arm. 

"She'll be okay Al." She left the room soon after. I sat down in a chair right next to the bed and held her hand. I knew that she would be fine, but I was so angry at her and myself. "Why did she have to jump in front of the bullet for Angel?" 

I knew why. She was protecting her friend. She had started with Valentino's on purpose; it was all for Angel. I rested my head in my hands. "ʰᵒʷ ᵈᵒ ʸᵒᵘ ᵏⁿᵒʷ ˢʰᵉ'ˡˡ ᵇᵉ ᵒᵏᵃʸ?" The small voice came from the back of my mind. 

"She is strong. She has been through much worse." I hated debating with the voices in my mind, so I cut the conversation short. 

Guilt continued to wash over me as I looked at her. Her face looked like it was calm. Her long eyelashes rested on her cheeks, her braid resting on the bed. 

I held her hand as she laid there. Then a voice as clear as a bell spoke up in my mind, "Al." It was y/n's voice, I was sure of it, but I hadn't seen her mouth move. I watched her face intently, and there it came again, "Al." 

That was y/n's voice. "I'm here. You are safe." Her voice faded back into silence. I knew she would be strong enough, she would have to.

Y/N POV

I could feel a heartbeat pulsing in my stomach and something on my arm. I didn't want to open my eyes yet. Where was I? Suddenly, everything from last night washed over me. 

Al and I had taken the rest of Valentino's territory. In fact, he was no longer alive. I felt peace at his death. He could no longer hurt the people I love. 

I cracked my eyes open and found myself in my old hotel room. It was extremely bright, even though the curtains were drawn. I looked over to my right arm and found Alastor sitting in a chair, his head in his arms on the bed. He was asleep but continued to hold my hand. 

His face was very calm, except his brows were furrowed. It was the first time I had seen him without a smile. His pinstriped coat was on laying on the back of his chair and his hair was mussed. I chuckled silently as I realized how sweet he looked. 

Well, I can't say I chuckled silently because I found out it really hurts to laugh when you have a hole in your stomach. I clutched at the wound and only found cloth bandages. I looked over to Al and found that I had woken him up. 

His eyes were lazy as he tried to fully wake up. His eyes were looking around the room but then they landed on me. They widened as he realized I was awake. "Hi, Al," my voice croaked. I gave him a small smile. 

He didn't say anything but rushed in to hug me. He held my body close to him. I thought it was going to hurt, but he was so gentle. I hugged him back and closed my eyes. After a while, I went to pull away but he held onto me tightly. 

"Al, what's wrong?" As soon as he didn't respond, I knew something was wrong. I pushed him away this time and he released, not wanting to hurt me. 

"Nothing at all my dear. Just happy that you are awake." He looked at me with a shaky smile and I could immediately tell it was fake. I slowly sat up and then looked at Al's face. I put my hands on his cheeks.

"You don't have to smile all the time Al. It's okay." He apprehensively let go of the smile and then it disappeared altogether. I was finally faced with a normal Alastor. 

"I couldn't protect you. I couldn't get to you in time." He almost had a frown on his face. He placed a hand over his eyes, while the other continued to hold my hand. He then whispered quietly, "You and your damned kindness."

"I knew what would happen. Don't feel guilty about it. And guess what? I can even fix it right now." I looked down at the bandage and started humming. Then I realized that it was too croaky to get it out. "Umm, never mind. I can't actually sing right now."

Without missing a beat, Alastor started humming. He had a small smile of encouragement on his face. I was a little hesitant but decided it wouldn't hurt to try it...hopefully. I used his voice in the same way I had used mine. I imagined the small vines stitching the flesh inside together. Even making new tissue. 

I didn't know what song he was humming, but it was pretty. It also helped that he had a wonderful voice. I finished it up and started opening the bandage. It took a while to unwrap all of it, but then I got to the last round. I was a little scared but raised the last stretch of the fabric. 

The wound was completely gone, except for a small scar of where it had been. I was still sore from the impact of the bullet, but now there was only one hole in my stomach. I looked up at Al, who still had a frustrated look on his face. I held his cheek with my left hand.

"See? All better. Please don't beat yourself up about this. We did an amazing job last night." He gave a small smile but then looked down at my lips. I didn't realize how close we had gotten while I was healing the bullet hole. 

I could feel my heart start to beat fast as he leaned in and kissed me. He wasn't hesitant like our first kiss. This time, he kissed me deeper, like it was a deep and urgent need. I wrapped my arms around his neck while his hands cradled my face. 

He gently pushed me back onto the bed. Then it shifted into something different, like our existence depended on this kiss. I could sense that he was still sad, so I focused on distracting him. I pulled him closer to me so that he was almost on top of me. I could feel him playing with the braid in my hair and then realized that he was taking it out. 

He tangled his hands in it and I tangled mine in his. Then, I reached up further and touched his ears. They were so soft. I could feel him laugh into my mouth but then we both heard the door creak open. We both paused and opened our eyes, embarrassed that we had been caught. 

He quickly composed himself and turned to look at the door. I leaned to the side and saw it was Nifty in the door. She had the biggest smile on her face. I started laughing out loud and fell back onto the bed. It really hurt to laugh, but I couldn't stop it. Al chuckled at my laugh. "What do you need Nifty?"

"Well, I came to see if y/n was okay, but it seems like you are both doing just fine." She smiled and then closed the door. He turned back to me with an awkward smile on his face that just made me laugh some more. 

"Your laugh is even intoxicating." He pulled me in for another kiss and then I realized that we should probably go downstairs. 

I mumbled into his mouth, "Wait, wait, wait." I pulled away, " We have to go downstairs. I bet Angel is feeling as guilty as you were." 

 He pulled away and looked at me with something that I couldn't interpret. I felt a blush spread across my face.

"I got to go see Angel, and I also need to call the imps about their mission."

"Why the imps?"

"They were supposed to get rid of all of Valentino's weapons, but it seems like they missed one," I said before I even thought about what his reaction might be. I cringed as I saw fury flash through his eyes. "Don't be angry! I understand how they could have missed one. I'm surprised they even got most of them off." 

"Then they should have tried harder. Valentino was powerless without anything."

I decided to leave it because I didn't want to make his mood worse. I mean, I was the one that got shot. I slowly swung my legs over the side of the bed. I grasped my stomach as I stood up. "Guess it doesn't heal the feeling of being shot."

He gave me a small smile as he helped me up, but his face was still serious. I hugged him and looked up, "Hey, we both defeated Valentino and he's gone. Only a few more to go."

He chuckled, "You never stop, do you?" I smiled and shook my head as I walked into the bathroom. 

"I'll be out in a second." I closed the door and leaned against it. My stomach was burning from my recent movement. I felt the place where the hole had only been a second ago. All I wanted to do was collapse on the ground and fall asleep, but I have work to do. In the mirror, I noticed my face was almost completely untouched, except for a scratch along my right cheekbone. 

I went to the closet and pulled out a black tank top and black sweatpants. Just because I had to work today doesn't mean I couldn't be comfortable. I looked back into the mirror and started brushing my hair. It was slightly tangled from when Al had wrapped his hands in it. I paused in the middle of the action and blushed.

I remembered when he had pushed me back onto the bed and completely enveloped me in the kiss. I smiled slightly and then resumed brushing my hair. I walked out a couple of minutes later and found Al had put his coat back on. 

He opened the door for me and made our way downstairs together. Before we had even got down to the 2nd floor, I was grasping his arm for support. He rolled his eyes and smiled before sweeping me up in his arms. "If you need help, all you have to do is ask dear."

I blushed as we continued walking down the stairs. "I was doing just fine."

He laughed, "You could barely walk down the stairs y/n."He was holding me extremely close to his chest so that he didn't jostle me on the way down.

 I thought back to our little session before we had come down. I had no idea where our relationship was going to go next, but I knew that I liked him. If I didn't, I wouldn't feel the little butterflies in my stomach every time he looked at me.