When The Dust Settles

Derrick watched in amazement as Lucifer's body disintegrated to nothing but faint splints. He couldn't believe it, it was finally over. The Devil had officially been slain. He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath as he let the weight of his victory settle in for a moment before he turned sprouted his wings and took to the skies in a bid to get to where the seven demons and angels had been battling Lucifer's army.

He landed on the ground and saw them gathered together, as they cheered, some even hugging him, congratulating him on slaying their worst nightmare. It all felt surreal, and he wasn't sure how long he stood like that just staring at them, when Envy stepped up to him and put an arm around his shoulder. "Holy hell! Did we just win?" he asked quietly, trying not to draw any undue attention. "Yes Envy, Yes we did." Derrick said as he retracted his wings. "Give it up for The D-Man!" Greed screamed as everyone cheered even louder Derrick smiled and hugged the smaller demon tight, feeling a sense of pride fill his chest. "We're going home!" he whispered happily, hoping to himself that no one heard what he had said.

They next few days were filled with reconstruction as the angels and demons helped rebuild the world hand in hand before everyone went back to their respective realms. They'd spent most of that time either working, or celebrating their victory, so by the time things got back to normal it would be almost two months since the battle ended and people still found it hard to wrap their minds around it.

Michael and Raphael went back to Heaven in order to rebuild from the ashes, while Uriel remained on Earth to assist the rebuilding process. While many of the angels decided to guard Earth, generally keeping it safe, only those with a high enough rank were allowed to return to Heaven. Derrick had gained the respect of every celestial being that ever walked the Earth, he received a commendation from Michael, Raphael and even Gabriel who had been strangely silent about the entire series of events, and he also became one of Raphael's personal favorites, though his superiors thought otherwise.

For the first time in his life, Derrick didn't feel like he was invincible or needed to be the cool kid to get noticed, Derrick was finally at peace with who he was, a young man who helped save the world from the hands of total damnation. In short, he was finally happy. But if there was one thing Derrick wanted more than anything, it'd be for Lust to see the things he accomplished for the world. "I really wish you were here man." Derrick said as he took a deep breath .

"Hey Derrick!" he heard a voice call from behind him. "Hey Greed, long time no see." Derrick turned to find Greed striding towards him. "Good to see you again dude." Greed grinned as he threw an arm around Derrick's shoulders. "How have you been man? Haven't seen you in forever." he looked around. "Yeah, I've been busy." Derrick explained. "That makes two of us bro." Greed chuckled. "With Hell running without a leader you bet your bottom dollar every demon's acting in line in hopes of being the leader." Greed said as he looked into the distance.

"You're not gonna do something stupid are you?" Derrick asked, knowing full well how Greed acted and his impulsiveness. "Well now, that depends on what I want. What about you bro?". Greed asked turning back to look at Derrick. "Nothing much. Just trying to get my life back to normal." Derrick said shrugging as he looked down at the ground, avoiding eye contact.

Greed smirked and punched Derrick playfully in the arm "Dude what happened? Everything alright man? You look like someone died." Greed said looking Derrick directly in the eyes. "I'm fine man, I'm good." Derrick said.

"I just wish Lust was here to see it happen." Derrick sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. "I miss him too." Greed said with a sad expression. "But hey, we won and there's no way in hell anything is going downhill again." Greed commented. "Yeah, I guess you're right." Derrick chuckled. "What do you say we go grab some drinks and catch up?" Greed suggested.

"Sounds like a plan." Derrick replied grinning wide.

It's been two years since Derrick saved the world and now he was living his life happily in Welford enjoying life altogether in his new apartment, with his new lover Liza after so much loss, pain and strife.

One afternoon as he lay on his bed he heard footsteps enter his room and knew exactly who was making her presence known.

"Hey babe, you ready for movie night?" she asked walking up to him and placing herself in his lap kissing him.

"You know I am always ready for you Liza." Derrick teased.

Liza giggled and pulled away from him. "Come on, get dressed. We're getting ice cream and then watching chick flicks. Sound good?" she asked.

"Sounds wonderful darling." Derrick chuckled as he sat up and began removing his clothes to get dressed in their date outfits.

She smiled and kissed him deeply once more before leaving the room. As she left, Derrick was greeted with another presence in the room, it was Raphael. "Hello Derrick." Raphael said as he sat on a nearby couch. "Hello Raph, to what do I owe the pleasure?" Derrick asked as he slipped into his sweatpants.

"Just came to check in on you, make sure everything is okay." Raphael said with a smile. "And to congratulate you on slaying the Morningstar. It must have taken a lot of guts to do that." Raphael added.

"I don't know about that. It was more than guts at this point." Derrick laughed.

Raphael laughed with Derrick and the two talked for awhile before Raphael stood up saying. "Hell isn't balanced as it needs a new leader to maintain the order, Would that be you?" Raphael said as he prepared to take his leave. "Me? No chance Raph, I don't know if you noticed but I'm on vacation." Derrick stated, "Besides I haven't been involved with the world of Heaven and Hell in a while. And I don't want to rush into something I might regret."

Raphael nodded. "Think about it, if there's unbalance what stops another demon from getting twisted into another devil?"

"Again, No thanks but I'll keep it in mind. Thank you Raph." Derrick smiled. "Don't mention it. I just want you to be careful brother, Wouldn't want your strain to be in vain." Raphael responded before taking his leave.

As Derrick sat back down in bed he thought about the question Raph had posed. Could he really lead Hell? Right when he felt his life was getting better. "The sev- six! Of course!" Derrick thought to himself as he summoned the six demons before him. The all exchanged pleasantries before Derrick addressed the elephant in the room. "Raphael came to me and asked who the new leader of Hell should be, anyone has a suggestion?" he asked.

"Woah woah, What?!" Envy exclaimed, "Didn't we just finish off the Morningstar? Are you really seriously considering another bastard to replace him?" Envy said shocked by the prospect. "Why are you so against the idea? There isn't need for a gruesome leader, y'all can have your freedom in the underworld while you're under a king." Derrick said as Liza walked in. "Oh hey babe, gimme ten minutes and I'll be with you." Derrick said to Liza as he smiled. "Okay baby, I'll be at the parking lot." Liza said as she headed downstairs. "Look, it can't be me guys, I finally got my life back together and I don't think I'm in the mood to let it all go. So one of you has to decide." Derrick said to the group.

Silence enveloped the room until Wrath spoke up. "I'll do it." he said. Derrick smiled. "Thank you. Now you all know the rules and there will be no interference unless absolutely necessary." Derrick assured them. "We understand the logic Derrick." Wrath said as he folded his arms and gave a sly smirk. "Listen guys, I never got to properly thank you all... we really won, I defeated the devil, as in THE devil. If you all hadn't made the choice to speak to me that day I nearly slit my wrist. None of this would be possible. I really really... really wish Lust was here with us..." Derrick trailed off as tears dropped from his eyes. "If I could go back and save him. I really would." Derrick said as he clenched his jaw tight. After a few moments of silence he continued. "This isn't something any of us wanted to do either. But we did it either way... and we won."

"He was my brother and I... we loved him unconditionally. And we would give anything to see him again." Pride said as his eyes got red with tears. "So here's to Lust." Derrick said as he stretched his hand out to the group. "For Lust." Everyone said as they raised their hand in the air.

It's been six month and everything was completely back to normal, Heaven was in good shape, the Earth was safe and so was all mankind. Life was perfect. Well, almost perfect, the one person who kept bringing back bad memories.

There wasn't any trace of Lust anywhere, no matter where he went. It's as if he didn't exist. Derrick was devastated by this but also thankful. "He's at rest now, at least." Derrick thought to himself as he laid down on his bed with a sigh. He couldn't help but feel guilty over what happened, it wasn't his fault really. It was the devil. But somehow that only reminded him of the other demon, the same one who took Lust from him.

Derrick sat up and decided he needed some air, with that he sprouted his wings and took to the skies in a bid to clear his head.

His journey flew through the sky until he found himself hovering above a large mountain. His feet touched down onto the snow covered mountainside as he watched the city from the distance. The city was beautiful to say the least, even more so when contrasted with the dark, desolate nature around him.

"Wow." Came a voice from behind.

Derrick turned and saw a man dressed in an elegant suit and a fedora sitting atop a snowy white horse as he approached. As soon as he got closer to Derrick. " What's with the horse Azrael? Theatrics?" He said sarcastically.

Azrael smiled brightly, "No, I'm not being theatrical." he answered as he reached out to embrace Derrick. Derrick froze for a second before he stretched out his hand for a handshake. Azrael took it eagerly.

After pulling away, the two stood silently staring at the city. They both seemed to have different expressions plastered across their face. Azrael looked happy, content, excited, hopeful and yet conflicted.

"Pretty nice view." Azrael said quietly. "Yeah, yeah it is." Derrick agreed before looking back at the city.

The silence returned as they both observed the city before Azrael broke the quiet. "You ever think of being an official Archangel?" He asked. Derrick looked at him surprised and replied, "What brought that on?"

"Well you've always done what you thought was best for everyone, why not? You can use those skills, maybe use them for good." Azrael explained.

Derrick frowned slightly and responded, "But Azrael, You know my job is done. I just wanna live the rest of my life in peace, believe me I'd return them if I could." Derrick said as he looked on into the city.

Azrael nodded. "That sounds like a reasonable request." He said as he began to walk away. Before going too far though he stopped and turned to face Derrick once more.

"If you ever change your mind I'll be here waiting." Azrael said offering his hand again, before turning and disappearing from sight.